“Give me twenty-six soldiers of lead and I will conquer the world.”

Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the moveable printing press, who printed the first printed bible on or around this day in 1455

“Ten years ago—feeling lost in my work, the world’s madness, the challenges of aging, and the wilds of my own mind—I spent a week in solitude and silence, hoping to be found.

I rented a small cabin with a wood-burning stove out in Wisconsin’s deep-frozen winter woods. For a week I did little more than hike, stare into the fire, read and write, nap, and make simple meals. It sounds lovely and in many ways it was. But the week was laced with deep loneliness.

Late in the week, on one of my hikes, I had the experience I tried to capture in this poem—a sense of “being found,” not by someone or something else, but by the mystery within me.

Wherever they come from, few words we can hear are better than “Welcome Home.” In a world where so many feel lost, few missions are more meaningful than extending that welcome to each other on every level of our lives.

“Welcome Home” by Parker J. Palmer

Alone in the alien, snow-blown woods,
moving hard to stay warm in zero weather,
I stop on a rise to catch my breath as the
setting sun—streaming through bare-boned
trees—falls upon my face, fierce and full of life.

Breathing easier now, in and out with the earth,
I suddenly feel accepted—feel myself stand
easy, strong, deep-rooted as the trees,
while time and all these troubles disappear.

And when (who knows how long?) I trudge
on down the trail and find my ancient burdens
returning, I stop once more to say No to them—
not here, not now, not ever again—reclaiming
the welcome home the woods have given me.”

Parker J Palmer

“I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature.”

Paulo Coelho

“May we find the world to be so beautiful, and life so richly and meaningfully shared, that we shall want this to be true, more often, for more people, everywhere.”

Unitarian Universalist minister Jacob Trapp (1899 – 1992)

“To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.”

Nicolaus Copernicus, born on this day in 1473

“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.”
Toni Morrison, born on this day in 1931

“We are vanishing from the earth, yet I cannot think we are useless or else Usen would not have created us. He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each… There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say.”

Apache leader Geronimo, who died on this day in 1909

“We live within an earth full of wild reciprocity, each being- the rooted, feathered, winged, furred and scaled all bring their own medicine, their own purpose to themselves and to their wild community.
Our bodies, woven from nature, are made of this love.
So gifted are we with tools that show us our care, that speak our core each day, in a language older than words,.
Eyes that show us of the beauty of this world, hands and bodies to feel the wild waters, the touch of petal and child’s hand.
Our breath that softens, calms and clears.
Our feet that take us to forest, meadow and river.
A tongue to taste with, to speak our truth to whisper our spells.
Minds and hearts that dream, ears to listen to song, wind, water and word.
A nose to smell the delights of spring the fruits of autumn, the death of winter and the fullness of summer.
This body, this toolkit is full of love, and it shows it each day, it holds you in each moment.
Remember the beauty you are made from, listen to the reciprocity of bone, skin and blood.
Know how you are held.”
Brigit Anna McNeill

“In meditation
my mind wanders,
but I don’t.

In meditation
the moth keeps dancing
around the flame.
The moth is the Lord.
I am the flame.

In meditation
the sea is wild
and the boat is small.
It is a dangerous crossing.
The ferryman paddles
furiously.

My back to the waves,
I sit in the bow
calling to the boatman,
“Follow me!
I will lead you to the other shore
where my Mother is waiting.
She will pay you well.”

In meditation
when you touch
that other shore
the ferryman awakens.
There is no ocean, no boat,
no passenger.

Only the Mother
singing the waves,
wearing the dark
blue veil
of the boatman’s breath.”

Fred Lamotte

Second Sight by David Whyte,

“Sometimes, you need the ocean light,
and colors you’ve never seen before
painted through an evening sky.

Sometimes you need your God
to be a simple invitation
not a telling word of wisdom.

Sometimes you need only the first shyness
that comes from being shown things
far beyond your understanding,

so that you can fly and become free
by being still and by being still here.

And then there are times you want to be
brought to ground by touch
and touch alone.

To know those arms around you
and to make your home in the world
just by being wanted.

To see eyes looking back at you,
as eyes should see you at last,

seeing you, as you always wanted to be seen,
seeing you, as you yourself
had always wanted to see the world.”