“A sharp mind will find a truth for itself.
A humble spirit will find a truth higher than itself.
Truth is not the property of intellectuals, but of those who know how to escape their own selves.”
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman

Today is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
‘Hiroshima Child’ by Nazim Hikmet
“I come and stand at every door
But none can hear my silent tread
I knock and yet remain unseen
For I am dead for I am dead
I’m only seven though I died
In Hiroshima long ago
I’m seven now as I was then
When children die they do not grow
My hair was scorched by swirling flame
My eyes grew dim my eyes grew blind
Death came and turned my bones to dust
And that was scattered by the wind
I need no fruit I need no rice
I need no sweets nor even bread
I ask for nothing for myself
For I am dead for I am dead
All that I need is that for peace
You fight today you fight today
So that the children of this world
Can live and grow and laugh and play”

“The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself – the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – that’s where it’s at…
Find the good. It’s all around you. Find it, showcase it and you’ll start believing it.”
Jesse Owens, winner of four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic games, who won the 200m in the world record time of 20.7 seconds on this day.

“Love is a reciprocal feeling. Just as water will mirror the face that peers into it similarly love is a reflection of hearts. Rhythm is the basis of life, not steady forward progress. The forces of creation, destruction, and preservation have a whirling, dynamic interaction. We must learn not to disassociate the airy flower from the earthy root, for the flower that is cut off from its root fades, and its seeds are barren, whereas the root, secure in mother earth, can produce flower after flower and bring their fruit to maturity.”
The Zohar (Kabbalah), first printed on this day in 1558

“To worship is to stand in awe under a heaven of stars,
before a flower, a leaf in sunlight, or a grain of sand.
To worship is to be silent, receptive, before a tree astir with the wind,
or the passing of a cloud.
To worship is to work with dedication and skill;
it is to pause from work and listen to a strain of music.
To worship is to sing with the singing beauty of the earth;
it is to listen through a storm to the still small voice within.”
Jacob Trapp (1899 – 1992), Unitarian Universalist minister

Welcome Morning by Anne Sexton (1928 – 1974),
“There is joy
in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning,
in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry “hello there, Anne”
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.
All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house
each morning
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks,
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing
as the holy birds at the kitchen window
peck into their marriage of seeds.
So while I think of it,
let me paint a thank-you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning,
lest it go unspoken.
The Joy that isn’t shared, I’ve heard,
dies young.”

Prayer to the Earth Goddess by Danu Forest,
“Goddess of this sacred earth be before me, goddess behind me,
Goddess of the green fields and the golden, be over me and beneath me,
Goddess of the dun earth and the green shoots be within me and without me,
Goddess of the mothers and the children lead me,
Cast your protection over me, guide me and bless me, grant me your tender care.”

“The wise person begins each day as a small child. Every cell of his being is dedicated to learning wisdom, and so from every person he finds some wisdom to learn. Each day, he rises to great heights of wisdom. And yet, the next morning, he begins all over again, as a small child, in wonder.”
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman

From the Bhagavad Gita,

“He is the source of light in all luminous objects.
He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested.
He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge.
He is situated in everyone’s heart.”

From The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, published on this day in 1954,
“The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet it is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: Small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.”