№ 435. God of the Gaps

Someone asked the Master if he believed in luck.

"Certainly," he replied with a twinkle in his eye.

"How else can one explain the success of people one does not like?"

--- from Awakening, Conversations with the Master, by Anthony de Mello

№ 248. Awaken; Live

"If you are fortunate enough to be awakened..., you will know why the finest language is the one that is not spoken, the finest action is the one that is not done, and the finest change is the one that is not willed." --- Anthony de Mello.

№ 237. Dark Night of the Soul 2

Ramen House intallation

"Many people think that the point in life is to solve their problems and be happy. But happiness is usually a fleeting sensation, and you never get rid of problems. Your purpose in life may be to become more who you are and more engaged with the people and the life around you, to really live your life. That may sound obvious, yet many people spend their time avoiding life. They are afraid to let it flow through them, and so their vitality gets channeled into ambitions, addictions, and preoccupations that don’t give them anything worth having. A dark night may appear, paradoxically, as a way to return to living. It pares life down to its essentials and helps you get a new start.

№ 96. The Salt Doll

Vocation is the “place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”
--- Frederick Buechner in "Wishful Thinking, A Seeker's ABC."

Here's a favorite parable from an old Jesuit mystic, Anthony De Mello.

The Salt Doll

Illustration by Maia Walczak

A salt doll journeyed for thousands of miles over land, until it finally came to the sea.

It was fascinated by this strange moving mass, quite unlike anything it had ever seen before.

"Who are you?" said the salt doll to the sea.

The sea smilingly replied, "Come in and see."

So the doll waded in. The farther it walked into the sea the more it dissolved, until there was only very little of it left.

Before that last bit dissolved, the doll exclaimed in wonder, "Now I know what I am!" (Anthony de Mello)

"Now I know what I am."