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Welcome to OneLife Ministries. This site is designed to lead you prayerfully into a heart experience of Divine Presence, Who is Love. I hope persons of varied wisdom paths will find inspiration here.
Blessings,
Brian Kenneth Wilcox
MDiv, MFT, PhD
Interspiritual Chaplain, Teacher, Author
You are invited to join Brian at his fellowship group on Facebook. The group is OneLife Ministries A Contemplative Interspiritual Fellowship.
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Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
*Thich Nhat Hanh. Buddhist Master.
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Jesus was in a happy mood. His disciples asked him the stages he went through to such joy.
My Father first led me by the hand, Jesus said, into the Land of Action, and I lived there for several years. Next, He led me to the Land of Sorrows. I lived there several years, until purged of many desires of inordinate attachment. Then, I found myself in the Land of Love, and these pure flames burned more in me that needed to be transformed. Then, I found myself in the Land of Silence, and I was shown the mysteries of life and death, of total surrender to the Divine Darkness.
They inquired, Was that the last stage, Master?
No, he said. One day the Father said, Today, I shall take you to the innermost sanctuary of the Temple, to the heart of God.
And, they asked, where did He lead you?
I was led, Jesus said, to the Land of Laughter.
*Anthony de Mello. Taking Flight. Adapted.
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Yes, God gives joy, and God gives the choice to smile that can bring joy, even amidst sorrow. Sorrow and joy are two faces of the same Grace. Kalil Gibran wrote: "Joy and sorrow are inseparable. Together they come and when one sits alone with you, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed." And Joseph Campbel reminds us: "Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy."
Yes, joy is both a gift and a choice. Both arise from union with the Divine Presence and the world, in One.
©Brian Wilcox, and OneLife Ministries. 03/03/2010.
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*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.
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