Food For Thought

[Aquarius123]

The Nothing People

The Nothing People
Have you heard of the nothing people?
They do not lie, but they do not tell the truth.
They do not take, but they do not give either.
They neither steal nor stop a thief.
They do not rock the boat, and never pull an oar.
They will not drag you down, but always let you pull them
And if the effort kill you, the tough luck is on you.
They do not hurt you, but they refuse to help
And never volunteer for anything.
They neither love nor hate you.
They will not burn you, but they fiddle happily
While you burn.

Do you know what they truly are?
The sins of omission folks.
Spiritual voids, neither good nor bad,
They are standing still and stagnating.
And because they never risk anything,
They do not learn or grow.
At least, the good keep trying,
And the bad in their own way, work just as hard.
At least both are based on action and conviction,
So, please Great Spirit, Father/Mother of all Life,
Send me either a sinner or a Saint,
But protect me against the nothing people.
If you told them they are in danger of
Wasting a precious lifetime on the Earth,
They would not believe you.

Anon.
Edited by Aquarius

From ‘Relationship Healing’

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[Aquarius123]

The Edge

The Edge
‘Come to the edge,’ He said.
They said: ‘We are afraid.’
‘Come to the edge,’ He said.
They came …
He pushed them …
And they flew!

Guillaume Appolinaire

From ‘Words Of Wisdom For Hope & Encouragement’


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[Aquarius123]

The Truth


White Eagle: ‘Truth is like a shining jewel that has many facets. Souls who have uncovered truth within themselves do not say: ‘I have the only truth’ but ‘I see the truth through my facet, but truth has many facets along which its rays travel. What is true to me may not be true for my siblings.’. That’s why we need to walk our path of service with tolerance, ready to observe and appreciate the truth that shines through every soul’s facets. At the core of truth lies the discovery that its central pivot is love, tolerance and an understanding that other people have their own truth as much as we have ours. Let these things be the keynotes of your service.’

 

[Aquarius123]

What is Hope?

When things go wrong, as they sometime will,
The optimist thinks: ‘They’ll come right again!’,
While the pessimist grumbles: ‘It’ll only get worse!’
And as our thoughts and beliefs create our earthly reality,
Both forecasts duly come true.
Each one nodes sagely: ‘I told you so!’
That’s why when times are hard, positive thinkers
Think: ‘They will get better and become easier again.’
Though it may take time, they invariably do.

From ‘What Is Hope?’
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[Aquarius123]

Looking Forward

Looking Forward To The Time When . . .​

• Everybody accepts that humankind’s inner Highest Self is more important than its small earthly self and the ego.

• We all realise the significance of our race and our whole world.

• Everybody is aware that we are as much part of God and as God is part of us.

• We all know in our hearts, minds and souls that prejudices are pointless and harmful.

• People’s inner worth is valued rather than their race, creed or colour.

• Because we realise that we are all one with the Universe and each other, there is peace in our world.

Created by Anon.
Edited by Aquarius​

 

[Aquarius123]

Thank you, Great Spirit, Father/Mother of all life
For the gift of every one of our relationships.
Dwelling in the conscious awareness of our oneness
With You and the whole of Your Creation,
Helps us lift each one of our relationships,
Especially the most difficult ones,
Onto ever higher levels of
Friendship and total and unconditional love,
So that we may become ever more like You.

In the name of love we ask this.
Amen

From ‘Who Is A Truly Caring Friend?’

:hug:
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[Aquarius123]

Death Is Smaller Than I Thought

My Mother and Father died some years ago,
I loved them very much.
When they died my love for them
Did not vanish or fade away.
It stayed just about the same,
Only a sadder colour.
And I can feel their love for me,
Same as it ever was.

Nowadays, in good times or bad,
I sometimes ask my Mother and Father
To walk beside me or to sit with me,
So we can talk together
Or be silent.

They always come to me.
I talk to them and listen to them
And think I hear them talk to me.
It’s very simple –
Nothing to do with spiritualism
Or religion or mumbo jumbo.

It is imaginary.
It is real.
It is love.

Adrian Mitchell

New in
‘Comfort for the Bereaved’

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[Aquarius123]

The Winter Of Our Life​

In our younger years, time has a way of slipping through our fingers. It moves far too quickly and we are mostly unaware of its passing. That no doubt is why it seems to me like yesterday when I was young, got married and embarked on my new life with my mate. Sometimes these events appear to have happened yesterday and at other times as if they had taken place in another lifetime. Reflections of this nature set me wondering where all the years of my life could have gone. I know that I lived them, as every so often I catch a glimpse of what life was like back then and of the hopes and dreams I once cherished.

The winter of my life has arrived and I have to admit it has caught me by surprise. How did I get here so fast? Where did the years and my youth go? I remember seeing older people throughout the years and thinking they were years ahead of me and that the winter of my life was so far off that I could not imagine what it would be like.

Now, I find that most of my friends are retired and their hair has gone grey. They move more slowly and recognise them as older people. Some are in better and some in worse shape than I am, but in all of us I see a great change. They are no longer vibrant and young, the way I once was. Their age, the same as mine, is beginning to show. We are now the older folks we used to see in other, never thinking that we ourselves would be like that in the fullness of time. In this new season of my life having a shower has become a chore and taking a nap every so often is no longer a treat but mandatory. If I do not succumb of my own free will, I am in danger of falling asleep in the most unlikely places.

I was unprepared for the aches and pains that creep up on you with increasing age. I had not bargained for losing much of my strength and with it the ability and willingness to do the things I never got round to in the past. There is no way of telling how long my winter will last. But, I am glad to know that when its end comes for me and my friends, our lives will by no means be over, if you see what I mean. New adventures and learning will be waiting for all of us in the world of spirit, our true home. What an exciting thought!

If you are not yet in the winter of your life, you can take it from me that it will catch up with you much faster than you ever thought possible. Therefore, whatever you still wish to accomplish, get on with it and do it. Do not procrastinate and put things off for too long. This life has a dreamlike quality and goes by amazingly quickly. Do what you can today, as you can never be sure when you will be called home. There is no promise that you will see as many seasons of life as many others do. That is okay, too. Live for today and say all the things you want to tell your loved ones while you have time to do so. This will help them to appreciate and love you even more for yourself and not only for the things you have done for them over the years.

Life is a gift from the Universe to everybody on the Earth plane, and the way we conduct our life can be made into our gift to those who follow in our footsteps, ourselves and our world. It is done by making our stay and theirs as pleasant as we can, and by nurturing and caring for Mother Earth, instead of robbing and plundering her. Wise ones leave her in as good a state as possible because they know that if, in one of their coming lifetimes, they will be required to return to this existence, they will do so in the role of their own descendants. They appreciate that in one of their previous lifetimes they themselves could have been the people they used to think of as their great-grandparents and further back into the past. What an amazing thought! Puts quite a different slant on genealogy, don’t you think? Should further lifetimes on the Earth be required by any of us, by acting now can we can each do our share of ensuring that we find a planet that has recovered from the ravages of humankind’s greed.

Today is the oldest I have ever been and when I am honest with myself, I have to admit that I do have some regrets. Mostly they are about the things I wish I hadn’t done, but also those I should have done. I comfort myself that this is balanced by the many things I am glad I did. When you take stock of your life, you may find the same. And as the winter of your own life is likely to sneak up on you in no time at all, make the most of every day the Universe grants you and enjoy it as much as you can. Don’t forget to have some fun and be content with whatever comes your way. No matter what may happen to you, the acceptance that all our experiences serve a wise and higher purpose can turn each day into a good one.

Live healthily and remind yourself every so often that nothing in our present existence truly belongs to any of us. Only what we are has power and value and not what we have. A happy and loving heart and a peaceful accepting mind are the only wealth in this life that is worth acquiring and not pieces of gold and silver. The riches of our spirit and soul are ours to keep, we take them with us into Eternity. All the rest stays behind and goes to someone else. Therefore, whatever goodness is in you and your life at any given time, endeavour to share it with those around you. It’s not what we gather in material possessions, but that which we scatter that reveals the quality of our character and our life.

Recommended Reading:
• ‘Drinking From The Eternal Fountain Of Youth’
• ‘We Are Our Own Ancestors And Descendants’

Created by Anon.
Edited by Aquarius
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[Aquarius123]

‘Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.’

Lao Tzu​

 

[Aquarius123]

Did you know that we all view everything that is in our earthly existence somewhat differently from everybody else? There are as many variations as there are souls, including those on the other side of the veil of consciousness that to this day separates our two worlds. This is because every human soul is an individual spark of the Divine and no two of us are exactly alike. No two people have exactly the same Karma, i.e. having gone through the same experiences, or have reached the same evolutionary level. Each one of the twelve Sun signs of the zodiac also reflects a different attitude towards life and all it contains.

From ‘Varying Perceptions Of Life – Why?’
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[Perfect Melancholy]

Did you know that we all view everything that is in our earthly existence somewhat differently from everybody else? There are as many variations as there are souls, including those on the other side of the veil of consciousness that to this day separates our two worlds. This is because every human soul is an individual spark of the Divine and no two of us are exactly alike. No two people have exactly the same Karma, i.e. having gone through the same experiences, or have reached the same evolutionary level. Each one of the twelve Sun signs of the zodiac also reflects a different attitude towards life and all it contains.

From ‘Varying Perceptions Of Life – Why?’
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...at-higher-risk-of-mental-health-problems.html

 

[Aquarius123]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...at-higher-risk-of-mental-health-problems.html

Interesting! Thank you for sharing this link with us. With love - Aquarius

 

[Aquarius123]

It’s the plugging away that will win you the day,
So don’t be a piker, old pard!
Just draw on your grit, it’s so easy to quit.
It’s the keeping-your chin-up that’s hard.

It’s easy to cry that you’re beaten – and die;
It’s easy to crawfish and crawl;
But to fight and to fight when hope’s out of sight –
Why that’s the best game of them all!
And though you come out of each gruelling bout,
All broken and battered and scarred,
Just have one more try – it’s dead easy to die,
It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.

From: ‘The Quitter’ by Robert W. Service
‘Rhymes of a Rolling Stone’

From ‘Waking Up From The Dark Night Of The Soul’
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[Perfect Melancholy]

It’s the plugging away that will win you the day,
So don’t be a piker, old pard!
Just draw on your grit, it’s so easy to quit.
It’s the keeping-your chin-up that’s hard.

It’s easy to cry that you’re beaten – and die;
It’s easy to crawfish and crawl;
But to fight and to fight when hope’s out of sight –
Why that’s the best game of them all!
And though you come out of each gruelling bout,
All broken and battered and scarred,
Just have one more try – it’s dead easy to die,
It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.

From: ‘The Quitter’ by Robert W. Service
‘Rhymes of a Rolling Stone’

From ‘Waking Up From The Dark Night Of The Soul’
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Firstly, I noted your ignorance at my comment regarding a link to an article about spirituality actually doing more harm in regards to depression, secondly as said several years ago, do you think pushing a belief as a cure is inappropriate for a support website?

Thirdly and funnily "IF" that is your website, the copyright is invalid, you need to get that dated.

 

[Aquarius123]

Firstly, I noted your ignorance at my comment regarding a link to an article about spirituality actually doing more harm in regards to depression, secondly as said several years ago, do you think pushing a belief as a cure is inappropriate for a support website?

Thirdly and funnily "IF" that is your website, the copyright is invalid, you need to get that dated.

Dear Friend – sorry to have upset you with the extract from Robert W. Service’s poem. And yes, the link provided does indeed take you to my website. In what way do you think the copyright for my own writings is invalid? They are my writings and therefore my spiritual property. That’s why I claim the copyright for them, in spite of the fact that I am very happy to share everything that appears on Rays of Wisdom with anyone who is in need of it – as indeed many are.

With love and light,
Aquarius​

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[Aquarius123]

‘Kindness in words creates confidence. In thinking it creates profoundness and in giving it creates love.’ Lao Tzu

‘Words have the power to destroy and heal, and words that are true and kind can make our world a better place.’ The Buddha

 

[Aquarius123]

Taking Charge Of Our Tongues

On our pathway through life learning to watch the words we speak and thereby taking charge of our tongues is as vital an issue as any other. That is undoubtedly the reason why as early as the Bible’s Old Testament warned in Proverbs 18:21: ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those who love it shall eat the fruits thereof.’ In ‘Spiritual Unfoldment 2’ White Eagle adds to this: ‘Keep control of your tongue, so that it says no unkind and hurtful thing. Bear in mind the feelings of those to whom you speak and do so gently and thoughtfully, without anger and haste. When you do this, my dear children of the Earth, difficulties fall away, sorrow recedes into the background and you cannot help but become aware of the gentle presence of the Master within you.

‘We ask you to render a service to yourself and that is holding your tongue. It is one of the hardest tasks that can be asked of you. You ought to see the mists that surround you and your world that is caused by idle chatter. When there is so much of it on the Earth, even the Angels can to nothing but bow their heads, because in that case they are unable to minister to you. Whenever you are tempted to say: ‘I think or believe so and so. I like this person, but I don’t like that one,’ instead of speaking, be silent and wait and see. If you can also restrain yourself from expressing any foolish opinions about the affairs and the state of your world you will greatly assist the Angels in their work.’

From ‘Taking Charge Of Our Tongues’​

 

[Aquarius123]

‘If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion.’ The Dalai Lama

 

[Aquarius123]

Taking Charge Of Our Tongues - Part 2

In ancient Greece the philosopher Socrates, 469 - 399 BC, famous for his great wisdom, was only too aware of what kind of damage careless gossip can cause. One day he came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said: ‘Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?’

‘Wait a moment,’ Socrates replied. ‘Before you tell me I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.’

‘Triple filter? What does it mean?’

‘Before you talk to me about my student let’s take a moment to run what you’re going to say through some filters. The first one is Truth. Are you sure that what you are about to tell me is true?’

‘No, I just heard about it.’

‘All right,’ replied Socrates. ‘As you don’t really know whether what you have to say is true or not, let’s try the second filter, the one of goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?’

‘No, quite the opposite!’

‘Ah! So you want to tell me something bad about someone, even though you’re not certain it’s true?’

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued: ‘Well, if what you have to say is meant to be of some use to me, you may still pass the test, because the third filter is the test of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?’

‘No, not really!’ came the reply.

‘If what you want to tell me is neither true nor good and not even useful, why tell it to me at all?’ asked the sage.

Defeated and deeply ashamed of himself, the man walked away.

This is but one example of the wisdom for which Socrates was held in such high esteem by his contemporaries. His message is as poignant and valid for us as it was in his time.

From ‘Healers and Healing’ ​

 

[Aquarius123]

A May Celebration Of The Great Mother Of All Life

Bring flowers of the rarest,
Bring blossoms the fairest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale.
Our full hearts are swelling,
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest flower of the vale.

Great Mother, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Great Mother, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,

Their lady they name thee,
Their mistress proclaim thee,
Oh, grant that Thy children on Earth be as true,
As long as the bowers
Are radiant with flowers,
As long as the azure shall keep its bright hue.

Great Mother, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
Great Mother, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,

Sing gaily in chorus,
The bright angels o’er us
Re-echo the strains we begin upon Earth.
Their harps are repeating
The notes of our greeting,
For Mother you are the cause of our mirth.

This hymn is sung during the ‘May Crowning’ of a statue of Mary in May.
Mary is a symbolism for the Great Mother of all life.

Author unknown
Edited by Aquarius

The Dance Of The Flowers​

At the beginning of May the Sun moves through earthy and sensuous Taurus. It is a time that presents us and our world with a dramatic change of tempo. After the breakneck speed and impatience of Mars in Aries, in Taurus Venus enters the main stage. In this Earth sign the planet finds some of its finest feminine expressions and brings to souls born into it, and also to everybody else at this time of the year, a wonderful sense of enjoyment and appreciation of the good things in life. Slowly and with a deliberately measured pace, Earth presents herself as the beautiful young bride. Bedecked with a profusion of flowers, blossoms and new greenery as far as the eye can see, she reveals to us the freshness of as yet unspoilt youth.

Sun in Aries represents the renewed betrothal of Mother Earth and Father Sun. But when the Sun moves through Taurus her wedding feast is celebrated and the Universe invites us all to take time out and enjoy with all our senses one of the greatest Cosmic events, of which the wedding feast and the subsequent renewal of all life on the Earth plane are outer physical manifestations.

When it’s springtime in the Northern hemisphere and all of nature is stirring after its winter rest, spring blossoms appear everywhere in great abundance and beauty. Admiring them, let us remind ourselves from time to time of the process of spiritual growth and harmony that is constantly at work behind any manifestation in the world around us. All children of the Universal Life Force, who are aware of this, have their work cut out for themselves, not merely on the physical plane but by adding our voices to the chorus of praise and thanksgiving that is part of the great orchestra of life. Watching its unfolding helps us to become ever more aware of and in tune with those beavering away behind the outer form of life to bring forth the living manifestations of God’s life on the Earth plane.

Whenever an opportunity for it arises, let us therefore go out into Mother Nature. Under he canopy of Heaven we seek the shelter and shade of the mighty branches of the Universal Tree of Life, God, and absorb His/Her blessings of healing and peace for ourselves and for everything – seen and unseen – that shares this life with us.

From ‘The Sun In Taurus’

Happy May Day!

With love and light,
Aquarius​