Author Archives: Laura Dobson

“The chief element of happiness is this: to want to be what you are.”Philosopher and theologian Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (commonly known as Erasmus), born on this day in 1466

From The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year by Caitlin Matthews,“Unleashing Joy‘He who binds to himself a joyDoes a winged life destroy;But he who kisses the joy as it fliesLives in eternity’s sunrise.’William Blake, EternityJoy is not a creature of the cupboard; it is wild, free, and profligate, spending itself in one greatContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 27th October”

“How can you sing of Amazing Grace? How can you sing prayerfully of heaven and earth and all God’s wonders without using your hands? My hands, my feet, I throw my whole body to say all that is within me.”Mahalia Jackson, ‘Queen of Gospel’ singer (1911 – 1972), born on this day.It was Mahalia JacksonContinue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 26th October”

“Men and boys are learning all kinds of trades – except how to make men of themselves. They learn to make houses; but they are not so well housed, they are not so contented in their houses, as the woodchucks in their holes. What is the use of a house if you haven’t got aContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 25th October”

“Do you not know? Have you not heard?The Lord is God from old, Creator of the earth from end to end,He never grows faint or weary,His wisdom cannot be fathomed.He gives strength to the weary, fresh vigour to the spent.Youths may grow faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall;But they who trust inContinue reading “Thought for the day, Sunday 24th October”

“A lot of people try to counteract the ‘I am not good enough’ with ‘I am good enough.’ In other words, they take the opposite and they try to invest it. That still keeps the world at the level of polarities. The art is to go behind the polarities. So the act is to goContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 23rd October”

From Earth Bound: Daily Meditations for All Seasons by Brian Nelson,“On this day in 1734, Daniel Boone was born. John Mack Faragher’s biography of the woodsman describes how, in the early years of his marriage, Boone would disappear into the forest for long hunts, sometimes lasting a year or so. After one of these hunts,Continue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 22nd October”

“The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions – the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment.”Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet and one-time Unitarian minister, born on this day in 1772

“It is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God’s tender mercy, whereas possession of earthly things will ceaseContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 20th October”

“We build on foundations we did not lay.We warm ourselves at fires we did not light.We sit in the shade of trees we did not plant.We drink from wells we did not dig.We profit from persons we did not know.We are ever bound in community.”Deuteronomy 6:10-12, adapted by Peter Raible