Saturday ~ April 11, 2020

How swiftly the strained honey
of afternoon light
flows into darkness
and the closed bud shrugs off
its special mystery
in order to break into blossom:
as if what exists, exists
so that it can be lost
and become precious

(Lisel Mueller, 1924 - 2020)

Friday ~ April 10, 2020

Build your life one action at a time, and be happy if each act you perform contributes to a fulfilling and complete life. No one can prevent you from doing this.
"But what if some outside circumstance stands in my way?"
Not even that can stop you from acting justly, wisely, and reasonably.
"But it may block me from doing something I want to do."
Yes, but welcoming the obstacle and by calmly adapting your action to it, you will be able to do something else in harmony with your goals and with the sort of life you are seeking to build.

(Marcus Aurelius, 121 - 180)

Thursday ~ April 9, 2020

Help us to be the always hopeful
Gardeners of the spirit
Who know that without darkness
Nothing comes to birth
As without light
Nothing flowers.

(May Sarton, 1912 - 1995)

Wednesday ~ April 8, 2020

What happens is that we realize that we are but a speck of dust, a plaything of events outside our reach. Nevertheless, we may at the same time discover that we have a certain liberty, as long as we live. There is within each of us a modulation, an inner exaltation, which lifts us above dependence upon the gifts of events for our joy. Hence, our dependence upon events is not absolute: it is qualified by our spiritual freedom. Therefore, when we speak of resignation it is not sadness to which we refer, but the triumph of our will-to-live over whatever happens to us. And to become ourselves, to be spiritually alive, we must have passed beyond this point of resignation.

(Albert Schweitzer, 1875 - 1965)

Tuesday ~ April 7, 2020

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.

(Naomi Shihab Nye, b. 1952)

Monday ~ April 6, 2020

You should praise the mutilated world.
Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth's scars.
Praise the mutilated world
and the gray feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes and returns.

(Adam Zagajewski, b. 1945)

Sunday ~ April 5, 2020

Ritual is the act of sanctifying action - even ordinary actions - so that it has meaning: I can light a candle because I need the light or because the candle represents the light I need.

(Christina Baldwin, b. 1946)