“Let love continue. If we agree in love, there is no disagreement that can do us any injury; but if we do not, no other agreement can do us any good. Let us keep a secret guard against the enemy that sows discord among us. Let us endeavour to keep the unity of spirit in the bonds of peace.”
Universalist minister Hosea Ballou (1771 – 1852)

“We eat foods whose cells are filled with water that has travelled thousands of miles airborne in flying rivers from the rainforests.
We drink that waters that have been circulating through earth, body, river, ocean and cloud upon our planet since water began here billions of years ago – it’s all the same water and water carries the memory of it all.
Our bodies are more bacteria than almost anything else – we are hosts and hostesses to vast families and populations of thriving ‘others’ whose reality is ‘us.’
We are intimately woven in to a living system and evolving intelligence that knows itself as part of all things – and as such has access to the intelligence of all things. And we are part of that system.
Our minds have been taught to see ourselves as separate when in fact that misconception is utterly bizarre in the face of the interconnectedness of all things.
We have no idea what we’re capable of. But if we can bow in humility and open our minds and hearts to the vastness of creation and its mind blowing evolutionary brilliance – then maybe we can open to the miracles that are lining up to help inform us about who and what we really are.”
Clare Dubois, founder of the TreeSisters social change and reforestation charity

“We are not alone.
There are many others,
here, alongside of us.
Some are just like us.
Some are very different.
Some are somewhere in between.
Some are wiser than us.
Some are more intelligent.
Some are more advanced.
Many are none of these.
Minds think.
Hearts feel.
Bodies move.
As it is with us,
so too is it with them.
Many are just like us on the inside
however different they are
on the outside.
Differences are mostly
on the outside,
for on the inside,
many are just like us,
be it for good, or for bad.
There are many secrets
still left in the world around us.
We think that we know a lot,
until we truly discover
that we know only a little.
Much is yet to be discovered.
Much discovered
is yet to be revealed.
Much to be revealed
is yet to be believed.
Even when a secret is revealed
there are those who refuse
to accept what is means.
Those healed of blindness
can only see
once they are willing
to embrace the healing
that has already healed them.
Once upon a time
begins a story of make-believe.
Yet, not all stories
are make-believe.
Some old stories have to them
more than just a grain of truth.
Where there’s smoke there’s fire.
But not all fires burn bright.
Not all fires burn safe.
Some fires are best put out,
and not left to burn or smolder.
Sometimes it’s best
to hide the truth.
And there is no better place
to hide an inconvenient truth
than under layers of legend
and smoke.
Sometimes, “once upon a time,”
is a good cover
for “the time is now.”
Curiosity is a smoldering flame.
Curiosity can be a contagious disease.
Curiosity can lead one
to many profound revelations.
Curiosity can also lead one
into the fire,
where one is consumed,
and burned up.
Curiosity can be good,
and it can be bad.
Therefore, watch the fire
and control it.
Never let it get out of hand.
There is more to tell.
There is much more to know.
But when is the right time?
Where is the right place?
These are questions
we each must contemplate.”
Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok

“Humanity finds itself in the midst of the world.
In the midst of all other creatures
humanity is the most significant
and yet the most dependent upon the others.
Humanity is small in stature,
but powerful in strength of soul.
With head directed upward,
with feet on firm ground,
humanity can set all things in motion,
things above as well as things below.”
Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 1179), mystic and polymath, who died on this day

“The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity – then we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective.”
David Suzuki

“There are barriers which divide the righteous and the unrighteous. But we know that each of us is both. There is within us the impulse to be generous, kind, worthy, and decent. And there is within us the impulse to be cruel, mean-spirited, and vengeful. Help us not to see people, ourselves included, as either one thing nor the other, but to recognise that we are all complex and imperfect creatures, and that acknowledging the fullness of our humanity shared with all beings is one way to break down the walls.”
David Usher, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“Around us, life bursts forth with miracles—a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere.
Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are tired and feel discouraged by life’s daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

“Keep a clear eye toward life’s end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature. What you are in his sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received, but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.”
St Francis of Assisi (1181 – 1226) who received the wounds of Christ (known as stigmata) on this day in 1224, after a vision praying on Mount Verna

“God is not what you think
or even what you believe,
because God is
a word unspoken,
a thought unthought,
a belief unbelieved.
So if you wish to know
this God, practice wonder,
do what is good, and
cultivate silence.
The rest will follow.”
Meister Eckhart

“There is a common misconception that the good things in life come from being in the right place at the right time. In truth, everything that is good comes from being on the right channel with the right reception. This is what the sages call z’chut—sometimes translated as “merit.” What it really means is a kind of fine-tuning of the soul. How do you fine-tune the soul? You have three knobs: What you do, what you say and what you think. Adjust them carefully for static-clean reception.”
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman