The Gospel illustrations made from woodcuts made by Fr. Jerome Nadal, a Jesuit Priest -1507-1580

Plate 1: Christ being tempted by the Jews at the temple on Palm Sunday. 

 Plate 2: Christ with the Gentiles the following Monday.

Lord Have Mercy

Be Peaceful

Be Peace

Be Love

BE

"And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethpage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.  All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,  Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.  And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,  And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon." (Matthew 21:1-7 KJV)

Be Peaceful
BE

Glasswing Butterflies

Photo

"After death and the interlife comes rebirth. Here they are reborn. The story continues..."

Be at Peace

Be Loving

BE Love

BE

“One must do everything one can and then say ‘God have mercy!” ~ Gurdjieff

When he was dying, Gurdjieff's grandfather told him to remember one thing: "...if you want to do any bad thing, postpone it for tomorrow; and if you want to do something good, do it immediately. If somebody insults you and you feel angry, tell him that you will come come back after twenty four hours to answer him."

 Gurdjieff said that advice transformed his whole life. He took the advice seriously and experimented with it. When someone insulted him or said something about him, he would tell the person that he'd come back in twenty four hours to respond because he'd promised his grandfather to do that.  He found that  within twenty four hours he always either concluded the person was right  or was wrong. If right, even though whatever was said about him seemed wrong initially, he had to admit it was true. If they were right, Gurdjieff would go and thank the person and tell them they had
pointed out something true about his being that was not clear to him before. He told them they made him conscious about himself and said he was immensely grateful to them for this help. Or, if after twenty four hours  Gurdjieff concluded that the comments truly had nothing to do with him and the person was absolutely wrong he would not go back because as there was no point in responding at all. When something is completely wrong it is just that, wrong.

"If you try to answer every wrong done to you, you will waste your entire life." Osho

Try: Do not express negative emotion.
Be at Peace
Be Love
BE

(Butterfly Photo)
(Thank you to Peter Holleran for his "George Gurdjieff - Mysterious Trickster" and to Osho for inspiring this post.)

(Butterfly photo)

Free, free at last,

Great God almighty,

Free at last

Be yourself, no matter what.

BE

The Empty Space

I'm  currently re- reading "The Empty Space, A Book About the Theater: Deadly, Holy, Rough, Immediate" by Peter Brook. I found it again while unpacking some old books I brought back to Florida from my old storage space in New York recently .  Brook's thoughts suit me now during this long hiatus, in this chilly rain.  My favorite line in the book is at the beginning of Chapter One: Deadly in which Brook talks about what he calls "Deadly" theater. It reminds me of how things are, really. He says:

"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theater to be engaged."

This is how we are, as Shakespear noticed, "All actors on a stage." All of us, acting on the stage of life - somnambulating. Some who know this also know the audience is God, the All, The Power, The Force. Here we are, we are born into this place. We come with (some say) a purpose, to right wrongs from past lives, to be good, to do right. Unfortunately we forget that soon after birth and are left feeling our way about the dark to find and reach the goal or goals. As I read Mr. Brook's little book, his words shine light in empty spaces in me. Shorn of all desire to be anything other than what I Am now, in this moment, and this moment, his intelligent words stream into this old house tickling ancient  ghosts who chortle at what they once were, as they glimpse their old carcasses in the internal mirror. No longer in deep mourning and regret and filled with all their clutter and clatter, it is very quiet in here, in this empty space. I look forward to the rest of the book, the "Holy, Rough, and Immediate", and wonder what news they will bring. So far this meal, being eaten again in a different time, eons away from where I was when I first read the book,  is so rich I must take it in small bites. Care filled Patience is required lest I forget My Self.

Remember
Be Peace
BE