“In the woods a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at whatever period of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years.

In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson, died on this day in 1882

“Honour and revere the gods, treat human beings as they deserve, be tolerant with others and strict with yourself. Remember, nothing belongs to you but your flesh and blood – and nothing else is under your control.”

Marcus Aurelius, born on this day in 121

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”

Ella Fitzgerald, born on this day in 1917

From The Earth Path by Starhawk,

“May all the healers of the earth find their own healing. May they be fueled by passionate love for the earth.
May they know their fear but not be stopped by fear. May they feel their anger and yet not be ruled by rage. May they honor their grief but not be paralyzed by sorrow.
May they transform fear, rage, and grief into compassion and the inspiration to act in service of what they love.
May they find the help, the resources, the courage, the luck, the strength, the love, the health, the joy that they need to do the work.
May they be in the right place, at the right time, in the right way.
May they bring alive a great awakening, open a listening ear to hear the earth’s voice, transform imbalance to balance, hate and greed to love.
Blessed be the healers of the earth.”

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

William Shakespeare, born on this day in 1564, died on this day in 1616

Once, the Buddha was sitting in meditation, and someone came to him and asked: “Lord Buddha, you teach compassion, forgiveness, love and forbearance – from where did you learn all these wonderful qualities? Who is your teacher?”

Pointing towards the soil, the Buddha said: “I learned my forgiveness, compassion, friendship, kindness and all the wonderful qualities of love, beauty, unity and generosity from the Earth.”

“All beneficent and creative power gathers itself together in silence, ere it issues out in might.”

Unitarian minister and theologian James Martineau, born on this day in 1805

From The Rose Garden by Saadi Shirazi, 13th Century CE, Persia,

“Someone asked a wise person, “Of the many celebrated trees that Allah has created, some are very lofty, some wonderfully shady or fruit-giving. But people call none of them azad or free, except for the cypress, which is none of these. Can you explain this mystery?”

That wise one replied, “Trees produce fruit or shade only during their appointed seasons. Sometimes they are fresh and blooming, other times dry and withered. The cypress isn’t exposed to either condition: it always flourishes. The azads, the spiritually independent ones, share the same quality. They don’t depend on the time or season for their freshness.”

Don’t set your heart on what passes away. The Tigris will continue to flow through Baghdad after the run of the Khalifs is extinct.

If your hand has plenty, be liberal and give freely like the date tree.

But you have nothing to give away, be an azad, a free person, like the cypress.”

“When you drive your automobile in the Gobi desert, you can go everywhere. There is no one-way road.
So the nature of your mind pervades in all directions at once, evenly, as light or heat penetrates evenly.
The original nature of human beings is this even nature, but we are now in uneven nature, and our automobile must be driven on a one-way road. We cannot spread ourselves evenly in all directions like radio waves.
We must move in one long line, like a telegraph line.”

Sokei-an Sasaki (1882 – 1945), Japanese-American Zen Buddhist monk

An Upside-Down Easter Meditation by Parker J Palmer,

“Years ago, I stumbled upon a little book by Julia Esquivel, the Guatemalan poet and social justice activist, titled “Threatened with Resurrection.” Those few words had a huge impact on me.

I’d been taught that death is the great threat and resurrection the great hope. But at the time I found Esquivel’s book, I was experiencing the death-in-life called depression. Her title jarred me into the hard realization that figurative forms of death sometimes feel comforting — while resurrection, or the hope of new life, feels threatening.

Why? Because death-in-life can bring us a perverse sense of relief. When I was depressed, nobody expected anything of me, nor did I expect anything of myself. I was exempt from life’s demands and risks. But if I were to find new life, who knows what daunting tasks I might be required to take on?

Sometimes we choose death-in-life (as in compulsive overactivity, unhealthy relationships, non-stop judgmentalism aimed at self or others, work that compromises our integrity, substance abuse, pervasive cynicism, etc.) because we’re afraid of the challenges that might come if we embraced resurrection-in-life.

Every religious tradition is rooted in mysteries I don’t pretend to understand, including claims about what happens after we die. But this I know for sure: as long as we’re alive, choosing resurrection is always worth the risk. I’m grateful for the people and experiences that continue to help me to embrace “the threat of resurrection.”

My Easter wish for everyone is the ability to say “YES!” to life. Even when life challenges us, it’s a gift beyond all measure.”