Thought for the day, Saturday 18th May

“Dear dirt, I am sorry I slighted you,
I thought that you were only the background
for the leading characters – the plants
and animals and human animals.
It’s as if I had loved only the stars
and not the sky which gave them space
in which to shine. Subtle, various,
sensitive, you are the skin of our terrain,
you’re our democracy. When I understood
I had never honoured you as a living
equal, I was ashamed of myself,
as if I had not recognized
a character who looked so different from me,
but now I can see us all, made of the
same basic materials –
cousins of that first exploding from nothing –
in our intricate equation together. O dirt,
help us to find ways to serve your life,
you who have brought us forth, and fed us,
and who at the end will take us in
and rotate with us, and wobble, and orbit.”

Ode to Dirt by Sharon Olds

Thought for the day, Friday 17th May

“When we feel that we’re fragile, not stable or solid, we can come back to ourselves and take refuge in the earth. With each step we can feel her solidity beneath our feet. When we’re truly in touch with the earth, we can feel her supportive embrace and her stability. We use our whole body and mind to go back to the earth and surrender ourselves to her. With each breath we release all our agitation, our fragility, and our suffering. Just being aware of her benevolent presence can already bring relief.”

From Peace is This Moment by Thích Nhất Hạnh

Thought for the day, Wednesday 15th May

International Day of Families

“I wish you a single story, not a simple
fairy tale with only happiness, but one life
without secrets or omissions, without the need
for fake faces, one pointed outward,
the other, inward and real.
I wish for you the twin beauties
of clarity and consistency, knowing the singular
word that holds all of you together,
all of you at once, all of you.

I wish for you no need to hide. No reason to live
in shadows or half-truths. No need to cover the
spark and sparkle of your heart, to keep it
from catching the light of sun or moon.
I wish you whole-heartedness that arises
from the liberty before needing to be freed,
the completeness that precedes breaking,
the integrity of your being, a unity,
undivided and boundless.

I wish you a far-reaching welcome from within,
full and absolute acceptance, nothing withheld
from yourself, unrealized or unfinished.
And I wish you a place and a people who
do not want you in pieces, incomplete and partial,
a world that no longer asks anyone
to wrench apart their heart or divide soul
from mind, from nature, from core.
I bless you with all that is Whole.”

Blessing for Kin by Sean Parker Dennison

Thought for the day, Saturday 11th May

“I always tell my friends that they don’t have to die to enter the Kingdom of God – in fact, they have to be alive to do so. We know how to be alive. Breathing in and out mindfully, becoming fully present with body and mind united – these are the conditions for entering the Kingdom of God. You need only take one step, and you’re there.”

Thích Nhất Hạnh