Attributes of Patience

What is patience?
Is it not a quiet and steady faithfulness to God and other duties in the midst of trials?

What are the attributes of patience?
* Detachment seems to be key!
e.g., patience in tribulation must involve detaching from the suffering of the present because of faith for trust that all situations can lead to spiritual growth. This makes me think of the Valley of Knowledge in Baha'u'llah's The Seven Valleys, which describes this foresight so beautifully.
Let us "...rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance." (Romans 5:3). "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." (Romans 12:12).
* A healthy dose of selflessness. Rigidly demanding that things work one's own way in one's own time frame is not likely to induce great patience.
* A willingness to compromise seems very much related to the previous point.
* Compassion. Without compassion, it can be harder to relate to another person and hear them out in many situations.
* Any others? Please share out any thoughts you may have. I'm particularly interested in hearing folks' thoughts on practical things we can do to develop more patience.

Patience Continues

How appropriate that a marriage proposal should come during the month of patience, when this relationship has been such a lesson in patience (I suppose that's true of most relationships). Looking forward to a future year of wedding planning and waiting to be married will be another lesson in patience!

Goodnight Moon

This evening I had a marvelous yoga class. I am so grateful to finally to returning to my regular practice after several weeks hiatus during weeks of visitors. Yet, this evening I became quite teary-eyed because t'was the last class of my fabulous instructor Moondance, who had a baby girl just a few months ago.

Tis amazing that my heart can form such a strong connection to someone in a setting where I typically silently enter, turn inward, and quietly leave. Only on a few occasions have I paused after class to converse with her, and yet her teaching has been such a beautiful gift in my life. Her teaching has given me a clear sense of preference of yoga styles (vinyasa, thank you).

As I write this, I am given cause to think that moving connections with others must not necessarily involve conversation (which makes me think of what AA was saying the other evening about discovering silence with another person), nor knowing general trivia about another person's likes and personal life. There is something about yoga that can produce a connection of spirit between a student and her teacher. Ours was a relationship so entirely based on generosity, on her giving, and our (the students') receiving. I have at times wondered what it must feel like to be a yoga teacher, to give of yourself so fully while others come and go, enter class to find solace in themselves and the guidance of your words, the sequences you have thoughtfully put together, the music you have carefully selected. Such teachers are models of detachment. Surely they must recognition the gift of service, the light-filling energy their teaching brings to the world.

"May all beings benefit from our practice. Namaste."
Thank you Moondance.

**for those who are not familiar with the title of this post, it is in reference to a very famous children's book by Margaret Wise Brown, which seemed appropriate for honoring Moondance, who is giving up teaching yoga for now to spend more time with her infant daughter.

I've been so patient with April that some how it has flown by!

San Diego Spring Winds

With tangled hair,
billowing clothes,
steps, harried and pushed
as the mighty sea wind flows.

Like a leaf adeptly pulled
by the swift, sliding hand
of a panda bear, this wind
leaves little force to stand.

As I make my way,
down these broad avenues
I remember these words
to pay my daily dues:

"I testify at this moment
to my powerless and to Thy might"
and at this moment I am humbled
by this clear gift of sight.

Thank you Wind.

Maintaining Peace

This feels very relevant to me today:

"Peace is the willingness to love no matter what is thrown or withheld." -John Morton

In Honor of N's Birthday

Sonnet on the Author’s Birthday
-Robert Burns

SING on, sweet thrush, upon the leafless bough,
Sing on, sweet bird, I listen to thy strain,
See aged Winter, ’mid his surly reign,
At thy blythe carol, clears his furrowed brow.

So in lone Poverty’s dominion drear,
Sits meek Content with light, unanxious heart;
Welcomes the rapid moments, bids them part,
Nor asks if they bring ought to hope or fear.

I thank thee, Author of this opening day!
Thou whose bright sun now gilds yon orient skies!
Riches denied, thy boon was purer joys—
What wealth could never give nor take away!

Yet come, thou child of poverty and care,
The mite high heav’n bestow’d, that mite with thee I’ll share.

Finding Peace

"When you find that the source of your happiness and joy is inside of you, you will also find peace."
- John-Roger

Thought for the Day

When doing some spring cleaning this evening, I came across this passage.

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36)

Prayers for Baby Wa

"O Thou peerless Lord! Let this suckling babe be nursed from the breast of Thy loving-kindness, guard [her] within the cradle of Thy safety and protection and grant that [she] be reared in the arms of Thy tender affection."
‘Abdu’l-Bahá

"Thou art He, O my God, through Whose names the sick are healed and the ailing are restored...
I implore Thee, therefore, by Thy name through which Thou didst manifest Thy Godhead, and didst exalt Thy Cause above all creation, and by each of Thy most excellent titles and most august attributes, and by all the virtues wherewith Thy transcendent and most exalted Being is extolled, to send down this night from the clouds of Thy mercy the rains of Thy healing upon this suckling, whom Thou hast related unto Thine all-glorious Self in the kingdom of Thy creation. Clothe [her], then, O my God, by Thy grace, with the robe of well-being and health, and guard [her], O my Beloved, from every affliction and disorder, and from whatever is obnoxious unto Thee. Thy might, verily, is equal to all things. Thou, in truth, art the Most Powerful, the Self-Subsisting. Send down, moreover, upon [her], O my God, the good of this world and of the next, and the good of the former and latter generations. Thy might and Thy wisdom are, verily, equal unto this."
-Bahá'u'lláh