Inner Listening Space ~ Elise Boulding

"The fact that I have been able in some way to reach back to the early rememberings, to the freshness of the feeling of God’s presence as I knew it when small, has been enormously important in keeping what wholeness there has been in my life. The inner listening place I developed so early has always been there for me in a very conscious way during times of unbearable stress. It is a space that cannot be crowded. And yet, as an adult, I lost the feeling of the immanence of God’s presence. I only remembered the space."

http://www.pendlehill.org/images/pamphlets/php200.pdf

A Peaceful Mind ~ Francis de Sales

"Be patient with everyone, but above all, with yourself. I mean, do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage. I am glad you make a fresh beginning daily; there is no other means of attaining the spiritual life than by continually beginning again, and never thinking that we have done enough.  How are we to be patient in bearing with our neighbour’s faults, if we are impatient in hearing our own? He who is fretted by his own failings will not correct them; all profitable correction comes from a calm, peaceful mind."

More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_de_Sales

Art by Ethel Sowers  http://www.bookroomartpress.co.uk/biographies/29.html

The Busy Years ~ QFP

"In the busy years of home life the parents are upheld and strengthened by their dependence upon God and upon one another; the efficient running of the home, the simple hospitality, the happy atmosphere, are all outward signs of this three-fold inner relationship. Home-making is a Quaker service in its own right. It should be recognised as such and a proper balance preserved, so that other activities - even the claims of Quaker service in other fields - should not be allowed to hinder its growth."

QFP 1959

More at http://www.quakerweb.org.uk/qfp/

The Tragedy of Middle Age ~ Evelyn Sturge

"We must be confident that there is still more 'life' to be 'lived' and yet more heights to be scaled. The tragedy of middle age is that, so often, men and women cease to press 'towards the goal of their high calling'. They cease learning, cease growing; they give up and resign from life. As wisdom dawns with age, we begin to measure our experiences not by what life gives to us, not by the things withheld from us, but by their power to help us to grow in spiritual wisdom."

Evelyn Sturge

More at  http://www.quakerweb.org.uk/qfp/

Artwork from Cathy King  http://cathykingprints.com/home.html

Plain Living ~ Adrian Fisher

"Plain living could be considered a form of "self-denial."...We might think of the practice of self-denial embodied as the pinch-penny, the party-pooper, the censorious Grinch, the snarky, self-righteous authority who wants to deny everyone else's self along with his or her own. Perhaps there should be a new phrase, for in common speech, "self-denial" seems to mean self-punishment or even self-hater a method of manipulating or oppressing others and to have lost whatever positive connotations it once had. We are often urged to indulge ourselves, not deny ourselves. Yet to me, the discipline involved in plain living, and moving towards sustainable living, inextricably connects with nurturing the seed within. Plants can't grow in toxic conditions; neither do they grow because you will them to. Gardening requires watchfulness and love, requires watering, weed-pulling, daily care and attention. The self is not being denied so much as the identity, as expressed in one's way of life, is changing to reflect the growth of the spiritual self, the seed, the kingdom of G_d. It is a journeying towards communion with G_d, moving past distractions, and involves understanding the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things as what they are engines of unhappiness. Forced good behaviour constitutes oppression and repression, but as Gandhi points out, good behaviour undertaken through love is a way towards true freedom. One walks a new path, practicing self-denial in a positive sense that connects inner and outer worlds."

More at  http://universalistfriends.org/uf048.html

Artwork from Vivienne Luxton 
http://vivienneluxtonwelshart.co.uk/

The Inward Teacher ~ Paul A. Lacey

"How is the Inward Teacher known? In joy and health, but also in loneliness and alienation; in the deepest encounters with other people and in dialogue with great ideas and works; in love but also in emptiness; in hunger but also in plenitude; in solitude but also in community. Wherever we are is the starting-place for encountering the voice which can speak to our condition. We cannot compel the inner voice to speak, we can only try to practice openness and attention, and when we hear the voice we can only practice minding and answering. Fortunately, it is our nature as human beings, and it is God’s nature, that we can reach what Levertov* calls the triple communion, the communion within ourselves, with other people, and with that of God within each of us..... It is the bright page which leads us into all books."

~ Paul A. Lacey

More at
http://www.pendlehill.org/images/pamphlets/php278.pdf
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Levertov

Painting by Jahaziel Minor at http://jahazielminor.carbonmade.com/

Authentic Life ~ 'Wee Dragon'

"When I am out with the children doing something like picking berries under the sun surrounded by farm land, I am almost immediately able to lose my hardened “Mean Mommy” exterior.  When we are gathered with some common purpose, away from the distractions of a house filled with junk, we get a glimpse of life as it is meant to be.  We were just playing at “work”; our survival certainly did not depend on these berries that we picked.  However, it reminds me that our family’s goal of becoming more self-sufficient (where the berries ARE something we depend on to add to our food stores).   When I read the Little House books, I see such a wonderful picture of a family living and working not for some secondary gain (money, entertainment, and “self-fulfillment”), but because G-d told us that we were to live by the toil of our own hands.  The meaning and purpose of life really was about G-d, family and the very simple blessings (and toils) of an authentic life. "


~Wee Dragon

More at  http://weedragon.wordpress.com/

Artwork from Elizabeth Adela Stanhope Forbes 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Forbes_(artist)