The Message of Easter

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection,
not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.
- Martin Luther

The great gift of Easter is hope -
Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God,
in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love,
which nothing can shake.
- Basil C. Hume

This is what the Lord asks of you: only this,
to act justly, to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly with your God.
- Micah 6:8

Guide our feet into the way of peace.
- Luke 1:79

One who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.
- Mohandas Gandhi

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.
- Voltaire

Today, Easter, the most Holy day on the Christian calendar, is a day to celebrate our spiritual natures. We are not just bones and flesh, chemicals and electricity, we are beings of Spirit, one with each other and one with the eternity and infinity of Creation.

On this day, let us affirm the core values of unconditional love of all humans and an uncompromising commitment to caring for all who are sick, infirm, or troubled - as expressed in the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. (Read more on Loving your enemies, the Golden Rule, and the parable of The Good Samaritan)

Further reading: Jesus own Words about Forgiveness and Unconditional Love

Being Humble

Love even those who hate you

Faith

Gratitude

Don't Settle for "Good Enough"

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.
I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty,
believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
- Louisa May Alcott

You get what you settle for.
- the character Louise in the movie Thelma and Louise

Good enough never is.
- Debbi Fields

The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.
- Thomas Merton

Infinite striving to be the best is man's duty;
it is its own reward.
Everything else is in God's hands.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Once you say you're going to settle for second,
that's what happens to you in life.
- John F. Kennedy

Don't settle for "good enough."
Decide what you want for yourself,
and be the best you can be.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do more of what inspires you

Pleasing Everyone

Don't be Limited by what is "Reasonable"

Goals

Live Your Best Life

Perseverance

Enthusiasm

Living Life to the Fullest

Never Give Up

Going Home to God

Death is nothing else but going home to God,
the bond of love will be unbroken for all eternity.
- Mother Teresa

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
- St. Francis of Assisi

"I go to prepare a place for you."
- John 14:2

Death is not extinguishing the light;
it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Where there is great love there are always miracles.
- Willa Cather

There is no death, only a change of worlds.
- Chief Seattle

Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.
- Lao Tzu

While we are mourning the loss of our friend,
others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil.
- John Taylor

Further reading:  Have a Conversation With God, Today

Unanswered Prayers

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Death - Comfort

Aging With Grace

Let Each Day be a Thanksgiving 

Spiritual Thoughts

From the Bible

Growing Up - Staying Young

The trick is growing up without growing old.
- Casey Stengel

Too many people grow up.
That's the real trouble with the world,
too many people grow up. They forget.
- Walt Disney

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
- e. e. cummings

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
- John Wooden

You grow up the day you have your first real laugh - at yourself.
- Ethel Barrymore

If we don't change, we don't grow.
If we don't grow, we aren't really living.
- Gail Sheehy

Don't go through life - grow through life.
- Eric Butterworth

Curiosity keeps one young - in thought and in action.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Stay Young

Never Stop Learning

Staying Young

Never Too Old

Unstoppable Youth

The Power of Laughter

A Young Child
 

Forgive Others for Your Own Sake

Forgiveness is an act of self-love and respect.
- don Miguel Ruiz

The key to forgiveness is to forgive
from the heart -- not from the mind.
- Sheri Rosenthal

Forgiveness is not always easy.
At times, it feels more painful
than the wound we suffered,
to forgive the one that inflicted it.
And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.
- Marianne Williamson

Forgiveness ... is the finishing of old business
that allows us to experience the present,
free of contamination from the past.
- Joan Borysenko

People are often unreasonable,
illogical, and self-centered;
... Forgive them anyway.
- Kent Keith (often attributed to Mother Teresa)

Forgive those who have injured you -
not because they deserve your forgiveness,
but because you can never be happy until
you release your anger and grant forgiveness.
Forgiving is not a gift to someone else -
Forgiving is your gift to yourself - a great gift - the gift of happiness.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Stop Anger Before it Stops You

FORGIVENESS - the second Point of Simply An Inspired Life

How to Forgive and Move On

Forgiveness and Acceptance, Another Look at the Challenges

How to Move On and Let Go

Why I Choose to Believe that Others are Never the Cause of My Unhappiness

Anger

Forgiving