The quote is from Rabbi Hillel, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”

These are good words for meditators – and anyone else who wants to achieve while maintaining balance. I know. This balance-thing is tricky.

There is a proverb that says, “He who wants to rule the world should first grow a small garden.”

Based upon experience, that act will teach a lot, including humility.

I keep this flowering apricot as a deep lessons. It is old. It is scarred. Some portions are dead. It has dieback. Yet in all these years, it has been the first to bloom. When all other dreams and trees lay dormant, it shows me the possibility each year.

From something almost grotesque comes beauty. Each year it never fails to receive my stillness and appreciation. And each year, I remember what it whispers, “I am living. I am dying.” 

I find wisdom and peace in that. It is not negative at all. It is all about reaching for the beauty still to be found, no matter how gnarled I become.  It is a perfect voice coming through God’s creation.

Click on the picture to see a larger version

This list which you do, also has a guide within it. If you achieve the goals you set for yourself (or most), you feel successful and great. But there is also a gift in this list if you keep failing to achieve anything (or just a few items). It may mean something very important:

1.  You don’t really want those things you put on the list. You may put them down because you have an idealized (not a realistic) view of yourself.

2.  Your goals are walking you down a road you should not be on. Deep down you know that these goals will not lead to your greater self.

3.  And, the biggest of all: You are afraid to go for it, because it would change you too much. People around you would have to look at you differently. And, that is scary.

So here you go:  Make 7-10 specific goals. (I shall be a gift to the world and love God more, is too vague – and it is not measurable). The more specific you make them, the more likely you are to achieve them.

They don’t all have to be too serious.  One year, when my life was unbelievable busy, one of my goals were: Go down to the beach and enjoy one sunset each month.

I missed it by one. But if I had not written it down, I am sure I would not have enjoyed the journey of the setting sun for that year. It was the year I discovered that the winter-sun sets over the San Bruno Mountains – and the high summer-sun sets way up, near Mount Tamalpais. I became part of the rhythm of our nature that year.

It might seem that Jesus is too tough on us. Many have struggled with these words of Jesus:  Matthew 7:14   “But small is gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

You might think, “This is too hard. I might as well give up now.”

But if we think about it critically: The mere fact that we want to journey into the heart of God, already puts us on the narrow road. Very few people make that decision. It seems that the world wants everything but God.

Think about it. There are very few who seek and knock on God’s door. That is why you are already on the narrow path when you seek the power of Jesus and the grace of God. Cheer up. You are one of the few.

Solitude and meditation go hand-in-hand. But today we create it in the middle of a busy world. We find space and time for it, no matter how we live or how busy we are.

Matthew 14:23  After he had dismissed them (the disciples), he went up a mountain to pray. When the evening arrived, he was there by himself.

John 12:36 “Put your trust in the light while you have it, so you may become sons of light.”  When he had finished speaking, Jesus went away and hid himself from them.

When even the one who is one with God seeks solitude, then it would be a good thing for us as well. It is actually one of the benefits of meditation. The mere fact that we enter into to that great stillness to be with God means that we have also achived a form of solitude.

This break from our busy world is a break of holiness.

I have returned from my travels. While I was traveling and thinking about you all, I though I might expand the topics a bit here at Mystic Cottage. Since I am off from my normal schedules, I thought I would also speak about my life as well.

I discovered a monk and hermit in Irish history.  He was born at the end of the 400’s. This was a time when the church did not have an over-all influence. Spiritual centers with monks were very common. So in these earliest of times came Kevin “The Gentle”.  He sought solitude above all else. And, when it looked like he would become the successor to the abbot, he ran away and became a hermit (for years). But over time his spirituality grew with his reputation, and in the end, he returned to become their spiritual leader and abbot. His church is the oldest “operating” church in Ireland today.

What I like as a meditator is probably the same thing all people like who have become really good at their practice.

I like, as I enter meditation, that I am not my title, my checkbook balance, my job title, my reputation, nor even my name.

I am only one who humbly and simply enter into worship in an ever deeper way. Sacred stillness is reached for, instead of the rush of the world – and within that holy place I seek to be with my God. Stripped bare, I have no pretenses. In a place like that, I can only offer me, my devotion, and my love – in a response to his grace.

Matthew 13:33    He (Jesus) put forth another parable for them, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and placed into a large amount of flour until it had leavened the whole dough.”

Jesus is instructing us with this statement. The kingdom of heaven is like making bread. We are to place something small, but transforming into ourselves, then we are to start working it until it has moved throughout our being – and then we ready for the heavenly fire. …that power of God which transforms us from earthly elements to essential bread.

This is how we grow spiritually by the sacred word of God, contemplation and deep meditation. Here Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven as a journey — or someting to grow into.