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Astrid et Raphaëlle. 3 x 1.

#astrid et raphaëlle #astrid nielsen #raphaëlle coste #astraëlle #friendship #journal

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Astrid et Raphaëlle. 1 x 1.

#astrid et raphaëlle #astrid nielsen #journal

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In prayer we are allowed to dive into the place of silence, where everything is already whole and complete, where we can sense a deep peace amid all insults and injuries.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Contemplation as a Path of Healing (pg. 115)

#prayer #silence #peace #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads #desert fathers

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Contemplation is pure prayer, prayer without respite, praying beyond thoughts and feelings, praying as oneness with God. Evagrius never tires of calling prayer the most beautiful present God has given humans. The dignity of human beings consists in the fact that we can become one with God in prayer.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Contemplation as a Path of Healing (pg. 111)

#prayer #imago dei #dignity #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads

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We shouldn't identify ourselves with the praise and blame of others. We should sense that there is another reality in us, that we have a divine dignity, which is there whether people praise us or blame us. Only the experience of this divine dignity makes us free vis-à-vis praise and blame.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Keeping Death before our Eyes Every Day (pg. 107)

#imago dei #dignity #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads

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Rufinus writes, "that the monks awaited the arrival of Christ as a children await their father or an army its king or a true servant his lord and liberator. And in another passage: 'They take no more care for clothing and food, but only singing hymns they turn their hopes toward the Parousia of Christ'" (ibid., 32). The lightness and ease that we notice in many of the monastic fathers is surely connected with this expectation of the Second Coming. . . Because the monks are waiting for the Lord, they become free of earthly cares, free of judgement and the expectation of others. Cheerful serenity, freedom, trust, and openness to each moment mark the monks who are longing for the Lord.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Keeping Death before Our Eyes Every Day (pg. 104)

#second coming #parousia #longing #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #k reads

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Thinking about death removes our fear because we stop clinging to the world, to our health, to our life. And thinking about death enables us to live every moment consciously, to sense what the gift of life is, and to enjoy it every day.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Keeping Death before Our Eyes Every Day (pg. 103)

#death #life #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads

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If I shape my own life, if I give it a form that suits me and does me good, then I will take pleasure in life. I have the feeling that I am alive, not that my living is being done for me. My style can be seen in the way I get up in the morning, the way I begin my day, go to work, arrange my mealtimes, and end the day. A healthy lifestyle requires healthy rituals. When we don't pay attention to healthy rituals, unhealthy rituals creep in that involuntarily make us sick -- for example, starting our day out with a mad rush, wolfing down breakfast, always arriving late, etc. Healthy rituals put order in my life, and they give me the joy of shaping my life my own way. ...

Healthy rituals give life familiarity, security, clarity. Here we can live, here we can be at home.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Shaping Life Spiritually (pg. 102)

#ritual #routine #desert fathers #heaven begins with in you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads

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Without humility, we are in danger of pocketing God for our own purposes, of subordinating God to our thoughts and desires.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Shaping Life Spiritually (pg. 100)

#humility #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads

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Only those who repent can find forgiveness. This is surely correct. But sometimes we think that we please God by being as contrite as possible, by running ourselves down and accusing ourselves. Here Anthony has different advice; what is over is over. This applies to past events; we shouldn't be forever ruminating over our past. But it also refers to our mistakes and sins. We shouldn't mourn for them either; they are over. We should not pay more attention to ourselves and our failures than to God. "For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything" (1 John 3:20). God knows about our failures. And we will sin again; we can't put up any guarantee for ourselves. But we should give sin no power over us. One way to deprive sin of such power is to let the past be, to give up thinking about it. We hold it out to God and pass it on t God. But then it's over and done with; er shouldn't worry about it anymore.

This advice from Anthony expresses great confidence in the grace and compassion of God, who knows and understands our heart.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Shaping Life Spiritually (pg. 98)

#forgiveness #repentance #sin #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads

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Silence and giving up comparisons were to be sufficient for the monks. If they consistently stuck with it, they would purify their thinking and feeling; they would be open to God.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Shaping Life Spiritually (pg. 98)

#silence #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads

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Though my flesh and my heart should waste away, God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

Psalm 73:26

#holy scripture #bible #psalms #faith #anxiety #journal

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A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" 

Mark 4:37-40

#holy scripture #bible #jesus #faith #anxiety #journal

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Another method of dealing with my thoughts is to discuss them with someone else. Today waiting rooms of psychologists are packed, because we don't dare to speak opening about ourselves in front of our friends. Above all we avoid discussing our negative feelings, our passions, our weaknesses, and our guilt. As a result many people remain alone with their thoughts; they repress them. But then the thoughts begin to boil up, until sooner or later the lid blows off. Talking about thoughts, the monks tell us, takes away the dangerous and destructive element in them. One monk says: "If you are hard pressed by impure thoughts, don't hide them; reveal them at once to your spiritual father, and destroy them. For insofar as one conceals his thoughts, they increase and grow stronger. Just like a snake that escapes from its hiding place and slithers away, the thought disappears the moment it is exposed. And as a worm eats away wood, evil thoughts destroy the heart. Those who reveal their thoughts are healed immediately; but those who hide them become sick from pride." The evil thought is compared to a worm that gnaws at the heart. If we lure the worm out in conversation, the wood will stay healthy and the heart can breathe again.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Dealing with Our Passions (pg. 94)

#relationships #community #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #k reads

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But there are also fears that do not point to any false outlook on life, but are necessarily bound up with being human. For example, there is the fear of loneliness, the fear of loss, the fear of dying. In every person fear of death is always present, but in some people it reaches menacingly high levels. So it's important to speak to your fear. "Yes, in any event, I will die." Fear can help me to reconcile myself with death, to come to an understanding with the fact that I am mortal. When I get to the bottom of my fear, when I let it in, I may sense in the middle of it a deep peace. Fear is transformed into serenity, freedom, and peace.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Dealing with Our Passions (pg. 85)

#fear #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #food for thought #k reads

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Dialogue with one's thoughts is called for above all in the case of fear. Fear has a meaning too; it's trying to tell me something. Without fear I would have no measuring rod; I would constantly make too many demands on myself. But fear often blocks me. So when I talk to my fear, it can direct me to the presence of a false outlook on life. Fear often originates in an ideal of perfection. I'm afraid of disgracing myself, of making a mistake. ... In the final analysis it's pride that causes fear. Thus the conversation with my fear could lead to humility. I could reconcile myself to my limits, to my weaknesses and mistakes. "I'm allowed to make a fool of myself. I don't have to be able to do everything."

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Dealing with Our Passions (pgs. 84-85)

#fear #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #how to live #food for thought #k reads

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Acedia is the incapacity to be in the moment. Its victims have no desire to work and none to pray. They can't even enjoy doing nothing. They are always somewhere else with their thoughts. The inner unrest, the inability to enjoy the moment, disrupts them. Acedia is an expression of the flight from reality. Its victims don't wish to look their own reality in the eye. Their thoughts and actions are always somewhere else. They become incapable of doing anything consistent, or really committing themselves to anything or anyone.

From Heaven Begins Within You: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Anselm Gruen. Chapter: Analyzing Our Thoughts and Feelings (pg. 72)

#acedia #presence #desert fathers #heaven begins within you #anselm gruen #food for thought #k reads