Proverbs And Counsels

The place of God is presence itself. The time of the encounter is now.

Let the Lord have a care for justice; but the Lady is mercy entire.

His mercy commands a humble heart.

"Mercy" is the inscription over the gates of heaven;
it is through mercy that we enter into the life of paradise.

Man was created last, and left incomplete.

Your foot has stumbled on the earth; you have incarnated.
Your foot has stumbled on the earth, but do not fall.
Only learn to keep a watchful step.

Once, you sought His face. But now you are in awe of the mystery.

Who can search His depths? They are without limit.
But, of what a man may know, there is a limit.

Hypocrites! Their eyes search the scriptures with a carnal lust.

The lily of the valley is gentle, modest and without complaint. She is startling for her purity. Her beauty is subtle and unsurpassed. The presence of the Lord is the Light in which she stands.

The Lord God is not an abstraction, but a reality in which you "live, move, and have your being". In order to effectively call God to mind, it is necessary to imagine yourself in His presence. Therefore, when you pray, when you reflect on sacred matters, or when you read and consider the sayings of wise men, never forget to think of yourself in the presence of the Most High. Place yourself before the throne of God, and be illuminated by the Light of the Lord.

Praise the Lord! who is the source of all praise, and all that is praise worthy. Without beginning or end, unbound by time. No mind can conceive Him, no eye behold, nor ear hear him. He is undiscovered and beyond discovering. Less than a speck of dust beneath His feet is our entire universe; for He has no corporeal frame. Everything comes from and belongs to Him, and all things ring with the vibration of His voice, though His voice itself cannot be heard. He is everything, and He is unlike anything. No words can describe Him. Before the world existed, He was complete.

The Sabbath was made for us. It is a gift from the Lord. A refuge from distraction and a temple fortress.

Remembrance of God is the dawn of a new day.

At any time, we may cultivate peace and order in honoring the paths of the Lord. This is a proof of His mercy. No matter how far we run from the law of the righteous, He is always beside us. We need only turn to Him, in order to return to Him.

The greatest joy is a prayer to God. Praise Him, and remember His glories, for He is the rock of saints; the ground where it is fit to stand. He is the consolation of our ancestors, curer of the ages, friend to the afflicted, sustainer of the wise, -- He is the Lord God, upon whose power even the Master Jesus depended in prayer, -- strength of the prophets, and light of the wise, by which they read and recover their wisdom.

It is sweet to praise, and to recover, Him. It is fortune, to discover His mercy. The presence with which He clothes us is a token of His charity. The signet of His letter is love.

To be seated in prayer is to arise before the Lord.

A contrite heart is an altar consecrated to the worship of the Lord.

He gives vigor to those whom sorrow has weakened and snared within her net. He is a sign of hope, even to the most sorely oppressed. His word is a hand that reaches into depths, and rescues the damned. He is the love that binds together families and friends, to make bulwarks against tidal waves of grief. He is the song on the lips of a righteous man.

To seek Him, to walk -- or to run! -- in the direction of His kingdom, is to be healed. Who reads from the books devoted to the Lord, is ministered to by saints, prophets, and often angels. Only a blind and heartless fool, deprived of all proper guidance in life, neglects the utterances of wise men. Learn to love by studying the signs of those who love and have loved God. Learn peace from the peaceful and charity from the saints.

When we mourn the death of Jesus, we are close to celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

By scorning the ways of God, we have fallen into sickness and confusion. But by observing the habits of righteousness, we are brought into alignment with All.

Do not hold a grudge, but say to yourself, "I, too, have hurt others this way," and remember that the pain and resentment you feel is precisely what motivated the very actions which offend you now.

Be of a charitable heart and a kindly disposition, keeping wisdom always at the ready. The one whose recourse is wisdom will be slow to anger and quick to make amends. His attention is where God is and his treasure is the Lord's. He will not return evil for evil. Out of the riches of righteousness he gives alms.

What is the upright man like? To what may we compare the disciple of Christ, and the servant of the Father Most High? He is like a city surrounded by peacemakers, diplomats, and ambassadors bearing all manner of generous gifts; the fruits of a culture rooted in the rich soil of devotion.

With the possible exception of the forgiveness of wrongs (and perhaps the asking of forgiveness), there is no offering or sacrifice more pleasing to the Lord, or more befitting the legacy of His most devoted servant, Jesus Christ, than the giving of alms to the poor, the healing of the sick, and the showing of kindness, or love, to those who lack it. Give bread to the hungry, herbs to the diseased, and, with compassion, season the bitter heart.

There is no ignorance to compare with the blindness of a closed heart; who shuts up the heart buries the soul alive and seals the tomb.

Lazarus is a representative of the hearts resurrected by the power of Christ; by the power of Christian Love (or what the Greeks called "Agape"). There is no life where love is absent, but when love approaches, all creation comes to life; the eyes perk up, the pulse is quickened, and the arms are ready to embrace.

Hope smiles from the breast of Love, and clings thereto, like a child full of promise. Her older children, -- daughters Mercy, Charity, and Compassion, and sons Prayer and Fasting, -- tending her needs and serving her wishes, nearly complete the image of familial bliss. Her husband, Light (or Truth), stands ready to assist, offering a helpful word or two. What is it, then, to walk in the Light? It is to husband the spirit of Love, and be a father to the children of heaven.

He shepherds the generations of the righteous, whom He feeds on the Gospel of Truth, that they may know the prosperity of serving Him. With their wool, He clothes the naked. Their milk is nourishment for babes. For them, the Lord labors, and for their peace.

Do not insist upon your right to counsel men, or lay blame on others, when your advice is not taken up, and your pride is stung. Who are you, that men should listen to you? Are you a righteous man? Have you brought your own mind, heart, and soul into accordance with the ways of God? Have you healed yourself, that you are fit to play the physician?

There are those whose chief task in life is to calm the passions, and those who must learn to stir the blood. Just as there are times in life when it is good to be silent, and times when it is good to speak. Virtue is always a golden mean, between two extremes; of excess and of deficiency. Modesty is no virtue in a man overcome by complacency, indifference, and superficial concerns. Meekness is even a pitfall, in a man with a tepid heart. For, while it is good to be convinced of our own wretchedness, and to lift no finger in our own defense, we should not be slow to stand up for the righteousness of God. Even anger may be righteous, in the heart of a submissive man; whose breast is inflamed, not on account of self-pride, but because his confidence is in the Lord.