I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.
Aristotle
Eventually he asked me this question: "When doing this meditation, have you been sitting comfortably inside an air-conditioned chapel?" My answer was yes. "Well," this wise Jesuit replied, "no wonder you aren't able to properly apply this to your senses. How can you really feel what Jesus felt in his agony in the garden when you are sitting warm, snug, secure, and comfortable in an air-conditioned room?"
His advice was that I redo the exercise, but do it late in the evening, outside, in the dark, cold, subject to nature's elements, and perhaps even a little afraid of what I might meet physically out there. He made a good point, not just for my struggle with this particular spiritual exercise but about one of the major deficiencies within contemporary spirituality.
~ Simply put: Our prayer and spiritual quests are not enough connected to nature. ~
For all of our good intentions and hard work, we are too platonic, too much trying to have our souls transformed while our bodies sit warm, safe and uninvolved. The physical elements of nature and our own bodies play too small a role in our efforts to grow spiritually.
excert from
The Tidings
'Sun, storms, wilderness, deserts and spirituality'
Written by By REV. RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI
http://www.the-tidings.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2342:sun-storms-wilderness-deserts-and-spirituality&catid=117:columnistsspirituality&Itemid=418
The left-brained world wants you to "get your head out of the clouds, get your feet on the ground, and be just like us." To advance and prosper, steadfastly ignore that advice.
Marilyn Grey
In this world of dim bulbs, it would be true many would be envious of a bright electric light, and angry that it dared outshine them. If a stick of wood had the same human qualities with which you have endowed us, God, it would get wet, and stay wet. It would never decide to let itself be burnt for the love of us. Some people are like those balky bulbs, those sodden sticks. They do not want your love, they fear it. They are on guard against it. The world has conditioned them to look at love with caution, as though it were a booby trap.
excert from the book - I Cover God - Eddie Doherty
......Note - The link below that says VoS was for a late 60s band called VISIONS of SUNHINE, a song called 'Summer Sundown Woman', one of the best we have heard in a long long time in the folk-psych genre, although at last check in the fall of 2014 it was unavailable at the youtube link below, it is well worth seeking out, it may be the long lost treasure you are seeking...
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