Years ago, Phil had published some Proverbs and Maxims for Spiritual Growth, in his Pathways to Serenity book. Phil mentioned in one of his books or tapes or correspondence, at what stage (let's rather say "point") on his journey these seemed to flow most freely. Maybe he could briefly comment on that.

At any rate, those little maxims and other pithy sayings are common in our tradition.

quote:

First, I think it's worth reminding ourselves of the "literary genre." That is to say, John is giving us "maxims" or "sayings," which have a venerable tradition in Christian spirituality. A maxim is a kind of pithy and memorable summary of practical advice (e.g., "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today") but not a complete treatise on ethics or behavior. Maxims have to be interpreted and applied (for example, we'd die of exhaustion if we tried to do EVERYTHING today instead of postponing some things until tomorrow). Jesus himself was fond of "sayings" or "maxims" and many Scripture scholars believe that some of the earliest written documents among believers were collections of his sayings. And we know that some of these are very hard sayings ("let the dead bury the dead, offer no resistance to evil, unless you hate father and mother, etc., etc."), and that some Christians have gotten into trouble when they interpret these out of the context of the whole gospel message. Moreover, Jesus' sayings, though in the tradition of "wisdom" sayings, often turn conventional wisdom on its head and show us the paradoxical possibilities of the kingdom that he came to inaugurate and proclaim.

Much the same can be said of John. We know that in his early years in Carmel he gave many spiritual conferences and did much spiritual direction, and that he liked to leave people with pithy little summaries of his main points. These maxims or "dichos" were among his first writings, then, and later sometimes were simply incorporated into his treatises. They're not complete treatments of the subjects they address, but succinct reminders of important points.

by Steven Payne, OCD See this great Study Guide for The Ascent of Mt Carmel by John of the Cross

There are short little sayings I've enjoyed over the years, although I can't even remember where I first heard them. I resonated with 1) The quest is my grail. 2) The journey is my destination. 3) the fugue of pattern and paradox 4) Happiness cannot be pursued it must ensue. 5) It's not about consolation or desolation, obtaining pleasure and avoiding pain; It's about journeying together. 6) Being good delivers intrinsic rewards, and maybe, maybe not, extrinsic rewards, in this life. 7) What gets in your way IS the way. 8) Spirituality is found in our interruptions. 9) The true measure of a wo/man is the size of the thing it takes to get her/his goat. 10) Peace is not the absence of storm but the calm in the midst of the storm. 11) Courage is not moving forward without any fear but our pressing onward in spite of our fears. 12) Love is not a feeling. It's a commitment.

I see things I'd attribute to Scott Peck, John Powell SJ, Viktor Frankl,MD , a monastic spiritual director, Boethius, Henri Nouwen, Samueal Brainard, Richard Rohr OFM, myself even, Mark Twain, but not quite sure.

Anyway - do any of you have some favorites to share? Maybe we could work on the proper attributions and credits together -- like, who said it first? Maybe after we have a fairly good compilation, we could do some type of poll and choose our Top Ten? Maybe I can get some of my Daily Darnell subscribers to contribute?

pax,
jb

Hmmm most of the ones that come to mind right at the moment are what I call "mom-isms". My mother was a wise and gentle woman and had many little sayings that held lots of truth. I'll put down just a couple and post more as other things come to mind.

1) Never wear your feelings on your shoulders, someone's bound to knock them off.

2) Look around you, there is always someone worse off than you are...never forget that.

3) Smile at everyone you meet. It only takes a minute and it just might make a difference to them..and it will most certainly make a difference to you.

4) When people on the street say "Hello, how are you?" say back to them, "Fine, thank you." because it's a courtesy question, not a license to fill everyone's time with your woes. (lol, this one was always one of my favorites)

Anyway, there's many many more...but, I think probably we all have some great sayings. I'm looking forward to seeing them

Persons who are centered don't have boundaries to defend. - Richard Rohr

Hey Johnboy. I just noticed that Qui est wasn't around any more. Whatever happened to KiKi?

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I still get this kind of "guidance by maxims," at times, but there was a time on the journey when they seemed to fall into my mind day and night. I couldn't write them down fast enough, and was amazed at how much more efficacious they were in helping me be attentive than my old paradigmatic focusing had been (which I didn't even know I was doing). When that kind of Ego structure was collapsing, there was a sense of being lost and directionless, as I was unable to project out of a conceptual system any more, including my own self-concept. Yeah, this is the stuff that would qualify as some kind of "crazies," I'm sure, but there was absolutely no emotional instability or anxiety connected with it, so I didn't "turn myself in" to the shrinks, with whom I workded day and night anyway, and knew myself to be as sane as they were.

The maxims/proverbs were pointers, ways of focusing attention without hooking into a conceptual/theological paradigm. They showed me how to "just-look," how to open and close intelligence and attention without the "glue" of paradigmatic conceptualization guiding the process. I felt more peace in accepting them and writing them down, and still have pages and pages of this kind of stuff. Lots of it has been published, and that which hasn't is largely redundant.

I notice that 12 Steppers find great value in this as well, probably because their consciousness is undergoing a significant re-working. Some of their common sayings, which I know you've all heard, are listed below.

- Let go, let God.
- One day at a time.
- Drop your stinkin' thinkin'.
- It's more important to walk the walk than talk the talk.
- Easy does it.
- H.A.L.T. (hungry, angry, lonely, tired: times to be careful about relapsting).
- Live and let live.
- K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid)

<<The true measure of a woman is the size of the thing it takes to get her goat.>>

I love that one!! Thanks!

Anne