“Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of others – above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.”

Albert Einstein

“All light is Thy radiance,
and shade is the shadow of Thy beauty.

Thou art in both: in light as radiance,
in the dark as shade.

In the light Thou art manifest;
in the shade Thou art hidden.

Light is Thine eye
and shade is its pupil.

In the light I see Thy beauty;
in shade I find Thy mystery.

Light is Thy face,
and shade is Thy bosom.”

Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Baffled, choosing for our against,
The whole world gets lost;
Choiceless, rejoicing in Him
That’s the true knower.

People are bound together
Donkey tied to donkey.
The one with inner vision
Is the only true person.

Those who walk alone
Alone find truth.
The heart dissolved in love
Never returns again.

Wholeness is complete vision:
Everything is sacred.
Kabir says: this can’t be understood
And can never be written.”

Kabir

From The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year by Caitlin Matthews,

“”Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Safely through the world we go.” William Blake

Joy and sorrow do not perform according to logical rules and laws; they come unbidden like the clouds, the rain, the sunshine…
The gifts of sadness, like the gifts of happiness, come to all conditions and types of people. They provide moments of self-clarification that keep our lives on course. Sadness nearly always stems from some form of exclusion, separation, or rejection. When we are disconnected from life, we yearn for union. Joy connects us strongly with life; like people who plunge into the stream, we enter the swim of life in ecstatic connection. Our going safely through the world is based on a true regard of both conditions. When we value the gifts both of joy and of sorrow, our taste for life increases. When we accept both happiness and sadness as our mortal bequest, we grow as human beings.”

“Justice and judgment often lie a world apart… Governments have always tried to crush reform movements, to destroy ideas, to kill the thing that cannot die. Without regard to history, which shows that no government have ever succeeded in doing this, they go on trying in the old, senseless way… Trust in God, She will provide.”

Emmeline Pankhurst, who died on this day in 1928

“The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

Thomas Merton

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”

Anne Frank, born on this day in 1929

“Healthy living is balancing our ego with our transcendence. Life is not about ignoring self and your needs and living like a doormat, nor is it only about self and your needs and ignoring others. You exist and so does the other. Acknowledge your greatness, and then train yourself to see the greatness in others. Practice looking for the good in others. Remember life is a mirror.”

Rav DovBer Pinson

“When I walk on the path
When I enter the house of Love
I see You.
You are the King in every town.
I see You in the sun, the moon and the stars,
I see Your altar in every plant, in every leaf.

The green in every tree
is You.
The beauty of every garden
is You.
My wealth, my work, my master
is You.
Solitude, purity, pretence
is You.
There is no reality
but You.”

Rumi

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

Roald Dahl