“May I live this day
Compassionate of heart,
Clear in word,
Gracious in awareness,
Courageous in thought,
Generous in love.”-John O’Donohue
Tag Archives: quote
Sustaining Life
“To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.” ~
-Robert M. Pirsig
To Glow
“Like light in the sun
spilling out of the sun,
the spirit within
beams its way
through all our cracks
till our most treasured
walls come down.
The coming down
of those walls is the
blessing we crave
and resist.The coming down of
those walls—so the light
of the soul like the light
of the sun can help the
world grow—this is
the call of calls.”—Mark Nepo, The Way Under the Way
Blushed with Beginning
“This is the time to be slow, Lie low to the wall Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let The wire brush of doubt Scrape from your heart All sense of yourself And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous, Time will come good; And you will find your feet Again on fresh pastures of promise, Where the air will be kind And blushed with beginning.
-John O’Donohue
Connections
“There are no others.”
-Ramana Maharshi
The One Breath
The definition of prayer by Hildegard of Bingen,
“Breathing in and breathing out the one breath of the Universe.”
-Hildegard of Bingen
Prayer indeed. While saying thank you, the most essential prayer.
Mark Nepo in his chapter “A Reality That Keeps Unfolding,” in Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, says of the breath of prayer:
“This is listening with our entire being. It speaks to an immersion of attention that all the traditions aspire to; each claiming in its own way that peace resides in this completeness which arises when our individual sense of being merges with the ongoing stream of being that is the heartbeat of the Universe. Whether these moments arise from great stillness or great suffering or great love, they all seem unexpected and seem to depend on our ability to hold nothing back.”
Timely words in these days of stillness, suffering and great love that we all are experiencing around our planet. Today, may you find this peace residing in completeness with the heartbeat of the Universe as you navigate your new normal.
Hold nothing back.
What Stories Shall We Tell
What a perfect joy to have these lovely, moving, soothing words, this poetic offering, in my inbox this week – so unexpected and appreciated. Thank you Susan!
Notes on a Pandemic
“What stories shall we tell
past knotted fear:Of touching without flesh
of Winter-seeded faith
of viral music trumpeting
imagine all the people
of hands sounding gratitude
of words looped over metered space
threading a collective
of parked tyres, dusty tarmacthe exhaling earth
the constancy of sun
a pink crescent moon
the usual light on
all our faces”-Susan Waters
(“Imagine all the people” credited to John Lennon by Susan Waters, author.)
I loved Susan’s words. “The constancy of sun”, as shown at sunrise here over newly fallen April snow. “The exhaling earth” as she prepares for Spring’s unfolding, the new soft snow blanketing her with the promise of fresh seeping water to nourish the roots of all that is pushing forth.
And when next I find a crescent moon, I will add it to this post…
The World is Holy
“The world is holy. We are holy. All life is holy. Daily prayers are delivered on the lips of breaking waves, the whisperings of grasses, the shimmering of leaves.”
-Terry Tempest Williams
Quiet as a Feather
“Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.”-Mary Oliver
“Let me be as a feather. Strong with purpose yet light at heart, able to bend. And, though I might become frayed, able to pull myself together again.”
Anita Sams
In the Stillness of the Trees I Am at Home
“I will wait here in the fields to see how well the rain brings on the grass.
In the labor of the fields longer than a man’s life I am at home. Don’t come with me. You stay home too.
I will be standing in the woods where the old trees move only with the wind and then with gravity.
In the stillness of the tress I am at home. Don’t come with me.
You stay at home too.”
-Wendell Berry