HOW DO I FIND YOU GOD...

Finding God Within and Without…
How do I find You God?

God is Love.
If you have ever loved,
If you have ever been loved,
You have experienced God
from Within and Without

God is Truth.
If you have ever told the truth,
If you have ever discovered Truth,
You have experienced God
from Within and Without

God is Beauty.
If you have ever helped to create something beautiful,
If you have ever witnessed beauty in any of it's myriad forms,
You have experienced God
from Within and Without

God is Good.
If you have ever done or thought something good,
If you have ever recognized goodness in or through another,
You have experienced God
from Within and Without

All of those experiences, those gifts,
of Love, Truth, Beauty and Goodness
were directly from God through you. or to you.

Glad to Meet You God. Let’s hang out together.

God’s Creation

        On the very first day, God created the cow.  He said to the cow, “Today I have created you!  As a cow, you must go to the field with the farmer all day long.  You will work all day under the sun!  I will give you a life span of 50 years.”

        The cow objected, “What?  This kind of tough life you want me to live for 50 years?  Let me have 20 years, and the 30 years, I will give back to you.”  So God agreed.

        On the second day, God created the monkey.  He said to the monkey, “Monkeys have to entertain people.  You have got to make them laugh and do monkey tricks.  I will give you 20 years’ life span.”  The monkey objected, “What? Make them laugh?  Do monkey faces and tricks?  Ten years will do, and the other 10 years, I will give you back.”  So God agreed.

On the third day, God created the dog.  God said to the dog, “What you are supposed to do is to sit all day by the door of your house.  Any people that come in, you will have to bark at them!  I will give a life span of 20 years.”  The dog objected, “What?  All day long to sit by the door?  No way!  I give you back my other 10 years of life!”  So God agreed.

        On the fourth day, God created man and said to him, “Your job is to sleep, eat and play.  You will enjoy very much in your life.  All you need to do is to enjoy and do nothing.  This kind of life, and I will give you a 20-year life span.”  The man objected, “What? Such a good life!  Eat, play, sleep, do nothing?  Enjoy the best and you expect me to live only for 20 years? No way, man!  ………Why don’t we make a deal?  Since the cow gave you back 30 years, and the dog gave you back 10 years and the monkey gave you back 10 years, I will take them from you!  That makes my life span 70 years, right?”  So God agreed.

AND THAT IS WHY……………..

        In our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, enjoy the best and do nothing much.  For the next 30 years, we work all day long, suffer and get to support the family.  For the next 10 years, we entertain our grandchildren by making monkey faces and doing monkey tricks.  And for the last 10 years, we stay at home, sit by the front door and bark at people!

A Carrot, An Egg and Coffee Beans...

             A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

            Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water and placed each one on a high fire.  Soon the pots came to boil.  In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.  She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

            In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners.  She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in another bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a third bowl.

            Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.”

            “Carrots, eggs and coffee”, she replied.

            Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She did and noted that they were soft.   The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

            Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee.

            The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

            The daughter then asked, “What does it mean?”

            Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity……boiling water.  Each reacted differently.  The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.  The egg had been fragile.  Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.  The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

            “Which are you?” the mother asked the daughter.  “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”

            Think of this : Which of these am I?

          Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

          Am I the egg that starts with a  malleable heart, but changes with the heat?  Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

          Or am I like the coffee bean?  The bean actually changed the hot water, the very circumstances that bring the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and the flavour.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.  When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?  How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?


You can watch a Power Point Show of this wonderful story here on the link below...

http://pps-aseem.blogspot.com/2008/05/coffee-beans.html

Happiness within...

A Cosmic God had a horse. The horse was beautiful and also it had many good qualities. But it wanted to be more perfect in every way. It especially wanted to become beauty unparalleled.

One day the horse said to the Cosmic God, “0 Lord, you have given me beauty. You have given me other good qualities. I am so grateful to you. But how I wish you could make me more beautiful. I would be extremely, extremely grateful if you could make me more beautiful.”

The Cosmic God said, “I am more than ready to make you more beautiful. Tell me in what way you want to be changed.”

The horse said, “It seems to me that I am not well proportioned. My neck is too short. If you can make my neck a little longer, my upper body will be infinitely more beautiful. And if you can make my legs much longer and thinner, then I will look infinitely more beautiful in my lower body.”

The Cosmic God said, “Amen!” Then immediately he made a camel appear in place of the horse. The horse was so disheartened that it started to cry, “0 Lord, I wanted to become more beautiful. In what way is this kind of outer form more beautiful?”

The Cosmic God said, “This is exactly what you asked for. You have become a camel.”

The horse cried, “Oh no, I do not want to become a camel I wish to remain a horse. As a horse, everybody appreciated my good qualities. Nobody will appreciate me as a camel.”

The Cosmic God said, “Never try to achieve or receive more than I have given you. If you want to lead a desire-life, then at every moment you will want more and more. But you have no idea what the outcome will be. If you cry for a longer neck and legs, this is what will happen. Each thing in my creation has its own good qualities. The camel is not as beautiful as you are, but it carries heavy loads and has a tremendous sense of responsibility.

MORAL OF THE STORY: 

People search happiness everywhere but not with in!

Contributed by: Jasvinder Bindra

Happiness is a Journey

Happiness is a Journey 
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are.

After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with.

We'll certainly be happy when they're out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car,

are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.

The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with...and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you're off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink,

until you've sobered up, until you die,

until you're born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching.