Coach Kenji

How near is god?

"Will you ever understand how near God is to you?" - Lalla, fourteenth century C.E.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel

"When I marched with Martin Luther King in Selma, I felt my legs were praying." - Rabbi Abraham Heschel

Paul Brunton

"When every situation which life can offer is turned to the profit of spiritual growth, no situation can really be a bad one." - Paul Brunton

A.A. Milne Winnie-the-Pooh

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." - A.A. Milne Winnie-the-Pooh

The Serenity Prayer

To me the construct of "god" is personal: the ocean, plants, Buddha, the stars ... the well known version of the Serenity Prayer is actually a re-write of the original. Here is a partially quoted version of it, namesake:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; --Reinhold Niebuhr

Marcus Aurelius

"Take full account of the excellencies which you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not." ~ Marcus Aurelius

African Saying

"Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused." - African saying

Blaise Pascal

"The true human is infinitely deeper than the merely human." - Blaise Pascal

Bernie S. Siege

"For me, a lovely day is any day I wake up." - Bernie S. Siegel from Prescriptions for Living

Mother Teresa: do it anyway

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway. - Mother Teresa based on a composition originally by Kent Keith