“This morning I felt I was having a touching, quiet conversation with something eternal, like standing in a forest, surrounded by whispers of wisdom that have been growing for centuries. I have spent so many years running through the world, and now I tread more gently and walk more slowly, bowing at times and pausing often, appreciating that stillness is not stagnation but something “holy”. The trees, with their rooted patience, remind us to stay, to be, to allow the light to flow through us instead of always chasing it.”

Nigel Tattersfield, writer

“I live neither in the past nor in the future. I am in the present. I cannot know what tomorrow will bring forth. I can know only what the truth is for me today. That is what I am called upon to serve, and I serve it in all lucidity.”

Igor Stravinksy, composer (1882 – 1971), born on this day

“It is I, Seagull! Everything is fine. I see the horizon; it’s a sky blue with a dark strip. How beautiful the Earth is … everything is going well.”

Radio message from Soviet space mission Vostok 6 by Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space, on this day in 1963

Anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, 1215

“At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
Your rights were won at Runnymede!
No freeman shall be fined or bound,
Or dispossessed of freehold ground,
Except by lawful judgement found
And passed upon him by his peers!
Forget not, after all these years,
The Charter signed at Runnymede.”

Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936)

“Let us resolve: First, to attain the grace of silence; second, to deem all fault finding that does no good a sin; third, to practice the grade and virtue of praise.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1811 – 1896), born on this day

“For the love of a tree
She went out on a limb.
For the love of the sea
She rocked the boat.
For the love of the earth
She dug deeper.
For the love of community
She mended fences.
For the love of the stars
She let her light shine.
For the love of spirit
She nurtured her soul.
For the love of a good time
She sowed seeds of happiness.
For the love of the Goddess
She drew down the moon.
For the love of nature
She made compost.
For the love of a good meal
She gave thanks.
For the love of family
She reconciled differences.
For the love of creativity
She entertained new possibilities.
For the love of her enemies
She suspended judgment.
For the love of herself
She acknowledged her worth.
And the world was richer for her.”

Charlotte Tall Mountain (1941 – 2006), artist and poet of Iroquois heritage.

Image: copy of traditional Iroquois painting

“I’ve found that there is always some beauty left – in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance.”

From The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, (1929 – 1945), born on this day

“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.”

Jeannette Rankin (1880 – 1973), first woman elected to Congress, born on this day

“In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves — to that part of us which is conscious of a higher consciousness, by means of which we make final judgements and put everything together. The independence of this consciousness, which has the strength to be immune to the noise of history and the distractions of our immediate surroundings, is what the life struggle is all about. The soul has to find and hold its ground against hostile forces, sometimes embodied in ideas which frequently deny its very existence, and which indeed often seem to be trying to annul it altogether.”

Saul Bellow (1915 – 2005), writer, born on this day

“Spirituality, in order to develop, needs time for contemplation, just as a young plant needs water. But busyness has become one of the great badges of pride in our consumer culture. ‘Empty’ time must be filled by getting, spending, and connecting. This emphasis on doing, rather than being, has created addictive patterns of behaviour across the population. Mobile phones are a case in point. Surveys showed that people become anxious to the point of incapacity if they cannot access their phone. For the sake of our spiritual lives, we must strive to resist these pressures.”

John Naish, Unitarian journalist and author, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection