Quotes About Presence

If you think it'd not work to stay steady, to remain present, to not pull back in the face of terrible suffering, then you have never been in the face of terrible suffering. It's something I've failed at. I try not to flinch, I try not to be overwhelmed, I try not to run away. But I have.

I've learned over the years that these heavy, painful, anguish-filled moments...these moments when I so badly want to say something to break the tension, are exactly the moments I need to stay silent. They are the moments I need to hold still, and hold that sacred space open. Because when I can hold still and hold on in that place, no matter how hard it is for both of us, something can happen.

Turning the synagogue inside out, into a community institution, means that it has to become a recognizable presence. The building used to be the vehicle to make its presence known. Now the building is taken for granted, even if people are able to discern what takes place inside it. This model depends on a different approach. By turning inside out, the synagogue will make its presence known in two ways: by implementing Public Space Judaism

Schschscht«, machte Gideon. »Alles ist gut, Gwenny. Ich bin bei dir.« »Ja, du bist bei mir«, sagte ich und wiederholte gleich noch einmal, wie ein beruhigendes Mantra. »Du bist bei mir du bist bei mir du bist bei mir.«

The only difference now, for what it's worth, is that I know that these things don't matter. I know that I don't have to know anything, and I know that I don't have to fell frightened of not knowing-I just have to be here

That's what happens when you're really concentrating. Time stands still. Time flies!

The thing about perfection is that it is unknowable, it's impossible, but its also right in front of us, all the time

The spiritual experience isn't one of filling ourselves up— with either religious or intellectual beliefs—but of emptying ourselves so that we can experience what is, directly, unfiltered.

these words fit best my sense of a Higher Power: a vast, subtle energy pervading all things—a Great Spirit.

Mindfulness is fundamentally about being present for our life, for each moment in a wholehearted, nonreactive, inquisitive, and intuitive way.

The spiritual experience isn't one of filling ourselves up— with either religious or intellectual beliefs—but of emptying ourselves so that we can experience what is, directly, unfiltered. This

In some ways you are the definition of love. A look, a touch and the way you make me feel. You give me strength to face the elements (whatever they may be) because I don't face them alone. It feels like you are here with me, even when you are physically far away. You give me the courage to be open, to tell you scary stuff, and you accept me. Time with you seems timeless. I love you

We are unconsciously distracted by seeing our reflection. You can alleviate a lot of the fatigue of teleconferencing all day if you turn off your self-view.

a shadow looming in that silhouette.

It never ceased to cause him wonder, that here had been a living person and now she was gone, fading away again, the city waking up without her as if she'd never been there. It was an incredible thing, beyond comprehension, as incredible as being there in the first place.

To waste this heart once more & have you here, not silent, only quiet, as before.

Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.

She was kahuna, creating more life around her than was actually there, heightening the momentousness of each living thing by simply gazing upon it.

By mid-April, Zúñiga's warnings were growing shrill. He told the king that the English planned to quickly establish a presence so large that by the time "they open their eyes in Spain" it will be too late to take action. "Your Majesty will appreciate how important this is to your royal interests, and so I hope [you] will quickly command the extirpation of these insolents.

The constant talking didn't bother her, for cats use their voices to say 'here I am, where are you?' and this seemed to be the primary intention of most human conversation.

The more centered you are, the less you occupy the center. That's when awareness begins.

Lord Jesus,… I'm sorry for being so consumed with the business of fulfilling the small picture that I've missed the big picture—the ultimate picture of positioning my heart purposefully, quietly to welcome and receive all that You desire to pour within me.

I have navigated so much of my life on autopilot, moving mechanically through the more routine parts of my day. Then, when the spiritual parts arrive—meetings, speaking, praying, writing, engagements—I ask that His Spirit fill, inhabit and lead me. That is certainly a good thing, but not His best thing. It was never God's intention for any of us to live our lives in the land of perpetually playing spiritual hokey-pokey.

When we dwell on God's provision, His promises, His presence, authentic joy is the natural overflow, which inspires us to praise and worship Him through our hardships. In so doing, we can experience His peace through any circumstance.