I found this poem by St John of The Cross. I thought I would share it with you because it is quite a lovely poem about the Trinity (it being the 1st Sunday after Trinity tomorrow). Here it is:Romance on the Gospel text “In principio erat Verbum,” regarding the Blessed Trinity.
In the beginning the Word
was; he lived in God
and possessed in him
his infinite happiness.
That same Word was God,
who is the Beginning;
he was in the beginning
and had no beginning.
He was himself the Beginning
and therefore had no beginning.
The Word is called Son;
he was born of the Beginning
who had always conceived him,
giving of his substance always,
yet always possessing it.
And thus the glory of the Son
was the Father’s glory,
and the Father possessed
all his glory in the Son.
As the lover in the beloved
each lived in the other,
and the Love that unites them
is one with them,
their equal, excellent as
the One and the Other:
Three Persons, and one Beloved
among all three.
One love in them all
makes of them one Lover,
and the Lover is the Beloved
in whom each one lives.
For the being that the three possess
each of them possesses,
and each of them loves
him who bears this being.
Each one is this being,
which alone unites them,
binding them deeply,
one beyond words.
Thus it is a boundless Love that unites them,
for the three have one love
which is their essence;
and the more love is one
the more it is love.
As I said before, it is a Romance Poem by St John of the Cross and can be found on Carmelite.com (amongst other places on the web). St John of the Cross is a Saint that is recognised by most traditional denominations of Christianity (including C Of E and Roman Catholicism), which I find interesting as he was quite a mystic, anyways, his day is 14th December in the Anglican church and his liturgy goes like this:
O God, the judge of all,
who gave your servant John of the Cross
a warmth of nature, a strength of purpose
and a mystical faith
that sustained him even in the darkness:
shed your light on all who love you
and grant them union of body and soul
in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Which can be found in the Book Of Common Worship.
Byes for now,
Daniel
As said in this post, Beki and I are going to be starting Yoga in Oxford.
We have now found a class, it is Ashtanga Yoga and is on Monday evenings. We are really looking forward to it, Beki has got some clothes and we have now both got Yoga mats. So we are all set 
For Yoga, I think Beki is wanting it as a form of exercise. And I want that too, but I am also very interested in the more spiritual side of it too… even though Yoga started in the Dharmic religions (majorly Hinduism, minorly Buddhism, I feel that it could be effective for all sorts of other religions…. this is a philosophy that I have (similar to the fact that I feel that Buddhism can be placed over the top of other religions, and would be beneficial) but Beki does seem to deem things ’scary’ when they clash a little with her faith, but I am sure she is just saying that and not meaning it entirely - Faith is a very personal thing, and I respect everyones decision about their faith, and so does Beki.
Technorati Tags: yoga, philosophy, religion, classes
I have been thinking a lot recently about the goodness of modern humanity… and I feel that it is not good enough.
I have just been talking (on msn) with my 11 year old cousin (Matt), and he is a very open individual for a 11 year old boy. We have been discussing about various things from vegetarianism to the chemicals in a McDonalds meal to respect to morality to spirituality and religion. I want to be able to tell the new generations (and the current ones) but there is good in the world and it can be achieved through respect and morality.
Some things that I would change in the world and/or my advice to people/companies/organisations/other:
- To Fast food restaurants and ready-meal companies: stop putting a load of chemicals in food and drink. You are not respecting the good natural food, and not respecting the consumers body that you are giving the food too.
- I am not saying to you turn vegetarian, but have respect for the views of vegetarians. I am a vegetarian because I feel that I can very easily live without meat, and therefore (I hope) I am letting an animal or lots live for a bit longer when I don’t need to eat it. Personal choice, and I don’t want to enforce it on anybody.
- Still on the vegetarian topic: Food companies, if you can make it suitable for vegetarians then do! I have seen vegetable somosas in a well known UK supermarket that have chicken stock in them <- I would have got them if they were veggie, and so you would have had another customer! — also Heinz please apologise to the entire Vegetarian population for putting Beef in your meat-free ravioli! (sorry for linking to a tabloid newspaper)
- To everyone: become spiritual. Spirituality promotes morality and respect, and for every individual that becomes spiritual humanity benefits because of overall morality. If you find the right spiritual path for you then you will also encounter peace within yourself and outside yourself too.
- To Religions: stop fighting. Dear me! You are all after the same thing really, which is peace. Fighting is not peace, and its not the way to achieve peace either! — Yes some organisations can seem evil sometimes, e.g. I feel that McDonalds is a little evil because of the chemicals they pump into their food, but I am not going to start a war on the staff that work for them, its pointless… especially as, if you look at this logically, most theistic religions believe that God is a judge, if these people are evil then they will be judged as so <- no need for physical fighting, religious wars, suicide bombing etc etc etc.
- To Non-religious people: religion really isn’t silly, it helps seek out spirituality. I am not saying become religious, but have respect for those that do have religion… and try to understand why there are religions and why people believe <- this won’t convert you to religion, but it will improve your relationships and communication skills. A little knowledge about various religions can go a very long way, and may be able to help you out (even if you don’t believe it).
- Religious people: have a little look into other religions (including ones you may class as heretic), it will probably help you in your own faith.
- To everyone who does graffiti:Â just don’t. The best place to do graffiti is on a canvas or a bit of paper, and then you might actually be able to sell it!
- To everyone: look at what is in your food/drink before you eat it, and go for a reasonable walk at least once a day.
- To chavs: grow up… I have not met a mature, responsible and respectable chav…. so all I have to say is just grow up.
- To everyone: always try to better yourself, not as a competition with other people, but for your own benefit. Life should be full of learning, thinking and experiencing, which together can help you become wise.
- Anti-masonic people: The Freemasons are not evil, they do not worship the devil and they are not trying to take over the world… they are not allowed to talk about religion or politics in the lodge, in fact they just want to raise morality and respect in a completel