“We are the moral inhabitants of the globe. And to deny it is to lie in prison. Oh yes, there’s cruelty, and cruelty, because it destroys the perpetuator as well as the victim, is a very mysterious thing. But if you look at the world as one long brutal game between “us” and “them,” then you bump into another mystery. And that’s the mystery of the tree-shaped scar, and the canary that might sing on the crown of a scar. And unless all races and all ages of man have been totally deluded, there seems to be such a thing as grace, such a thing as beauty, such a thing as harmony — all of which are wholly free, and available to us.”

From A Humanist View (1975) by Toni Morrison (1931 – 2019), born on this day

“For the earth we give thanks: may we respect it, enjoy it, and hand it on unspoiled.
For living beings we give thanks: may we reverence them, wonder at them, and share the world with them as best we can.
For children we give thanks: may we love them, guide them, and let them go when the time comes.
For grown-ups we give thanks: may we suffer them, forgive them, and try to do better ourselves.
For ourselves we give thanks: may we know them, confront them, and learn that they are worth loving.
For God we give thanks: whoever, whatever, He, She, or It may be, for without God there would be nothing to give thanks for, nothing to give thanks.”

Cliff Reed, retired Unitarian minister, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“God Bless You”, decreed as the correct response to a sneeze, by Pope Gregory the Great, on this day in 600

“Just as there are no little people or unimportant lives, there is no insignificant work.”

Yelena Bonner (1923 – 2011), Soviet Dissident, born on this day

“I know there is a hope in religion; I know there is faith and I know there is prayer about religion and necessary to it, but God is most glorified when there is peace on earth and good will towards men…

Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren.”

Frederick Douglass (1818 – 1895), abolitionist, orator, author, reformer, women’s rights advocate, born a slave in Maryland, as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, on this day.

“For the Celtic peoples, the physical world was seen to be made up of three elemental dimensions: the depths of the sea, the breadth of the earth, and the airy regions of the heavens. Fusing these three dimensions together was the fiery sun, whose diurnal circuit maintained the life of the apparent world. Each ensouled body lived within the dispensation of these dimensions. But the soul was regarded as yet greater than these, able not only to move through water, earth, air, and fire, but also to travel beyond these modes into the wider domain of the unseen world. For the soul, the passage of ages is but a day in cosmic time; there is no sense of time passing, only an eternal present to soul-travellers who enter the otherworld.

When we pay attention to our soul, rather than ignoring its needs and urgings, we experience a sense of inclusion within the universe. If we learn to pass beyond the limits of our body as soul-travellers, we discover that the constellations and planets that spin within the soul are qualities, intelligences, and allies we have always longed for.”

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

“As dogs, cats, horses, and probably all the higher animals, even birds, as is stated on good authority, have vivid dreams, and this is shewn by their movements and voice, we must admit that they possess some power of imagination… Few persons any longer dispute that animals possess some power of reasoning. Animals may constantly be seen to pause, deliberate, and resolve. It is a significant fact, that the more the habits of any particular animal are studied by a naturalist, the more he attributes to reason and the less to unlearnt instincts… love for all living creatures, the most noble attribute of man.”

From The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882), born on this day

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity.”

Mae Jemison, physicist and astronaut

“I was afraid of being rejected
Until I learned to never reject myself
I was afraid of being abandoned
Until I learned to never abandon myself
I was afraid of the opinions of others
Until I learned that they held no more weight than my own
I was afraid of painful endings
Until I realised that they were also new beginnings
I was afraid of appearing weak
Until I realised how strong I truly was
I was afraid of being seen as small and unimportant
Until I discovered my true power and potential
I was afraid of being perceived as ugly
Until I learned to fully appreciate my own beauty
I was afraid of failure
Until I learned that it was an illusion
When viewed through the eyes of love, growth and learning
I was afraid of feeling low
Until I learned that it was the birthplace of brilliance
And where my greatest transformation occurred
I was afraid of change
Until I realised it was an inevitable part of life
In a world full of things temporary and fleeting
I was afraid of being alone
Until I learned to fully embrace and appreciate my own company
I was afraid of my uniqueness
Until I learned that it was where my greatness lay
I was afraid of the darkness
Until I remembered that I was the light
And I was afraid of life
Until I remembered who I was.”

Tahlia Hunter

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

Alice Walker, writer and activist, born on this day in 1944

Image: Alice Walker speaking at End the Wars Spring Action, Oakland, 2018