Temple of Paz

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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

Everyone Has a Story in Life

A 24 year old man looking out the train’s window shouted…“Dad, look the trees are going behind!”

Dad smiled and a young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 24 year old’s childish behavior with pity, suddenly he again exclaimed…“Dad, look the clouds are running with us!”

The couple couldn’t resist and said to the old man…“Why don’t you take your son to a doctor?”

The old man smiled and said…“I did and we are just coming from the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.'

Moral:

Every single person on the planet has a story. Don’t judge people before you truly know them. The truth might surprise you.

Blessings to all.
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

Potatoes, Eggs and Coffee

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it.

She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.

Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.

He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter.

“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Moral of the story:

In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.

Blessings to all.
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

Live In The Now

Look not back on yesterday
or what you have left behind.
For only today is yours to claim,
and this moment only is your time.
Fret not on what has been
or on what has passed you by.
Yesterday is far behind you.
You can't change it if you try.
New opportunities await you.
They come with each new day,
so look ahead with faith and hope,
and blessings will come your way.
Keep faith alive in your heart.
Live full and live well each day.
Do all the good for all you can
to all those who pass your way.
Yesterday is out of your reach
and tomorrow is not yours to claim.
Only this moment belongs to you.

Blessings to you all.
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

The Nature Of Things

Something that we thought was true
And then it made us sad;
A hurtful word, a shameful look
We stumble on in ignorance
Until in time we find by chance
The answers that we seek,
For there are lessons to be learned
All thoughtless deeds will be returned -
It's one of nature's laws;
That's how we grow in mind and soul,
Each incarnation sets the goal...
It's the nature of things.

Blessings to all.
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

Spring

The air is cool, the breeze is light. The clouds in the sky are fluffy and white.
The flowers open to show their bright faces, as the garden snail alongside paces.
The trees unfold their bright green leaves. The spider a silken web she weaves.
The birds sing their notes high and clear. Cheer up! Cheer up! Spring is here!
I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.
No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

Blessings to all.
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

Smile

If you're feeling down, turn your frown upside down.
Put a smile on your face and take the world in your embrace.
Ask for a little help from the mages.
And remember you have your best friend's love.
A smile is cheer from you to me, the cost is nothing its given for free.
They console the weary and gladden the sad.
And can make someone happy when they are mad.
Unlike blessings in which we pray its the only thing you keep when you give it away.

Blessings to all
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

Welcome everyone to today's Mass.

Our altar is open and available all day for your prayer and meditative needs. We do not discriminate so when we say welcome all, we mean it. Come to the altar and lay your burdens down at the altar and leave them here.

May you be richly blessed with good health, happiness, knowledge, wisdom and the love of the Spirit.

Arise and go in peace and may the peace which passes all understanding remain with you.

Blessings to you all.
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

The Boulder

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

Blessings to all.
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

Wednesday's Mass:

The Old Phone

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighbourhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone's number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbour. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.

I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlour and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlour and held it to my ear. "Information, please" I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. "Information."

"I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.

"Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's home but me," I cried.

"Are you bleeding?" the voice asked. "No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts."

"Can you open the icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.

After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, Information Please," and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?"

She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Paul always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better. Another day I was on the telephone, "Information Please." "Information," said in the now familiar voice. "How do I spell fix?" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialled my hometown operator and said, "Information Please." Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. "Information." I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now." I laughed, "So it's really you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?"

I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your call meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls." I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

"Please do", she said. "Just ask for Sally."

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, Information." I asked for Sally.

"Are you a friend?" she said. "Yes, a very old friend," I answered.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago." Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute, is your name Paul?" "Yes." I answered.

"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you."

The note said, "Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean."

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

Blessings to all.
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Gawain
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Re: Temple of Paz

Post by Gawain »

The Weeds in Our Lives

Isn't it amazing how you never have to water your weeds or nurture them and they still give you an unwanted crop?

I can remember as a young boy growing up in Santa Cruz, California my grandfather showed me how to dig up this pesky weed called Bermuda grass. It was terrible stuff and it would really spread if you didn't get it out by the roots.

That was then. But more recently when my wife and I bought our first home about 8 years ago; guess what I had to deal with? If you said weeds, you are correct. There was this certain patch of weeds that was similar to the Bermuda grass. In other words, just as invasive.

After getting the inside of our home settled, it was time to work on the outside. On my hands and knees I vigorously attacked the weeds with a small hand trowel getting each one out by the roots. Spring after, spring that was my ritual.Just this Spring I realized that one particular weed was no longer prevalent but another one was in full force. So again, I got down on my hands and knees and got to work ridding them from my yard. When I was finished, my yard was better off.

What hidden message is this true story purveying? Sometimes our life can be oh so similar. Yes, we all have weeds in our life. These weeds can be challenges, setbacks, negative beliefs, or naysayers, and the list can go on and on.

The solution is when dealing with these weeds of life is to get to the root of it and remove them one by one and eventually you will conquer this round. And when another crop of weeds shows up, deal with them directly before they spread, because now that you know what to do with them by getting to the root of it, it will give you more courage and wisdom the next time a problem crops up.

You could say we all need weeds in our life to challenge us to grow. Once you know how to handle the weeds in your yard to make it beautiful - so too will your life be.

Blessings to all.
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