Hope, Optimism and Everything Else...

As iron put into the fire loseth its rust and becometh clearly red-hot, so one who wholly turneth unto God puts off all slothfulness, and is transformed.
– Thomas a Kempis

"We are made in the image of God. The image is there, but we need to put in the work to reveal it. Whenever I hear someone say, “This is just the way I am; I’ve got to learn to live with it,” I want to plead, “Don’t ever say that!” The miracle of human existence is that we can change. Simply by virtue of being human, we have the capacity to change ourselves completely.

All of us carry a cleansing fire hidden inside. It may be banked with ashes, cold to the touch, but a spark of the divine is there nonetheless, ready to leap into life. It is nothing less than love of God. Latent in every one of us, it wants only encouragement before it flares to vibrant life, burning up everything selfish and impure. Once ignited and coaxed with the fuel of love for others, it sheds light and warmth all around."

The Thought for the Day is today's entry from Eknath Easwaran's Words to Live By.
(Copyright 1999 and 2005 by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.)
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My pervasive thought for the day is that the body is a vessel. We're here to live our lives. I watched two movies this weekend, inspired by fellow Zoobirds: Girl, Interrupted and My Own Private Idaho. Takeaways? Wynona Ryder plays a talented young girl who loves writing who is diagnosed with "Borderline Psychological Disorder", in Girl, Interrupted. I won't spoil the plot for you if you haven't seen the movie, but my takeaway was that you have to look within yourself for answers. My Own Private Idaho is a look at a moment in life during several people's journey. This is hard to describe, not knowing whether you've seen the movie! But, the takeaway for me, again, was closer to today's meditation. That life is like an ember, ready to leap to life and able to change anytime you set your mind to it. Write me directly if you want to go deeper into the subject. See the movies! Think! It's not as bad as it appears...