A-MUSED

[email protected] NOTHING HERE BELOW IS PROFANE FOR THOSE WHO KNOW HOW TO SEE. | Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ

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THE ROOTS BENEATH

An old master had two roses in his garden: one was perfect, the other was ravaged by pests. One day, a zealous pupil cut down the diseased one to protect the other. The master wept. “The roots,” he said, “beneath the ground, were intertwined. By killing the diseased one, you have also killed the healthy one.” The pupil did not understand: “But I only meant well.” “I know,” replied the master.…

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PATIENT LOOKING

A farmer was complaining to the wise old man: “Weeds are growing in my field, and I can’t sleep for the sheer frustration.” The wise man invited him to sit beside him, under a tree, facing a field that wasn’t his own. “Look at that field,” he said. “You don’t know it, it doesn’t belong to you, yet look at it closely: there is wheat and there is weed, mixed together, just as everywhere…

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THE FLOUR AND THE INSECTS

A disciple asked his master: “How can I recognise evil in the world?“ The master took him into the kitchen, where his wife was kneading bread, and pointed to the white flour on the table, dotted with tiny black insects. “Look,” said the master, “separate them.” The disciple began searching, one black speck at a time, but the more he searched, the more flour spilled onto the floor, wasted. The…

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The mystic’s Julian of Norwich's book, Divine Revelations, is a devotional exploration of the lavish love of God in the form of 16 visions of Christ. These are simultaneously lofty and transcendent, yet hunkered down in embodied analogies that can resonate with both medieval peasants then and laypeople today. She sees God in the seemingly insignificant, saying, ‘The fullness of Joy is to behold God in everything’.  Take this famous quote about a hazelnut. See how she employs a simple concrete image to unlock a palpable sense of being held by an affectionate God. 

And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, ‘What may this be?’ And it was answered generally thus, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.

In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.

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THE CONTRACT

A young monk came to the Master waving a scroll. “Master! A great gift — land, grain, and peace for fifty years. I have only to sign.” The Master said, “Read it to me.” The monk read the large letters. His voice glowed. The Master said nothing. The monk squinted at the small letters crowded at the edges. His voice slowed. Then stopped. “Ah,” he said. “Ah,” said the Master. “As it has…

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BEYOND RIPPLES

“It is entirely your fault,” the master repeated, as the disciple stared at him in disbelief. “My fault?” the disciple stammered. “But Master, I try every single day! I sit in meditation, I study the scripts, yet the world constantly interrupts me. My mind drifts, my emotions storm, and the peace I find vanishes in a second. How can this be my fault?“ The master stood up without a word and…

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A drunkard was walking down a street with blisters in both of his ears. A friend asked him what had…

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MAYBE YOU'RE AT THE WRONG WINDOW

A drunkard knocked at the wrong door. The man of the house leaned out the window and said, “Go away, you’re knocking at the wrong door!” But the drunkard said, “Maybe you’re looking out of the wrong window!” Source: A story in the tradition of Anthony de Mello SJ, from the world of folk wisdom he loved to draw upon. CONSIDER THIS “When you’re upset, your window is blurred. And the fool that…

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A certain grammarian embarked in a boat.That self-conceited person turned to the boatman and said,”Have you ever studied grammar?””No,” he replied.The other said, “Hal…

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THE GRAMMARIAN AND THE BOATMAN

A certain grammarian embarked in a boat.That self-conceited person turned to the boatman and said,“Have you ever studied grammar?”“No,” he replied.The other said, “Half your life has gone to waste.” The boatman became sad, but kept silent.After a while the wind cast the boat into a whirlpool.Then the boatman cried to the grammarian:“Tell me, do you know how to swim?”“No,” he answered.The boatman…

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WISE FISHERMAN

A professor and a wise fisherman are sitting next to each other on a long flight. The professor says, “Let’s play a game. I’ll ask you a question — if you don’t know the answer, you pay me $5, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $500.” The professor asks first: “What’s the distance from the Earth to the Moon?” The fisherman doesn’t say a word, quietly reaches into his pocket, and hands…

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I DIDN'T

On the afternoon of September 13, 1983, the day when he was elected the 29thSuperior General of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach slipped out of the Jesuit headquarters in Rome to take a walk. An Italian lady saw him leaving the building and asked: “Are you attending the General Congregation of the Jesuits?” “Yes,” he told her. “Well,” she said, “I wouldn’t have…

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AND THEN?

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish. About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the…

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THE FISHERMAN

Once upon a time there was an investment banker.  He lived in New York City, was phenomenally successful, and made a ton of money.  But his life was busy, noisy, and very stressful. So, once a year, he would leave the city and go down to a small coastal village in Mexico.  For two weeks he would rest, relax, and allow himself to be rejuvenated. One day he was standing on the pier just before…

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THE BUSINESSMAN AND THE FISHERMAN

A wealthy businessman was horrified to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child. “Why aren’t you out fishing?” asked the businessman. “Because I caught enough fish for one day,” replied the fisherman. “Why don’t you catch some more?” “What would I do with them?” “You could earn more money,” said the businessman. “Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger…

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IN THE KITCHEN

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel …” –Luke 1:26 Bellini has it wrong.I was not kneelingon my satin cushion,in a beam of light,head slightly bent.Painters alwaysskew the scene,as though my lifewere wrapped in silks,in temple smells.Actually, I had justcome back from the well,placing the pitcher on the tableI bumped against the edge,spilling water on the floor.As I bent to wipeit up, there was…

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I CHOOSE ALL

Screenshot There is a wonderful story told by St. Thérèse of Lisieux in her autobiography, Story of a Soul , of an incident that happened to her as a child. Her older sister, Léonie, having outgrown playing with dolls, brought a basket of stuff for making dolls’ dresses to her younger sisters, Céline and Thérèse, with her own doll resting on top of it. She offered the basket to them, saying:…

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