Words for the week beginning Monday 19th January

“Summoned from sleep
in the heart of night
my name is called
and, like Samuel,
I rise from my bed
seeking the caller.
Summoned from sleep
I am drawn into
the beating heart
of the One
who called me.
The angel of night
lights a candle in my soul
inviting me to listen
to the wordless song
of Divine Union.
Deep healing.
Deep listening.
Deep waiting.
Deep watching.
All of these become
a part of my night watch.
In the heart of the night
you prepare me to be
your deep healing
for all who watch
through the night
of their fears.”

Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB (1939 – 2020)

Words for week beginning Monday 12th January

“I know this happiness
is provisional:

the looming presences —
great suffering, great fear —

withdraw only
into peripheral vision:

but ineluctable this shimmering
of wind in the blue leaves:

this flood of stillness
widening the lake of sky:

this need to dance,
this need to kneel:
this mystery.”

Of Being by Denise Levertov (1923 – 1997)

Words for the week beginning 5 January

“You have looked at so many doors with longing,
wondering if your life lay on the other side.
For today, choose the door that opens to the inside.
Travel the most ancient way of all:
the path that leads you to the center of your life.
No map but the one you make yourself.
No provision but what you already carry
and the grace that comes
to those who walk the pilgrim way.
Speak this blessing as you set out
and watch how your rhythm slows,
the cadence of the road
drawing you into the pace
that is your own.
Eat when hungry.
Rest when tired.
Listen to your dreaming.
Welcome detours as doors deeper in.
Pray for protection.
Ask for guidance.
Offer gladness for the gifts that come,
and then let them go.
Do not expect to return by the same road.
Home is always by another way,
and you will know it
not by the light that waits for you
but by the star that blazes inside you,
telling you where you are is holy
and you are welcome here.”

From Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons by Jan Richardson

Thought for the day, Wednesday 31st December

“Lost in awe at the beauty around me, I must have slipped into a state of heightened awareness. It is hard – impossible really – to put into words the moment of truth that suddenly came upon me then. Even the mystics are unable to describe their brief flashes of spiritual ecstasy. It seemed to me, as I struggled afterward to recall the experience, the self was utterly absent: I and the chimpanzees, the earth and trees and air, seemed to merge, to become one with the spirit power of life itself. The air was filled with a feathered symphony, the evensong of birds. I heard new frequencies in their music and also in singing insects’ voices – notes so high and sweet I was amazed. Never had I been so intensely aware of the shape, the color of the individual leaves, the varied patterns of the veins that made each one unique. Scents were clear as well, easily identifiable: fermenting, overripe fruit; waterlogged earth; cold, wet bark; the damp odor of chimpanzee hair, and yes, my own too. And the aromatic scent of young, crushed leaves was almost overpowering.

That afternoon, it had been as though an unseen hand had drawn back a curtain and, for the briefest moment, I had seen through such a window. In a flash of “outsight” I had known timelessness and quiet ecstasy, sensed a truth of which mainstream science is merely a small fraction. And I knew that the revelation would be with me for the rest of my life, imperfectly remembered yet always within. A source of strength on which I could draw when life seemed harsh or cruel or desperate.”

Jane Goodall (1934 – 2025), primatologist and environmental activist

Thought for the day, Tuesday 30th December

“Where are you now, my good friend? Are you out in the field, in the forest, on the mountain, in a military camp, in a factory, at your desk, in a hospital, in prison? Regardless of where you are, let us breathe in and out together and allow the sun of awareness to enter. Let us begin with this breath and this awareness. Whether life is an illusion, a dream, or a wondrous reality depends on our insight and our mindfulness. Awakening is a miracle. The darkness in a totally dark room will disappear the moment the light is switched on. In the same way, the second the sun of awareness begins to shine, life will reveal itself as a miraculous reality.”

From Peace Is This Moment: Mindful Reflections for Daily Practice by Thich Nhat Hanh

Thought for the day, Monday 29th December

“”In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a manner in which justice, commonly held to belong to others, is not. Gratitude pays itself back in large measure.” Seneca, Moral Letters, 81.19

Think of all the things you can be grateful for today. That you are alive, that you live in a time primarily of peace, that you have enough health and leisure to read this.. What of the little things? The person who smiled at you, the woman who held the door open, that song you like on the radio, the pleasant weather.
Gratitude is infectious. Its positivity is radiant.
Even if today was your last day on earth – if you knew in advance that it was going to end in a few short hours – would there still be plenty to be grateful for? How much better would your life be if you kicked off every day like that? If you let it carry through from morning to night and touch every part of your life?”

From The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman