Matt 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Matt 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Matt 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Matt 6:28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Matt 6:29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matt 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith?
Matt 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Matt 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matt 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.
Matt 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Matt 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Matt 10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
Luke 12:7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Devotees worry themselves unecessarily about food, clothing, etc. Will that universe-sustaining Lord discard his devotees?
(The sage) should not store alms for the evening or the next day; either the hands or the stomach should be his receptacle; he should not be a hoarder like a bee.
If you cannot find in a man an appropriate example of dedication, study the lives of the Sufis. Man should also say to himself: "O my soul! You think yourself clever and are upset at being called idiotic. But what else are you in reality? You make clothes for winter, but no provision for another life. You are like a man in winter who says, 'I shall not wear warm clothes, but place trust in God's kindness to protect me from the cold.' He does not realize that, in addition to creating cold, God placed before man the means to protect himself from it."
It is related of Shaqiq of Balkh that he once said to his disciples:
"I put my confidence in God and went through the wilderness with only a small coin in my pocket. I went on the Pilgrimage and came back, and the coin is still with me."
One of the youths stood up and said to Shaqiq:
"If you had a coin in your pocket, how could you say that you relied upon anything higher?"
Shaqiq answered:
"There is nothing for me to say, for this young man is right. When you rely on the invisible world there is no place for anything, however small, as a provision!"
Man does not notice that he is like an infant in the hands of a nurse. Sometimes he is happy, sometimes sad, at what happens to him. The nurse sometimes chides the child, sometimes soothes him. At times she spanks him, at others shares his sorrow. The superficial person, the stranger passing by, may think that the nurse is unmindful of the child. How can he know that this is the way in which she must behave?
Do not speak of your heartache -- for He is speaking.
Do not seek Him -- for He is seeking.
He feels even the touch of an ant's foot;
If a stone moves under water -- He knows it.
If there is a worm in a rock
He knows its body, smaller than an atom.
The sound of its praise, and its hidden perception,
He knows by His divine knowledge.
He has given the worm its sustenance;
He has shown you the Path of the Teaching.
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© Copyright 1996 by Joseph Morales