Feast Day of Saint Kevin of Glendalough

St. Kevin and the Blackbird
(after Seamus Heaney) by Christine Valters-Paintner

“Imagine being like Kevin.
Your grasping fist softens,
fingers uncurl and
palms open, rest upward,
and the blackbird
weaves twigs and straw and bits of string
in the bowl of your hand,
you feel the delicate weight of
speckled blue orbs descend,
and her feathered warmth
settling in.

How many days can you stay,
open,
waiting
for the shell
to fissure and crack,
awaiting the slow emergence
of tiny gaping mouths
and slick wings
that need time to strengthen?

Are you willing to wait and watch?
Not to withdraw your
affections too soon?
Can you fall in love with the
exquisite ache in your arms
knowing the hatching it holds?

Can you stay not knowing
how broad those wings will
become, or how they will fly
awkwardly at first,
then soar above you

until you have become the sky
and all that remains is
your tiny shadow
swooping across the earth.”

Art by Clive Hicks-Jenkins

“Whenever we wanted to run away and find something else, my teacher would tell us, “Wherever you go, you will just find yourself.” We will just meet the difficulties, the loneliness, the sadness, and the suffering we already know. Nothing is as effective as sitting there, returning to ourselves, and finding the elements of happiness and liberation right here in our own body and mind.”

From Peace Is This Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh

“I believe that you shouldn’t do anything in life until you’re ready. Half of life’s heartaches come from decisions made in a hurry. One should make haste slowly.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962), born on this day

“The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.”

Walt Whitman, poet (1819 – 1892), born on this day

“Faithfulness in little things is a great virtue.”

Saint Basil the Great (c. 330 – 379)

“Believe me, the so-called primitive races who worshipped animals as gods were not so daft as people choose to pretend. At least they were humble. Why should not God have come to the earth as an earth-worm? There are a great many more worms than men, and they do a great deal more good.”

T. H. White, writer (1906 – 1964), born on this day

“In ancient times, knowledge of the tides and seasons was vital, sacred knowledge that kept the tribe in harmony with the laws of nature. The mysteries of sun, moon, and stars that collectively describe the intricate dance of the day, the month, and the year were so important that a whole new class of society sprang up: the sacred clan who, under a variety of names, maintained watchful vigil over these movements that governed the sowing and reaping of crops, the movement of animals, the run of fish. These people were those who had an aptitude for minute and careful observation. They also had an infinite patience that we now find hard to comprehend.

They would watch and record the patterns and cycles every day, every month, every year, over a whole lifetime. Their work was continued by their offspring into many generations, until eventually the vast workings of the cosmos formed meaningful shapes and patterns. Over the centuries, their observations would result in the erection of stone circles and megaliths, each stone sited according to their observations. It was said of St. Columba that he could understand the harmonious dance of the moon and sun, read the tides of the sea, and enumerate the stars of heaven. This alone is proof that as late as the sixth century, the foundation lore of the sacred clan was being passed down.

Today, though we possess tide tables, calendars, and ephemerides with which to track the seas, the days, and the movements of the heavens, the sacred knowledge of their mysteries is own own special heritage.”

From The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year by Caitlin Matthews

“Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation. He has sought to insulate himself, in his cities of steel and concrete, from the realities of earth and water and the growing seed. Intoxicated with a sense of his own power, he seems to be going farther and farther into more experiments for the destruction of himself and his world.
There is certainly no single remedy for this condition and I am offering no panacea. But it seems reasonable to believe — and I do believe — that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with a lust for destruction.”

Rachel Carson (1907 – 1964), biologist and conservationist, born on this day

“Come home to the forest
Where time goes slow,
and breath is mellow.
Where thoughts find rest,
and calm comes to nest.
Come home to the woods
to be friends with trees,
and listen to the breeze.
To wander through trails,
and mend your sails.
Come home to nature,
When your heart is hurting,
or your soul needs healing.
When something feels wrong,
or you just need place to belong.
The forest awaits
Come home.
Be healed.”

Nitin Das, forest film maker

“Abundance is not a result you create. It is an existing state you recognize. We ask for long life, but ‘tis deep life, or noble moments, that signify. Let the measure of time be spiritual, not mechanical.”

From Society and Solitude by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882), Unitarian minister, Transcendentalist, philosopher and essayist, born on this day