“Oh when, when, when will we ever have enough
of whining and defining? Haven’t champions
in the weaving of words been here already?
Why keep on trying?

Are not people perpetually, over and over and over again,
assaulted by books as by buzzing alarms?
When, between two books, the quieting sky appears,
or merely a patch of earth at evening –
rejoice …

Louder than all the storms, louder than all the oceans,
people have been crying out:
What abundance of quietude
the Universe must yield, if we screaming humans
can hear the crickets, and if the stars
in the screamed-at ether
can appease our hearts!

Let the farthest, oldest, most ancient
ancestors speak to us!
And let us be listeners at last, humans
finally able to hear.”

From Uncollected Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926)

“No one is useless in this world.. who lightens the burden of it for any one else.”

From Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870), born on this day

Sámi National Day

“Think of me every day
Tell those southerners about me
Tell them how they’re breaking me down
bit by bit
piece by piece
Tell them about the folk up here
about how we live
about our struggle, hands chilled and souls on fire
Tell them about the workers and the pit
the half-year’s darkness, the drink that ensnares
Tell them we sometimes have no strength to spare
when colonialism makes good neighbors rare
Tell them about the plagues of midges
the chilly summers
the health care gaps
Then when they ask why you want to return
Tell them about the rays of the midnight sun
the murmur of the waters
the shimmer of the northern lights
Tell of the coffee that’s always simmering
the fire that’s always crackling
the smell of fresh baking
Nan’s Finnish lilt and ciggies, part of childhood
Tell of the fire that never fades
in activists, workers, retirees
Sing my songs, the ones we all know up here
Show me to those southerners
Tell them about all the tongues that are mine
all the nature that’s mine
and say:
if I’m not the greatest wonder they’ve ever seen
Then they have no business here
for my forests, ore, and water aren’t theirs to take.”

To the Girl Who Moved South by Rönn-Lisa Zakrisson

“The journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step. So we must never neglect any work of peace within our reach, however small.”

Adlai Stevenson II (1900 – 1965), US diplomat and Unitarian, born on this day

International Day of Human Fraternity

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear… I learned to put my trust in God and to seek Him as my strength… God has always given me the strength to say what is right… I had the strength of God and my ancestors with me.”

Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005), civil rights activist, born on this day

“My hope rises when I find that the inner heart of a human being may remain pure, notwithstanding some corruption of the outer coverings.”

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821 – 1910), first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States and first woman on the UK Medical Register, born on this day

Feast of Candlemas

“O God, give me light in my heart
and light in my tongue
and light in my hearing
and light in my sight
and light in my feeling
and light in all my body
and light before me
and light behind me.
Give me, I pray, light on my right hand
and light on my left
and light above me
and light beneath me.
O Lord, increase light within me
and give me light
and illuminate me.”

Ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

Imbolc

“At this time of year it sometimes feels as though winter still grips the land and the weather may be fierce. But if we seek them out, there are signs of new life stirring all around, even beneath deep snow. New shoots will be beginning to show in many plants, and for those of us out early, the dawn chorus of birdsong will be growing noticeably louder and last longer as the days visibly lengthen. Catkins, the flowers of the hazel, appear by mid February, and are followed by those of the willow…

Try to take some time out in nature during Imbolc and you’ll be amazed at what you find, even in a city park. Breathing slow and easy, try to be as present as you can to the simple act of walking, one foot after another, the earth beneath your feet and the sky above you. If the winter has felt long and tiresome, or if you feel seasonally affected by the lack of sunlight, take these moments as a gentle meditative exercise to encourage you, day by day. We all have times when winter reflects darkness or depression within our lives and these first stirrings are nature’s gentle medicine for easing our recovery, as well as adding some extra magic to our understanding of the seasonal wheel.

Even for those of us in a positive state of mind, there is something so beautiful about the quality of light on these early days of the year, and the quiet way life returns to even the bleakest landscape, that can support and nurture us, coaxing us gently into alignment with nature’s rhythm to find a more relaxed, present and reflective state.”

From The Magical Year by Danu Forest

Thought for the day, Friday 31st January

“on first seeing it
on returning from Europe
The pine! the pine! I eager cried,
The pine, my father! see it stand,
As first that cherished tree I spied,
Returning to my native land.
The pine! the pine! oh lovely scene!
The pine, that is forever green.
Ah beauteous tree! ah happy sight!
That greets me on my native strand
And hails me, with a friend’s delight,
To my own dear bright mother land
Oh ‘tis to me a heart-sweet scene,
The pine—the pine! that’s ever green.
Not all the trees of England bright,
Not Erin’s lawns of green and light
Are half so sweet to memory’s eye,
As this dear type of northern sky
Oh ‘tis to me a heart-sweet scene,
The pine—the pine! that ever green.”

To the Pine Tree, translation from Anishinaabemowin by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft / Bamewawagezhikaquay (1800 – 1842), Owijbe-American poet, born on this day

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”

Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated on this day in 1948