Quotes About Presence

From the standpoint of karma, being present is all about trust—trusting vulnerability. Being vulnerable doesn't always feel like seeing an inspiring painting or taking a walk in nature. It is often a much more painful and awkward experience, the

Eventually, if we are going to wake up and truly come home to our own heartmind, we have to turn the full scope of our life into a practice space. This doesn't have to start as an all-the-time endeavor, but little by little it is said that our awareness practice can become a constant companion. It

When we are able to stay present with the internal discomfort created by the idea that somebody else might be mad at us, we end up becoming a bodhisattva with tremendous integrity. We end up building confidence that we can say what we think and mean what we say, more and more often. This kind of integrity and dignity become contagious, and in the end, even if somebody doesn't agree with us, that person at least respects us for our dedication to living by our principles.

With natural curiosity, the practice of mindfulness becomes effortless.

True friendship and intimacy take shape only when we are present enough to experience more than just one narrative, as well as to participate in our shared human experiences. Suddenly

She made a gesture of impatience. 'Do you never think of the future?' 'Not in your presence,' laughed Nick. 'I think of you—you—and only you. Didn't you know?

À pessoa que descansa em si não lhe interessa o tempo; a evolução não deve levar o tempo em conta.

My continuing passion is to part a curtain, that invisible veil of indifference that falls between us and that blinds us to each other's presence, each other's wonder, each other's human plight.

But he who has it, said the Master with a subtle smile, would do well to have it as though he did not have it.

Prayers are tools not for doing or getting, but for being and becoming.

The assumption of spirituality is that always God is doing something before I know it. So the task is not to get God to do something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and participate and take delight in it. When

The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't be complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us.

Everyone wants to be happy, to be blessed. Too many people are willfully refusing to pay attention to the One who wills our happiness and ignorantly supposing that the Christian way is a harder way to get what they want than doing it on their own. They are wrong. God's ways and God's presence are where we experience the happiness that lasts.

What do you think God meant when he said, "Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground"?

A book on God has for its title The God Who Stands, Stoops and Stays. That summarizes the posture of blessing: God stands—he is foundational and dependable; God stoops—he kneels to our level and meets us where we are; God stays—he sticks with us through hard times and good, sharing his life with us in grace and peace.

Prayer is a way of language practiced in the presence of God in which we become more than ourselves while remaining ourselves.

Authentic worship means being present to the living God who penetrates the whole of human life. The proclamation of God's word and our response to God's Spirit touches everything that is involved in being human: mind and body, thinking and feeling, work and family, friends and government, buildings and flowers.

Life in this world is often difficult, but living with God's constant presence and an eternal hope allows us to experience joy no matter what we may face. God's presence in our lives is always a reason for joy.

Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don't see him; quietly but surely he's active, and I miss it.

To experience presence is to enter that far larger world of reality that our sensory experiences point to but cannot describe—the realities of love and compassion, justice and faithfulness, sin and evil . . . and God. Mostly God. The realities that are Word-evoked are where most of the world's action takes place. There are no "mere words.

1 1-2 The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one.   3-5 Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out.

No text can be understood out of its entire context. The most "entire" context is Jesus. Every biblical text must be read in the living presence of Jesus. Every word of the scriptural text is a window or door leading us out of the tarpaper shacks of self into this great outdoors of God's revelation.

The real test of friendship is: Can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy together those moments of life that are utterly simple? They are the moments people look back on at the end of life and number as their most sacred experiences.