I apologize for my absence with posting as of late. My hiatus will likely continue until mid-June as time is very precious and in short supply these days with the course load I’m currently undergoing. I wanted to take a moment to poke my head out from my study cave to share some news that is very special to me: Today I was admitted into the postulancy of the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans. The journey from here to the possibility of becoming a professed member of the OEF is neither short nor guaranteed, but I’m sure it will be worth the effort. On this Earth Day, 2013, I feel moved to share with you this poem from St. Francis — who just happens to be the patron saint of ecology:

Mother Earth
By Saint Francis of Assisi

Dear mother earth, who day by day
Unfolds rich blessing on our way,
O praise God! Alleluia!
The fruits and flowers that verdant grow,
Let them his praise abundant show.
O praise God, O praise God,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

1.   ”Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

2.   “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” — 1 John 4:8

3.   ”If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” — Mother Teresa

4.   ”To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” ― C.S. Lewis

5.   ”Where there is love there is life.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

6.   ”I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” ― Mother Teresa

7.   ”There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” ― John Lennon

8.   ”When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” ― Paulo Coelho

9.   “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.” ― Plato

10.  ”Who, being loved, is poor?” ― Oscar Wilde

11.  ”The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They’re in each other all along.” — Rumi

12.  ”Immature love says: ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says ‘I need you because I love you.’” — Erich Fromm

13.  ”Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.” ― Bertrand Russell

14.  ”This is what we call love. When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you.” ― Paulo Coelho

Gresham Community Meditation
When: First Tuesday of each month, 7:00-7:45pm
Cost: $0.
Location: 385 NW Miller Ave., Gresham, Oregon.
More info: Facebook event page.

Fairview Community Meditation
When: First Friday of each month, 4:00-4:45pm
Cost: $0.
Location: 1520 N.E. Village Street, Fairview, Oregon.
More info: Facebook event page.

UPDATE (18 Feb, 2013): After much thought and prayer, I have decided to put Project Pilgrimage on hold for another time and focus on my health, my spirituality, and my studies, and my other ongoing projects at this point in my life.

One Year Bible: 2013
Tomorrow I will begin facilitating a one-year reading and discussion of the Bible. If you are interested in reading the most popular and influential book in the history of the world from a non-dogmatic and open approach, or if you are interested in popping in and out of the discussion over the year, please check out the One Year Bible: 2013 blog or join the Facebook group.

Project Pilgrimage
Tomorrow will also mark the official beginning of my preparation for Project Pilgrimage, where I will be spending all of 2013 training, preparing, and fundraising for a journey across the ancient pilgrimage route known as the Way of St. James or the Camino de Santiago, which runs from the Pyrenees in Southern France and across Northern Spain to Compostela de Santiago.

The Seeker’s Quest Project
2013 will also see the continuation of The Seeker’s Quest Project — my exploration into the great religious traditions of the world — with 2013 being dominated by immersing myself in the many streams of Christian thought.

Mystical Musings Podcast
2012 saw the rise and hiatus of Mystical Musings Podcast. January should see the return of the podcast with 2013 bringing much in the way of religion, spirituality, and mysticism. If you have any suggestions for guests and/or topics, please feel free to let me know.

I would like to wish you and your loved ones a happy and transformative New Year holiday and 2013. Please enjoy this look at the Esoteric nature of New Year’s from the late Rev. Ann Davies.