PoetryStill by Mary OliverStill, what I want in my life
is to be willing to be dazzled-- to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even to float a little above this difficult world. I want to believe I am looking into the white fire of a great mystery. I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing-- that the light is everything—that it is more than the sum of each flawed blossom rising and falling. And I do. Walk Slowly by Danna FauldsIt only takes a reminder to breathe,
a moment to be still, and just like that, something in me settles, softens, makes space for imperfection. The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper and I remember again that life isn’t a relay race; that we will all cross the finish line; that waking up to life is what we were born for. As many times as I forget, catch myself charging forward without even knowing where I’m going, that many times I can make the choice to stop, to breathe, and be, and walk slowly into the mystery. School Prayer by Diane AckermanIn the name of daybreak
and the eyelids of morning and the wayfaring moon and the night when it departs, I swear I will not dishonor my soul with hatred but offer myself humbly as a guardian of nature, as a healer of misery, as a messenger of wonder as an architect of peace. In the name of the sun and its mirrors and the day that embraces it and the cloud veils drawn over it and the uttermost night and the male and the female and the plants bursting with seed and the crowning seasons of the firefly and the apple, I will honor all life —wherever and in whatever form it may dwell—on Earth my home, and in the mansions of the stars. The Layers by Stanley KunitzI have walked through many lives, some of them my own, and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being abides, from which I struggle not to stray. When I look behind, as I am compelled to look before I can gather strength to proceed on my journey, I see the milestones dwindling toward the horizon and the slow fires trailing from the abandoned camp-sites, over which scavenger angels wheel on heavy wings. Oh, I have made myself a tribe out of my true affections, and my tribe is scattered! How shall the heart be reconciled to its feast of losses? In a rising wind the manic dust of my friends, those who fell along the way, bitterly stings my face. Yet I turn, I turn, exulting somewhat, with my will intact to go wherever I need to go, Look To This Day by Kalidasa
Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course Lie all the verities and realities of your existence. The bliss of growth, The glory of action, The splendour of achievement Are but experiences of time. For yesterday is but a dream And tomorrow is only a vision; And today well-lived, makes Yesterday a dream of happiness And every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well therefore to this day; Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn! Autobiography in Five Short Chapters by Portia NelsonI. I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. II. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I still don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. It isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. III. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it there, I still fall in. It's habit. It's my fault. I know where I am. I get out immediately. IV. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. V. I walk down a different street. Did you ever wonder? by Meister EckhartDid you ever wonder
what the greatest gift is? It is this: mercy If you wonder what this means, practice mercy and your questions will fade. Live in mercy, and you will become what you love, for love unites us in our loving, not in our being. So give yourself to love, and love yourself in giving. The rest will follow of its own. A Field Beyond Right and Wrong by RumiOut beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there. ' When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other' doesn't make any sense. Thanksgiving by RumiThanksgiving is sweeter than bounty itself. One who cherishes gratitude does not cling to the gift! Thanksgiving is the true meat of God’s bounty; the bounty is its shell, For thanksgiving carries you to the hearth of the Beloved.
Abundance alone brings heedlessness, thanksgiving gives birth to alertness. The bounty of thanksgiving will satisfy and elevate you, and you will bestow a hundred bounties in return. Eat your fill of God’s delicacies, and you will be freed from hunger and begging. When I'm Among the Trees by Mary OliverWhen I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines, they give off such hints of gladness. I would almost say that they save me, and daily. I am so distant from the hope of myself, in which I have goodness, and discernment, and never hurry through the world but walk slowly, and bow often. Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, ”Stay awhile.” The light flows from their branches. And they call again, ”It's simple,” they say, ”and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” You Reading This, Be Ready
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Forgiveness
Is the mightiest sword Forgiveness of those you fear Is the highest reward When they bruise you with words When they make you feel small When it’s hardest to take You must do nothing at all… I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
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