International Day of Conscience

“It’s better to be hated for who you are, than to be loved for someone you’re not. It’s a sign of your worth sometimes, if you’re hated by the right people.”

Bette Davis (1908 – 1989), actor, born on this day

Image: Bette Davis in Jezebel, 1938

“I would be cautious in embracing or rejecting doctrines. Had they been essential to our salvation, they would have been more explicitly declared in the Gospels, where we are so well taught the practice of every good word and work.”

Dorothea Dix (1802 – 1887), mental health nurse, social reformer and Unitarian, born on this day

“Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.”

Doris Day, actor, born on this day (1922 – 2019)

“Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is too dear to waste a moment on the yesterdays.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882), Unitarian minister, essayist and philosopher, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

Image: Brunfelsia calycina, common name: yesterday-today-tomorrow

“Trees are living symbols of peace and hope. A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that in order to aspire we need to be grounded and that no matter how high we go it is from our roots that we draw sustenance. It is a reminder to all of us who have had success that we cannot forget where we came from. It signifies that no matter how powerful we become in government or how many awards we receive, our power and strength and our ability to reach our goals depend on the people, those whose work remain unseen, who are the soil out of which we grow, the shoulders on which we stand.”

Wangari Maathi (1940 – 2011), environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, born on this day

“Gentleness is often mistaken for weakness, but in truth, it is a profound strength.
To be gentle in a world that can be harsh takes courage.
Gentleness is the soft hand that soothes in moments of distress, the calm voice that brings peace in the midst of chaos, and the open heart that chooses kindness over anger.
True gentleness begins within.
It’s about being kind to yourself, nurturing your own spirit, and approaching your life with a sense of grace. When you carry gentleness in your heart, you bring a quiet strength into every situation.
You move through the world with a soft power that can heal, uplift, and inspire.
Remember, gentleness doesn’t mean avoiding challenges or standing down in the face of difficulty. It means facing them with compassion, both for yourself and others.
It’s about choosing patience over frustration, understanding over judgment, and love over fear.
Be gentle with yourself.
Be gentle with others.
In that gentleness, you will find strength, resilience, and the power to create a world filled with light and peace.”

Han Suyin, writer (1916 – 2012)

“Blessed are we who seek to know the whole
of who we are:
The gifts The limits
The light The shadows
The strengths The weaknesses
The saint The sinner

Who know, accept and seek to live in truth,
Who readily say ‘I’m sorry’ and learn from mistakes,
Who seek the good for all creatures
in the finitude of possibility.

For the weight of harm caused
bears down heavily.
The heart so burdened
cannot sing.
Strength is sapped,
the will paralysed.

Only truth sets us free,
truth and forgiveness,
the deep and gentle acceptance of condition,
the slate wipen clean
to permit love to be writ anew.

Let all burdened seek truth and freedom,
attend to the consequences of choices,
extend and accept the balm of forgiveness,
and face into the future with hope.
Love is come again.

In the depths of silence
and the words of the wise,
our hearts are instructed.
This is the invitation; heed it well.
For torment need not be our lot.
Trust in steadfast love
and the power that moves in all things
to give life.

Be glad and rejoice.
Love is come again,
And again,
Forever.”

Psalm 32 Redux by Carla Grosch-Miller

“Birds and another animals begin to choose their mates as the growing year burgeons strongly in the strengthening sunlight. The green fire that runs over all the earth is sparked by this very sunlight and the deep germinating power of the earth. When plants reach toward the chlorophyll pigment within each leaf so that it reflects green. This pigment alters as the year progresses, causing the leaves to change colour, but from this time forward a medley of greens is apparent.

This green fire is also within us – not in our physical bodies, as it is in plants, but in our emotional and creative lives. Spring fever has many manifestations, some almost hormonal. The creative urge of spring brings into being much verse, for example, as our emotional upheavals reach out for fresh life and vigour..

Where is the green fire in your own life at this time? Take your emotional and creative temperature; then give yourself over to something pleasurable and enlivening this week.”

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

“Choice is your greatest power. It is an even greater power than love, because you must first choose to be a loving person.”

Caroline Myss

“The world speaks to me in colours, my soul answers in music.”

Rabindranath Tagore