Real Life will... and must keep challenging our understanding of it, because real Life is ceaselessly renewing itself; only by learning to be as one with its changes can we hope to understand -- and agree -- to play our part in a Divine plan that never stops starting over.

Only in our awareness of a weakness -- by our ability to sense the presence of any negative, or otherwise self-denigrating thought or feeling -- is found the strength we need to die to this lower level of self that, otherwise... lives to ensure that we accept its limitations as being our own.

Until we realize some level of conscious separation from our habitual reactions, our sense of self remains little more than a series of fleeting identities; each one appearing -- only to disappear -- as helpless to remain in place as is a shadow created by the sunrise able to hold its ground when the sun sets.

Part 1 It is impossible to hear the "Voice of Heaven" -- to be in any level of communication with real conscience -- and to be talking to yourself at the same time. Part 2 In stillness, I see. In silence, I hear. Seeing and hearing in this way, I am instructed... And come to understand.

Step by step, little by little -- as we are willing to see how seeing the Truth of ourselves turns all of life in our favor -- do we realize the peace of a higher understanding that can be gained in no other way: the Universe (itself) is, and always will be... our Friend.

Actively at rest in the unseen space between "here" and "there"... between "now" and "then"... dwells a Timeless Realm that is "all" and "everywhere" at once; it can not be seen with the eyes; it is beyond anything the mind can imagine; and yet... because this Kingdom resides in the heart, it can be felt....

Nothing can be fully transcended without having completely experienced its nature; and this includes temptation, whatever its nature. The "saint" is not someone who has never been tempted, but rather the one who -- having come to know its nature so fully -- can no longer be deceived by any of its empty promises... or veiled threats.

No unwanted moment exists greater than our right to walk past the dark, or otherwise fearful parts of us responsible for that painful perception... as long as we're willing to meet, face to face, the lower level of self that fears change, and then work to use its fear to die to it.

The "devil" on earth is nothing more, or less... than the manifestation of human ignorance in its lowest, most abased expression; (it is) a petty and unconscious level of "self" that enlarges itself by gorging itself on the stimulating sensations that it creates as it identifies with its own unbridled (negative) imagination.

Part 1 What is Truth But the moment revealed? What is Light But God concealed? Part 2 The idea that all good things must come to an end is only half of the real the story. Here's the other half: it's equally true that what is Good in life is always just beginning.

The repetition of patterns, even painful ones, is a form of safety to a mind that prefers to remain asleep to itself... because in the continuation of the known it finds a fitful kind of rest, even as it talks to itself about how much it hates being stuck in a rut!...

Part 1 Peace of mind cannot be pieced together anymore than it's possible to sew water, or weave sunbeams into light. Part 2 You cannot separate the onset of the disturbing moment in life from the appearance of some simultaneous new possibility to know a deeper and more unshakable sense of peace.