Good morning.
Things are slow in the old Cafe lately...I hope you had a good start to the New Year or at least have hope that things will be better.
This is a collection of pieces I've been reading, browsing or perusing that I thought would possibly be of use to you. I'm working on this at 2:55 am. Sunday January 2, 2005....it's nice and quiet.
It starts with Silence, moves to Thomas Merton, Prayers, Annie Dillard, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and ends up at - Why Babies Cry and How to Soothe Them.
I heard an aid worker, a Doctor, on the Seattle news tonight. He was leaving for Sri Lanka to help. He said he hadn't watched the news for a couple of days and had been praying in preparation for his trip. His point was that he needed to take care of himself in order to take care of other people...
That's sort of the point of this collection of pieces. How you can take care of your self and maybe eventually be available to help others. I hope to understand this a little someday. For now I'll continue doing what I can, like we all do.
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Silence
Thoughts on Silence, by Kathryn Damiano - School of the Spirit "...When we have exhausted all our human efforts, experience the limitations of human justice, or the finitude of human relationships, we are left with silence."
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Thomas Merton
The Thomas Merton Connection “… going home, to the home where I have never been”
When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature "... and his gift to us is what will save us-a sense of the sacred in nature."
Merton Center Occasional Papers "... Our minds seek what is beautiful, true and good as naturally as we breathe the air of this room."
Thomas Merton Daily Meditations from His Journals "....Actually whatever work is to be done is God's work and not mine, and I will not help matters, only hinder them, by too much care."
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Prayer
Interlude: Prayers "...We offer this eclectic collection of prayers for your inspiration."
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Annie Dillard
Annie Dillard - For the Time Being "... Dillard is always (as she wrote in Living by Fiction) practicing unlicensed metaphysics in a teacup, always asking the fundamental questions about life and death."
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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
The Heart of Matter "...Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a Jesuit priest and paleontologist, who studied chemistry, physics, botany, and zoology and received his doctorate in geology. The author of several works of philosophy and religion, he is considered by many to be among the foremost thinkers of our time."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Quotes "....We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. "
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Seven Reasons Babies Cry and How to Soothe Them
For Babies Of All Ages "...I'm hungry. Change my diaper. I'm too cold or hot. I want to be held. I can't take it anymore. I don't feel good. None of the above. I can't figure out the reason. What should I do? Wrap her up and hold her close. Let her hear the rhythm. Put her in motion. Rub her tummy. Let her suck on something. Take care of yourself."
