#presence

If I know that I shall be as an angel, and more; if I shall behold all God has made; if he shall own me for his son and exalt me to honor in his presence, I shall not fear to die, nor shall I dread the grave where Christ once lay. ↗

— Matthew Simpson

#behold #christ #die #dread #exalt

God is a presence that I can never define but I could never deny. ↗

— John Shelby Spong

#define #deny #god #i #i can

He understands the texture and meaning of the visible universe, and 'sees into the life of things,' not by the help of mechanical instruments, but of the improved exercise of his faculties, and an intimate sympathy with Nature. The meanest thing is not lost upon him, for he looks at it with an eye to itself, not merely to his own vanity or interest, or the opinion of the world. Even where there is neither beauty nor use—if that ever were—still there is truth, and a sufficient source of gratification in the indulgence of curiosity and activity of mind. The humblest printer is a true scholar; and the best of scholars - the scholar of Nature. ↗

— William Hazlitt

#being #now #presence #beauty

A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes. I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind. The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out. You left me in the dark. No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight. In the shadow of your heart. And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat. I tried to find the sound. But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness, So darkness I became. I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map. And knew that somehow I could find my way back. Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too. So I stayed in the darkness with you. ↗

— Florence Welch

#being #cosmic-love #florence-the-machine #love #now

Let us think often that our only business in this life is to please God. Perhaps all besides is but folly and vanity. ↗

— Brother Lawrence

#practice-presence-of-god #business

Your true home is in the here and the now. ↗

— Thích Nhất Hạnh

#presence #zen

When we pray, instead of trying to produce love in our souls toward God, we should be basking in God's love for us. How foolish to stay indoors in the cold, dark little room off the self, trying to turn on the light and turn up the heat, when we can just go outside into God's glorious Sonlight and receive his rays! How silly to fuss with artificial tanning salons and lotions and lights when the Son is out! ↗

— Peter Kreeft

#prayer #presence #sonlight #love