The Value of Reading Books

Through books you can know the majesty of great poetry, the wisdom of the philosophers, the findings of the scientists, and through your imagination encompass world history.  An unknown author said, "Anyone who says they have but one life to live must not know how to read a book!" Unlimited horizons of knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration are contained in books that will enlarge your life.  Through books you can start today where the great thinkers of yesterday left off, because books have immortalized man's knowledge.  Thinkers, dead a thousand years ago, are as alive in their books today as when they walked the earth. We may have new technology and different living conditions in the 21st century, but we have the same energy flowing in our bodies as flowed in theirs.  They struggled with a lot of the same questions we do today:  who am I? where did I come from? where am I going? and how can I help?   Wayne Dyer wrote a book called Wisdom of the Ages in 1991.  His premise is that we build on previous authors' ideas and concepts, and that through the wisdom of eminent teachers and spiritual leaders from our past, we can effect a deep inner spiritual change in our world.  Science tells us that social connections make us happier and healthier, but there are diffferent kinds of social connections.  Reading, for instance, can be a deeply social act, putting you inside other people's minds. Writer Marcel Proust called reading "that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude."  Studies suggest that reading makes people more empathetic and improves social skills by helping us better understand our fellow humans.  Read to  increase your knowledge, your background, your awareness, and your insight; read to grow and become wise.  Books may have competition in the world today, but they will always have their place.  

Empathy and Compassion

True empathy and compassion are prodigious qualities to have.  They are very similar in nature, and one of the meanings is the same, but there is a notable difference.  The definition of empathy in Jacquelyn Small's book, "Becoming Naturally Therapeutic, a Return to the True Essence of Helping is:  "Empathy is the quality that enables us to perceive another's experience and then to communicate that perception back to the individual."  Empathy is the ability to identify with another person's feelings.  It leads to openness and warmth.  However, if one only empathizes, he hasn't done anything active or concrete.  He mainly offers others a helpful presence by just listening and being there for them.  Compassion, on the other hand, is caring and a willingness to help, not only by being there for others and listening to them, but doing or saying something that will help them work through their situations and challenges.  Being compassionate means caring for      "All Creatures Great and Small," which is the title, of veterinarian, James Herriot's, first book.  The compassionate person is the one who gives to charity and does volunteer work with poor and sick people, and animals.  It takes a certain type of person to be totally compassionate for this person is selfless and lives their whole life helping others, a person like Jesus Christ in the Christian tradition.  Both empathy and compassion mean someone feels others' emotional pain and struggles as he does his own and relatively has "walked a mile in their shoes."  The challenge for the compassionate person is not to identify so strongly that he loses himself.  If one is compassionate, he becomes so filled with love and compassion that he is compelled to share these feelings with the world.  An empathetic, and particularly a compassionate person, brings a special element to humanity in his kindness and gentleness.....look for the light.

A Legacy of Humility

My impression of a humble man is St. Francis of Assisi.  He lived from 1181-1226 and was the patron saint of animals, ecologists, and merchants.  He was also the founder of the Franciscan Order.  St. Francis  wanted nothing else in life than to be accepted, and rebuild the church.  He turned his back on inherited wealth and committed his life to God.  Like many early saints, he lived a very simple life of poverty and in doing so gained a reputation for being a friend to animals.  His story is sad, however, as he spent a life filled with suffering and humiliation.  Out of this wonderful, misunderstood man, came one of the best loved and recited prayers:  "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace - where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.  Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.  For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. In the prayer, he tells us to pray to God to bring forth these good qualities within us in order to help others.  He further goes on to say, that we should not only pray to plant these things in others, but give up our needs to be comforted, understood, and loved.  St. Francis tells us that we will reap the rewards of receiving, being forgiven, and be given eternal life if we serve in this way.  The prayer, originally called the Peace Prayer, occurred in France in 1912 in a spiritual magazine.  It circulated through Europe and no one knew where it came from or who authored it.  When the prayer was translated into English in 1936, it appeared in Living Courageously, a book by Kirby Page, minister, pacifist, and writer.  He attributed the prayer to St. Francis of Assisi.  During World War II and after, this prayer for peace began circulating widely as the Prayer of St. Francis.

Humility is a Quality of Being Humble

When a person is humble he is faith-filled, compassionate, kind, gentle, and docile.  To be humble is to be modest and not prideful.  Humility is a distinguishing feature of human nature with a purpose in life to help others with a joyful heart.  The humble person is thoughtful in his consideration of others, sensitive to their feelings, and accepts them just as they are.  On one hand, humble means to be subservient and/or not feeling good enough, but this is not true about the humble person who accepts and wants to help others.  The only time he feels insignificant and small in the scheme of things is:  when he is in nature, has awe at the workings of the Universe, and looks up to people who are doing great good in the world.  Humility leads to qualities of being a great leader, as we see in our prophets and gentle leaders like Gandhi. Humility is being comfortable with one's self and at peace with the world.  The humble person counts his blessings and is filled with gratitude for what he has, and wants others to have what they desire as well. Many times he helps them achieve this, but does not take credit for it.  "True humility does not know that it is humble.  If it did, it would be proud from the contemplation of so fine a virtue," Martin Luther. Humility brings a person a love for the world and life in general.  He realizes he has purpose, but knows he has nothing to do with beautiful mornings, for example, except have the opportunity to enjoy them.  Mother Teresa said, "We can do no great things; only small things with great love."  Although the humble person's main purpose in life is to love and serve, he does not ignore his own feelings.  Part of the quality of humility is learning to contribute to well being.  The humble person keeps his identity by setting boundaries. Although hard for him, he knows that he has to take care of himself so he can help others.  It is so easy for him to be so empathetic that, while helping someone through the grieving process, he takes on their sadness.  Humility can be summed up in one of the eight beatitudes in Matthew 5:5: "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."

The Result of Being Inspired

Patanjali lived in India one to three centuries before Christ and is considered to be the person who established meditation.  In one of his passages, in the Yoga Sutras he authored, he wrote, "When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations; your consciousness expands in every direction; and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world..."  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, on the same concept, wrote, "The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Provident moves as well.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.  A stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen accidents, meetings, and material assistance that no one could have dreamed would come their way.  Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.  Begin it now." When we become intensely and passionately involved in what we truly love and want to do, our thoughts begin to change, and all of our dormant forces and talents come alive.  The idea is like having an epiphany or becoming enlightened.  We reach a level that can be called inspirational, or being under the influence of inspiration. We become inspired and balanced and it feels natural and effortless. Serendipity and synchronicity occur and we feel as if we are one with the Universe.

The Creative Process of Inspiration

Inspire comes from the Latin word that means to inflame or blow into.  When you inspire something, it is as if you are blowing air over a low flame to make it grow.  Inspire and inspiring are verbs that mean to excite and encourage, as well as, to arouse and influence; inspired is an adjective like "Infiniti's inspired performance"; inspiration is a noun that is the result (person, thing or idea) of inspiring activity or influence, and inspirational is anything under the influence of inspiration as in inspirational literature.  When I decided to write on inspiration, I found two great resources. One was Wilfred A. Peterson's essay:  The "Wave of Inspiration."  In it he makes an analogy of us paddling an outrigger canoe into the ocean.  Paraphrasing, he writes we launch (mentally) into the vast ocean of  the Infinite Mind and meet the oncoming waves head on.  Then we propel our minds deep into this Infinite Sea of Wisdom searching for answers.  At this point, the creative process begins to work. When we are well out to sea, among the creative powers that be, we turn around toward shore.  We relax, stay open, and remain alert for signals.  We wait for the big wave,  letting our subconscious mind take over.  The big wave signifies the big idea that will hopefully come flowing into our mind.  When it comes. we let it lift us up and carry us to shore. We become part of it, and in alignment with it, we are able to utilize its power and let it carry us on to success.  In other words, we are "inspired" by a creative process, and while remaining relaxed, open, and alert, our subconscious mind generates a brilliant idea, an "inspiration" to pursue.   My second resource is a piece by Wayne Dyer called "Inspiration" from a book he wrote called Wisdom of the Ages.  In it he discusses a passage by Patanjali, the author of the Yoga Sutras, and who is considered the person who established meditation.

How Serene are You?

Serenity is a state of mind.  It isn't a matter of chance, but a matter of choice and takes inner work.  We can't will serenity, but can create an environment where it will grow.  Being calm and serene doesn't mean we are promised freedom from pain or difficult circumstances.  Serenity is not an escape from life.  Rather, it is the power to find peacefulness and a deep appreciation of the life we are given and make for ourselves.  Serenity becomes a way of life absorbed slowly and practiced one day a a time.  We seek it, and the freedom from stress that it brings, because we are capable of becoming more fully and passionately ourselves.  If we live with the knowledge that we are worthy, and if we cultivate our spiritual awareness and remember to avail  ourselves of each moment's opportunities, we have many hours of joy and serenity. A peaceful, untroubled, and tranquil mind usually comes to us through inner stillness, "Be still and know I am with you," is an English Prayer, and similarly a Psalm in the Bible notes: "Be still, and know that I am God,"  Knowing that we aren't alone helps. We can also carry our serenity with us into the world, as chaotic as the world may be.  While we are responsible for changing what we can, we have to let go of the rest of life's challenges if we want peace of mind.  As the Serenity Prayer states: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can....," Reinhold Niebuhr.  Although giving and helping should be our major purpose in life, we need to remain serene and complete so that we can take care of ourselves in order to do these things for others.  It is important to know our limits and have boundaries. Serenity, or a deep calmness,  comes from letting go of the past and thoughts of the future and trusting that everything is exactly as it should be, knowing that in the present, "all is well."