Choice

At least once a day in the early morning and often several times during the day I am faced with a choice between acting in accordance with that "small quiet voice", that of God/love, or some worldly alternative. The small quiet voice almost always would have my actions be other directed, selfless and loving. These are actions that are long term, very fulfilling and ones that "increase the integrity of the universe". The alternatives are generally self directed, ego driven and instantly or quickly gratifying. At this point in life I usually choose the loving option. When I was young I usually chose the alternative and did not listen to the small quiet voice. "From everywhere, it seems, we are bombarded with the idea that our nature is innately violent, that our chief preoccupation is with our sexuality, and that our main purpose in life is the acquirement of ever more nifty possessions.......Indeed, if is only through the practice of inner silence that we can begin to disentangle ourselves from our culture and its illusions."