Book Note Quotes on Mary Pipher's "Seeking Peace"

Baby picture is of Payton, my great-neice, (Lois' grandaughter, Megan's first born) who is love and light and joy...

Here are some of the quotes from "Seeking Peace" that I couldn't help recording:

"Since the beginning of human time, we have yearned for peace in the face of death, loss, anger and fear. In fact, it is often trauma that turns us toward the sacred and it is the sacred that saves us."

"When we learn to face our pain and the pain of others, we start flourishing. The opposite of despair is not a surcease of despair. (Sorrows are all around us.) Rather, it opposite is an explosion of liveliness and joy ... Love and light exist deep within us, waiting for us to welcome them into our consciousness and share them with all we meet."

"Meditation helped me stay with my own experience and not censure upsetting information. Instead of being utterly entangled in my thoughts and feelings, I learned to note them without judging them."

And here is my favorite:

"We all share similar journeys. We live through childhoods filled with ups and downs. We share houses with people who both love us and make us miserable. We pass developmental milestones, build identities and see them change. We fail miserably and we accomplish important goals. We make the best of it. We take turns being the afflicted and the comforter. We experience a crisis and realize our old ways are not working. We stumble around lost and unhappy, only to see the light, find our path and move forward. This is our universal human story."