“To those who are wise, nothing more resembles that merciful spring whence all derive than every beauty to be found here.”

Michelangelo (1475 – 1564), born on this day

Ash Wednesday

“Be with us, O God, when we think of the wrongs we have done to other people; lest, hating ourselves for our evil-doing, we turn our hatred outward on to them. Help us to forgive ourselves, acknowledging that we are no better than we are; and then help us to believe that we can be better.”

A. Powell Davies (1902 – 1957), Unitarian minister, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“The many branches of science that observe the physical world and its relationship to the cosmos are profoundly privileged in that they bring their exponents into a close relationship with the teeming varieties of life… many scientists have discovered that the patterns revealed within the universe show an intelligent consistency and order that is both beautiful and implicit.

We do not have to be forever open to unseen reality or credulous of every wonder to appreciate the implicit order of the greater universe. This is revealed every day through our ordinary, physical senses. When we keep the vision of nature’s revelation before our eyes and imaginations, each moment becomes loaded with eternal potential. To be confederate with eternity, we need the practice of life that gives us a special cynosure through which to view the whole universe in every precious instant.”

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

World Wildlife Day

“Surely we do not want to live in a world without the great apes, our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom? A world where we can no longer marvel at the magnificent flight of bald eagles or hear the howl of wolves under the moon? A world not enhanced by the sight of a grizzly bear and her cubs hunting for berries in the wilderness? What would our grandchildren think if these magical images were only to be found in books?”

Jane Goodall

“All you need to do is focus your attention on your in-breath and out-breath, recognize it, and smile to it. Bring aware that you’re breathing in means you’re really there. Your presence is a wonder and a miracle. Breathing like that, you bring your mind back to your body and become truly presence in the now. Treasuring that moment, your dwell in peace and freedom. Each breath is a miracle. Each breath has the power to nourish and to heal.”

From Peace Is This Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh

Zero Discrimination Day

“The human spirit is resilient and that truth—no matter how long you abuse it and how long you try to crush it—will, as Dr. King would say, rise up again, and in the final analysis will prevail. From the point of view of the poor, the hungry, the disenfranchised, the wretched of the Earth … there will never be peace until their condition has been alleviated and until their humanity is in full bloom.”

Harry Belafonte (1927 – 2023), musician and civil rights activist, born on this day

Ramadan Begins

“The poplars shimmer sunlight again
The ceanothus is a cloud of indigo
While an azalea in my garden
Is more hues of magenta than you can imagine
The sun is gentle these long fasting days
Some an endurance test
They still lend me more discipline than I naturally possess
The orchid cascades alabaster blossoms
Over the windowsill in the kitchen
Pots of basil and coriander
Have been snipped a bit thin
To garnish harira and salads
For fast breaking
My son stumbles from bed
To eat suhur bleary eyed
I try to pack enough nutrient dense calories in
To support spiritual and physical growth spurts
And pray for our protection and guidance
In this labyrinthine plane of reality
He’s better at fasting than me
I am insomniac
wide awake in these short nights
Until fajr rolls in
I need to nap
Cat-like in the day
Some manage to pray all night
I just try to survive the ride
Of circadian rhythm disruption
And learn from the alteration
Of feast and famine
Hopeful some of the blessings of the month
Will settle upon me all the same
Part of the miracle
Is the routine breaking
No matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient
Making you view things from a different perspective
creating space for reflection
The brokenness of people and the world assails me some days
There is so much pain and trauma
on the news
woven into the web of relations we are part of
We must be here to alleviate some of this
We must be here as healers
For ourselves and one another
Yet the flowers and trees are perfect
Plane trees unabashed in their majesty
Horse chestnuts resplendent in full candled canopies
Jasmine an explosion of perfumed symmetry
Roses impossibly exquisite
Acers fractal in their colour and delicacy
While clouds tell vast stories across the horizon
The moon is full now, veiled by wispy cloud
Still visible in the coolness of early morning light
In a lull of quiet
before the dawn chorus strikes up
Having measured the days with illumination
It starts to wane again
As days slip away
With the imminent departure
Of our trusted friend
who never fails
to shake us up
And embrace us in blessings”

Magenta by Rabia Saida

“Tonight I am asking for your help. I call upon you to draw from the depths of your being to prove that we are a human race. To prove that our love outweighs our need to hate. That our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame. That our sensitivity to those in need is stronger than our greed. That our ability to reason overcomes our fear. And that at the end of each of our lives, we can look back and be proud that we have treated others with the kindness, dignity and respect that every human being deserves. Thank you and God bless.”

From her 1993 Academy Award acceptance speech by Elizabeth Taylor (1932 – 2011), actress and activist, born on this day

Maha Shivaratri

“Mahashivratri is the day of Shiva. Wherever there is beauty, truth, and benevolence, there is Shiva. And, there is no place where the Shiva-principle is absent. But, Shiva is not a person. It is that principle which is the summum bonum of the whole creation and pervades the entire universe. This principle, called the Shiva tattva, is the quintessence of life and is present deep within every living being.

On Mahashivratri, we celebrate the Shiva tattva by going deep within us, meditating, and rejoicing in the Shiva energy. There are certain days and time frames in a year when one’s mental health and spiritual faculties are enhanced and Mahashivratri is one such precious day…

Today we pray with our heart and soul for peace in the world, peace and progress in society, progress of knowledge, and happiness for every individual.

The divine accepts you however you are. If you feel like you are like a thorn, you are still accepted. If you are like a leaf, you are accepted. If you are like a fruit or a flower, you are accepted. However you are, and whatever stage of evolution you are at, the one divinity accepts you, and that is truth and that is beauty.. Shiva is benevolence, truth and beauty, and the three are inseparable.

Tonight is the celebration of nature rejoicing the presence of benevolence, truth and beauty.”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Image by Kartick Dutta

“When fallowness strikes, it is important to place it in the context of the creative cycle. After the period of conception – an exciting period during which we sparkle with ideas – comes the time of gathering and preparation, when things get moving. This is followed by a period of growth, which cannot be hurried, and then by the moment of ripeness, when the idea must manifest or the project get off the ground. This is followed by a time of enjoyment and appreciation when we can share our manifest idea or plan with others. Then we must let our idea go to make its ways through the world. After all that has happened, we come to the time of fallowness.

To honor our own creative cycle and patterns, we must respect this period and learn to be as empty and receptive as we can. After any birth and manifestation, we are too tired to immediately reconceive: we need this time of rest when we lie as fallow as the unplowed field that the farmer sets aside for several seasons to regain its fertility. Let us honour our fallowness, our uncreating emptiness, by cutting ourselves some slack and giving mind and heart time to recover their former savour in a new season. Fallowness is the ground of our conception: when the soil is ready, the seed will fall and germinate.”

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