Mother Theresa's Words:
"People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered: Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you have anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway."
"What we ARE is God's gift to us. What we Become is our gift to God."
Dr. Georgeann Dau
Through listening and being present for our clients we have helped them to discover for themselves those areas where they are blocked, and have shown them how these blocked areas dis-enable them from moving towards overall health and well being. As you may have noticed from our history page, throughout my professional career I have incorporated a holistic approach toward skin care. One very important aspect of this approach is to embark on a journey of self through prayer, meditation and inner awareness. I believe that is worthwhile and emblematic of self integration, so to speak, to bring Spiritual awareness and a deeper relationship with one's self and God into any wellness practice. After having obtained my Bachelors Degree in Trans Personal Psychology, a 3 year plus program of study, I have received my certification in spiritual direction. I offer people of prayer individual sessions joining them in their journey with their God. Please note that I have 20 years of Psycho analytical training with Dr. David Endler, second generation disciple of Sigmund Freud.
Therefore I am providing this Spiritual Page, and shall submit in the future, various prayers, sayings and related writings that best reflect my thoughts and feelings about certain areas. I do hope you find at least some of the passages of value to you.
What is Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual Direction is a specialized ministry which is a graced way of serving another; helping them to grow in intimacy with God and to live out the blessings of this intimacy. The focus of a spiritual direction is the directee's experience of God and how communication happens between God and the directee. Trained spiritual directors have a background in ministry, communication skills, personality dynamics, psychology, various resources in prayer, spirituality and scripture. While some directors may be trained pastoral or psychological counselors, therapy is not the focus. Rather, both director and directee agree to meet regularly so that the directee might pay closer attention to the action of God's movement and love in his or her life.
Life has away of disrupting our customary way of looking at things.
Identification with our mind prevents us just to be.
Meister Eckhart tells us the most single important step in life towards finding your God is to learn to disidentify with your mind.
Oh God by Phoebe Phelps
- Oh God, whose true nature I cannot know,
- You are the source and substance and sustenance of my life,
- I lift to you the rock hard pain I feel for this world
- And my pain dissolves into love.
- I reach to the outer limits of my rational mind
- To comprehend this despairing Earth
- And you call me back to my heart.
- I abandon myself into my aching heart
- And it dissolves into the Heart of the Universe.
- In this mystery in which all I am sure of is nothing
- And all I can know is You,
- Give me strength; give me wisdom; and give me love.
- Give me the courage and the resolve
- To be nothing that I am alone,
- And to live wholly into the heart of this hurting world which is You.
PSALM 54
- Awaken me, O Mighty One, in your
- Holy mercy,
- that I might be free of fear.
- Hear my prayers, O Holy One;
- give ear to the words of
- my mouth.
- For nagging doubts assail me,
- bringing loneliness and pain;
- I remember not the Beloved, so
- overwhelming are my fears.
- Yet behold, You are my helper,
- the upholder of my life.
- With You I have strength to face
- my fears,
- in your faithfulness help me
- to let them go.
- With boundless confidence, I
- abandon myself to You;
- I give praise to your name,
- O Beloved,
- with gratitude and joy.
- For You deliver me from illusion,
- and through Love, my heart
- opens to Wisdom.
(Merril, Nan C. Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness. NY: Continuum Int'l Pub. Group 2002, pp.104-5)
Reading:
- "Why do we pray?" he asked for a moment.
- Why did I pray? Strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?
- "I don't know." I told him, even more troubled and ill at ease. "I don't know."
- From that day on I saw him often. He explained to me, with great emphasis, that every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer. . .
Man comes closer to God through the questions he asks Him, he liked to say. Therein lies true dialogue. Man asks and God replies. Be we do not understand His replies. We cannot understand them. Because they dwell in the depth of our souls and remain there until we die. The real answers, Eliezer, you will find only within yourself.
- "And why do you pray, Moishe?" I asked him.
- "I pray to the God within me to ask Him the real questions."
(Wiesel, Eli. Night. NY: Hill & Wang, 2006 pp 4-5.)
- You do not need to be loved at the cost of yourself.
- The single relationship truly crucial and central to your life is the relationship to the self
- It is rewarding to find someone whom you like but it is essential to like yourself.
- It is gratifying to recognize that someone is a good and decent human being but it is indispensible to view yourself as acceptable.
- It is a delight to discover people who are worthy of your respect and admiration and love but it is vital to believe yourself deserving of these things, for you cannot live in someone else.
- You cannot find yourself in someone else.
- Of all the people you will know in a lifetime, you are the only one you will never leave or lose.
- To the question of your life, you are the only answer.
- To the problems of your life you are the only solution.
A Strong Woman Vs. A Woman of Strength -- by Audrey Hepburn
- A STRONG WOMAN WORKS OUT EVERY DAY TO KEEP HER BODY IN SHAPE . . . BUT A WOMAN OF STRENGTH BUILDS RELATIONSHIPS TO KEEP HER SOUL IN SHAPE.
- A STRONG WOMAN ISN'T AFRAID OF ANYTHING . . . BUT A WOMAN OF STRENGTH SHOWS COURAGE IN THE MIDST OF HER FEAR.
- A STRONG WOMAN WON'T LET ANYONE GET THE BEST OF HER . . . BUT A WOMAN OF STRENGTH GIVES THE BEST OF HERSELF TO EVERYONE.
- A STRONG WOMAN MAKES MISTAKES AND AVOIDS THE SAME IN THE FUTURE . . . A WOMAN OF STRENGTH REALIZES LIFE'S MISTAKES CAN ALSO BE UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS AND CAPITALIZES ON THEM.
- A STRONG WOMAN WEARS A LOOK OF CONFIDENCE ON HER FACE BUT A WOMAN OF STRENGTH WEARS GRACE.
- A STRONG WOMAN HAS FAITH THAT SHE IS STRONG ENOUGH FOR THE JOURNEY . . . BUT A WOMAN OF STRENGTH HAS FAITH THAT IT IS IN THE JOURNEY THAT SHE WILL BECOME STRONG.
Longing
by Dr. Georgeann Dau
- Longing is to wait
- Longing is our fate
- A souful memory revisited if we dare.
- Open me up oh Lord to this longing deep inside; it is you I desire
- It is you I long for why do I hide?
- Hiding from myself is hiding from You
- I think I fear what it is You might want me to be; what it is You are calling me to do.
- Yet I have come to realize through Your abundant grace that what You want from me is what I long for in my soul
- A relationship with You and self
- A true union of heart where I become aware that we never are apart.
- Help me to surrender to Your love deep inside; that seed from inception that pulse of life where You abide.
- I glimpse it truly; sometimes I really do ~~~ there is nothing else I really want but to become more awake to my journey with You.
- Longing is to wait
- Longing is our fate
- A soulful awakening, the Kingdom within; let us turn our hearts to Him.
"Consider taking a moment of reflection in prayer that you just read. What were some of the feelings, insights and awareness that emerged? If you would like to e-mail me with your insights you may do so (go to the Contacts Page)."