The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God

The kingdom of God is already in our hearts. It is like a garden needing constant nourishment through our good deeds. This is what invites God's Spirit into our hearts and keeps it growing. At that level of Beingness, every little act of love, every small gesture of goodwill, every genuine expression of gratitude, every kind word spoken, every little help rendered, every act of care and compassion, everything and anything we do that brings comfort, relief and succour to others counts toward keeping the kingdom of God in our hearts alive and flourishing. In the words of Oscar Wild, "Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead." God is Love. Love is God. Let us Keep both in our hearts.

Never Give Up Praying

Never Give Up Praying

There was once a renowned sage. He used to pray fervently in front of his Lord each day. One day, while he was praying, one of his followers came and sat beside him. As the two sat silently together, the sage received a message from God, which was overheard by the follower. However, the follower, out of respect for the sage, kept quiet.

The next day, the pious man was once again busy praying. The same follower was by his side when he received another message. Once again, out of respect, the follower did not ask the sage any question.

On the third day, the same thing happened. But, this time the follower decided to speak out and asked, "God has constantly been telling you that your prayer is not accepted, so why do you keep praying?" The sage, with a feeling of surprise in his face, responded and said, "You have only heard this rejection for three days and are suggesting that I give up praying, whereas I have heard this rejection for thirty years and I have not given-up or become discouraged. Anyway, who are you to interfere? It is simply my job to pray and it is for God to accept prayers as He pleases."

We should never be discouraged if our prayers are not being answered as quickly as we want. God will never let our seeds go to waste as long as we keep watering and nourishing them with good deeds to make them grow.

Extracted and adapted from A sufi Story

The Mind

The Mind is the storehouse of your thoughts and ideas. It is your inner room where you hold private meetings with yourself. This is where you ask yourself some of life's most challenging questions with no one to judge you. It is where you consult yourself and find your own answers to each of your life's question. No one has the key to the room unless you voluntarily give it to them. In that room, you can make a plan and you can change the plan without having to justify your reason to anyone. In the room, you are free to have two minds on a subject, "to be or not to be." Nurturing your mind in preparation for how to respond to the ups and downs of life events as the ending of one forms the beginning of another in an endless chains is the essence of spiritual enlightenment and personal growth.

Religious Obscurantism

Muslim’ is an Arabic word. Literarily, it means one who submits to God. In Arabic, God means Allah. Islam means those who follow the doctrine of total ‘submission’ to Allah. Jesus Christ brought the doctrine of God’s “salvation” to Christians in the same way that Prophet Muhammed brought the doctrine of “submission to God” to Muslims. Not a single verse of the Holy Qur’an contradicts any verse of the Bible, In fact, they are complementary. So, where is the division between these two great religions? 

We must stop handing over our lives to religious obscurants of our time.  As long as they have our listening ears, they will only continue to combine their intellectual prowess with their spiritual poverty to mislead instead of inform, to confuse instead of educate, to obscure instead of enlighten, to instil fear instead of hope, all for their own selfish agenda.  Think for yourself. Never surrender your thinking to others.

Servant Leadership in Action

Servant leadership is about the sharing of power between servant and leader. It is a type of leadership that puts the needs of others first. It seeks to empower people to keep developing and performing at their optimum level. Servant leadership turns the traditional power structure upside down.  Instead of people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. When leaders shift their mindset and act  as if they are servants of the people, they unlock purpose, meaning and ingenuity in those around them.  This is a mindset that helps empower people to become co-generators of ideas that turn plans into positive actions. Everyone is a winner. This is Servant Leadership in action.

Pope Francis Homily

"You can have flaws, be anxious, and ever angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can stop it from going bust. Many appreciate you, admire you and love you. Remember that to be happy is not to have a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, work without fatigue, relationships without disappointments.To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord. It is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness.It is not only to celebrate the successes, but to learn lessons from the failures.It is not only to feel happy with the applause, but to be happy in anonymity. Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves. To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become your destiny's author. It is to cross deserts, yet to be able to find an oasis in the depths of our soul. It is to thank God for every morning, for the miracle of life. Being happy is not beig afraid of your own feelings. It's to be able to talk about you. It is having the courage to hear a "no". It is confidence in the face of criticism, even when unjustified. It is to kiss your children, pamper your parents, to live poetic moments with friends, even when they hurt us. To be happy is to let live the creature that lives in each of us, free, joyful and simple. It is to have maturity to be able to say: "I made mistakes". It is to have the courage to say "I am sorry". It is to have the sensitivity to say, "I need you". It is to have the ability to say "I love you". May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness ... That in spring may it be a lover of joy. In winter a lover of wisdom. And when you make a mistake, start all over again. For only then will you be in love with life. You will find that to be happy is not to have a perfect life. But use the tears to irrigate tolerance. Use your losses to train patience. Use your mistakes to sculpter serenity. Use pain to plaster pleasure. Use obstacles to open windows of intelligence. Never give up .... Never give up on people who love you. Never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show. "
(Pope Francisco).

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is an act or a process. It is therefore a skill, a learnable skill. The best way that I have found to learn the skill is knowing that  non-forgiveness is a stressor. A stressor is defined as "a chemical or biological agent that causes stress to an organism." Non-forgiveness is like a self-inflicted stressor. No one else suffers the physical and emotional pain of a stress but the non-forgiver. Lent is just about the best  time to reflect more on how we can improve our health and wellbeing through more acts of forgiveness.