BEST of PONDER on THIS for Thursday, January 31st, 2008 by Fr. Anthony DeMello S.J. in WALKING ON WATER

“How do human beings become robots? Listen to this: “Oh, you’re so pretty.” And the robot swells with pride. I push the appreciation button and it’s riding high. Then, I push the other button, the criticism one, and it hits bottom. Complete control. We are so affected by approval! So easily controllable. And when deprived of it, we are frightened of making mistakes, afraid that people are going to laugh.

How to get out of this? We have to understand why we can’t live without people’s approval. How to love people? Die to them. Die to the need for people. Understand what the drug is doing to you. Be patient with yourself. Then call the drug by its name: it is an artificial stimulant. Do you really want to live? Savor your senses, your mind. Appreciate your work, nature, go to the mountains and appreciate the trees and the stars, the night. Send the crowds away. And you will be completely alone. Then love will be born in solitude.”

Fr. Anthony DeMello, S.J., in “Walking on Water”

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Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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