Simone Weil

I really liked what he said in paragraph 3 because everyone has wants and desires when really we don't need those things. Also when he talks about waiting is proven to be satisfied, i think that is true, we all need to be clam and wait for what our path takes us in life. Constantly wanting something and not waiting for it, can get you frustrated and upset when you don't need to waste your energy on being negative. The wants and desires are just objects...

"God continually showers the fullness of his grace on every being in the universe." This quote is true, God is loving us everyday, He is always here for each and every one of us. A lot of people don't appreciate what God has to offer. Believing in Him that He really is by our sides. You realize that God is with you and being loved by Him is all you need.

In the 7th paragraph, Weil says "We find fullness of joy in the thought that God exists," I think this is true because we are happy and feel saved by Him. We know that he is watching over us, He is the creator of everything. The last part of this paragraph talks about how we would have not exist if it weren't for God. I believe that for sure!

Bakhya Ibn Pakuda

In the beginning of this reading it talks about how a woman became a believer of God. She is blessed by God and devotes herself to Him; "devoting herself entirely to him, loving him, and trusting him completely." Many people are this woman, wanting to know God, believe in the creator and wanting to be blessed by Him. We are all blessed by Him.
Just recently I went to an amazing worship concert and the Hillsong Church from Australia performed. This wasn't your typical concert, this was devoting yourself to God through the power of words and music. Music is a way of connecting to God, the words we sing is from Him and we sing them for Him and for everyone else. It was an amazing night to be there with everyone singing from the heart, worshiping Him. People may think that singing is not the right way and by just going to church and reading from the bible is the right way. But there are so many ways to give yourself to God. We all have our beliefs in God. Anyways, I think what the passage is saying is that when people to find God and believe in Him, they want love and forgiveness from Him. They want to devote to Him in their own way.
I liked this line, "He who trusts in God is able to remove his attention from worldly anxieties and devote it entirely to doing what is right." Believing in God and trusting Him that He will lead you on the right path for you. By helping and giving to others is a good and right for the world. There are people out there who are only surviving one day at a time and they need us and we need them; We are all created by God, we are brothers and sisters.

Symeon the New Theologian

What I understood in the first paragraph is that some people who don't know God they only know of Him of the creator and some people don't believe in God. But once you connect with God you know that He does exists.In the first paragraph it talks about when the man walks into the sea up to his knees and waist that he can only see the water around him. I think this means that people only have a certain image of God and they only see their problems, their everyday lives and don't see that God did create everything around them.

Then the other part says when the man dives into the water, he no longer sees anything outside, and he knows only his whole body is in the water. Meaning when you connect with God and build a relationship with Him, you know that He does exist. And you have a better vision and image of who God truly is. People who have a connection with God, know that He is our Father and that He is the creator of the world. God's people want to reach out to others and help others. That's the power of God's doing through His people. They love Him.

"Our mind is pure and simple." Our minds can be pure and simple but can also be crazy and all over the place. It can be difficult to become emptied minded because these days we are all focused on getting things done and have some many thoughts going through our minds.

I think we all have a special bond with God. I don't think we have to become emptied minded to connect with Him.

Al-Muhasibi

"When love is established in the heart of a servant of God, there is no place there for remembrance of men or demons or of Paradise or Hell, or for anything except the remembrance of the Beloved and his grace." I really like this statement because we all love our God and he loves us. We see that our loved ones have past on but we know that they will continue on to Heaven and be with their Father.

Everyday we live on our lives and God guides each and everyone one of us on our paths that we take. What we do and who we are is through God.

God's People=
"Who do righteousness, who are gifted with heavenly wisdom, who are on their guard both night and day, pure in their thoughts, those whom God has prepared for his service, whom he has preserved by his care, whom he has invested with his own authority." People who accept God in their lives and know that he did create the world, are on the right path. Everyday more and more people are building long lasting relationships with Him. A good example is going to church. People may think church is based off money and a scam when its not the people are the church. I see some many churches giving back to not only their community but to the world community, the people continually serve Him and love Him. Whats so awesome about that is God is doing this all. He is reaching to us and we are spreading His love within us to everyone around us.

"Whoever knows God loves him, and whoever loves him he brings to dwell with him, and whomever he brings to dwell with him, in whom he dwells, blessed is he, yes, blessed is he."
I love this saying! Its amazing how much we know of Him through the Bible, He did so much for us. He cares, loves, forgives each and everyone of us.

Abi'l Khayr

The part where it says "for a while, to pride yourself upon efforts, thinking that you are advancing or achieving something, but afterward you fall into despair and feel no joy." Sometimes we all get a little big headed and become conceded, but I think it's good to feel good about yourself for what you accomplished. It's saying that really God's grace did everything and you understand that God did create everything. God opens his wide arms and gives us love, certainty, unity. "It is God who loves you and keeps you in state of loving, and that this is the result of divine love and grace not of your own endeavor."

We all understand that the things happen in life, what is created in life is all God's doing. We gain peace with in us and we no loner desire our needs we desire God's desires. Abi'l Khayr writing reminds me of what a Buddhist would say. Bring peace with in yourself let go all your wants and needs. I think we should do this, we are so focused on what we need to get done. This is a hard thing to do like it said in the reading, "this is not easy to know, it is a thing that cannot be rightly learned by instruction..." We all have our struggles in life and it takes time for us to become at peace.

Johannes Scotus Erigena

What I got from the reading is that God is everything around us. "We ought not to understand God and creation as two things distinct from each other, but as one and the same." We are all brothers and sisters of God. We are all the same.

Erigena explains that we are God, God is inside each and everyone of us and everything. He is the creator of everything, "The creator of all things created in all things..."

He talks about the term "nothing" that is the divine goodness. Nothing is no existing thing, but when divine goodness is identifying by sight of our minds, we see everything. Nothing can be found in all things.

"When is begins to appear in its theophanies, it is said to proceed as though from nothing into something." We have a divine appearance of everything around us, we see the appearance of God.

Novalis

"We are close to waking up when we dream that we are dreaming."- What I get from this quote is that when we dream it feels as if it was real. For example, if you have ever falling off of something in your dream that it woke you up because the dream seemed so real. Our minds are filled with some many thoughts when we are awake and asleep.

"We are alone with everything we love."- meaning we love ourselves. It's a good thing we love ourselves, we should appreciate for who we are. You have to love yourself before you love anyone else. Be at peace with yourself.

"There is only one temple in the world and that is the human body."- Continuing about loving yourself and accepting yourself, this quote explains that our human body is a precious thing. Today people are always finding ways to change their bodies, but people do this in a dangerous way. An example would be anorexia or bulimia and in result to that is being sick all the time.

"Marriage is the highest mystery."- What this quote means to me is that I don't think marriage is a mystery its a commitment. Maybe the way people see marriage is a mystery is because nobody can stay together. For example someone being divorced many times in their life and don't understand the meaning of marriage. From my experience i see how my parents view marriage. I don't think their marriage is a mystery at all because I see them everyday loving each other, building their relationship and growing strong together.