Quotes from lesser elizabeth

Life is like a school; one can learn, one can graduate, one can skip a grade or stay behind.

Spirituality is a brave search for the truth about existence, fearlessly peering into the mysterious nature of life.

There's something in our makeup and in our bodies that really wants to luxuriate more in just the joy of being alive and not always consuming, creating, building. There's something inside of us that wants desperately to stop and experience and just be--not just always do.

We have little control over the outer weather patterns as we make our way through the landscape of a life. But we can become masters of the inner landscape. We can use what happens on the outside to change the way we function on the inside.

Fear is a sneaky thief, stealing away precious moments of your life.

There is an art to grieving. To grieve well the loss of anyone or anything--a parent, a love, a child, an era, a home, a job--is a creative act. It takes attention and patience and courage. But many of us do not know how to grieve. We were never taught, and we don't see examples of full-bodied grieving around us. Our culture favors the fast-food model of mourning--get over it quick and get back to work; affix the bandage of "closure" and move on.

First we love within, then we love the world.

Love is the secret you unmask yourself to find; it is the foundation of the spiritual life, the destination where all roads of the journey lead.

We're all bozos on the bus, so we might as well sit back and enjoy the ride.

But grief is also a tonic. It is a healing elixir, made of tears that lubricate the heart.

I accept that life is uncertain--that the goal is not to become more certain about anything but to relax more into the mystery of not knowing what will come next. And then, miracle of miracles, out there in the deep and uncertain water, I come into a peaceful knowing--a faithful wisdom that surpasses control and certainty.

First we forgive ourselves, then we forgive others and life itself.