Saturday ~ March 30, 2019

All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low;
each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest...
Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
Shall to-morrow find its place.

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 - 1882)

Friday ~ March 29, 2019

The prayer of our souls is a petition for persistence; not for the one good deed, or single thought, but deed on deed and thought on thought, until day calling unto shall make a life worth living.

(W.E.B. DuBois, 1868 - 1963)

Thursday ~ March 28, 2019

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster;
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

(Elizabeth Bishop, 1901 - 1979)

Wednesday ~ March 27, 2019

Reverence the highest, have patience with the lowest. Let this day's performance of the [most menial] duty be thy religion. Are the stars too distant? Pick up the pebble that lies at thy feet, and from it learn the all.

(Margaret Fuller, 1810 - 1850)

Tuesday ~ March 26, 2019

Be at peace with your own soul, then heaven and earth will be at peace with you. Enter eagerly into the treasure house that is within you, you will see the things that are in heaven; for there is but one single entry to them both. The ladder that leads to the Kingdom is hidden within your soul... Dive into yourself, and in your soul you will discover the stairs by which to ascend.

(Saint Isaac of Nineveh, 7th century)

Monday ~ March 25, 2019

Here let us sit, and bless our stars
Who did such happy quiet give,
As that removed from noise of wars
In one another's hearts we live.
Why should we entertain a fear?
Love cares not how the world is turned:
If crowds of dangers should appear,
Yet friendship can be unconcerned.

(Katherine Philips, 1632 - 1664)

Sunday ~ March 24, 2019

Let us all resolve. First, to attain the grace of silence; Second, to deem all fault-finding that does no good a sin... Third, to practice the grace and virtue of praise.

(Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 - 1896)