WWI Armistice Day

“Within the last five generations, there has probably not been a family living that did not have some remembrance of war and conflict, some dead to mourn as a result of warfare. This day, November 11, has commemorated dead warriors, throughout the Western world, since the armistice of the First World War.

Those who serve in the defence of their families and countries – like the Gaulish soldier St. Martin of Tours, who tore his fine cloak in two to clothe the needy – tear the cloak of their lives in two, severing themselves from accustomed comfort and habitual kindness to enter a zone or pain and confrontation.

In our own age, where much of the warfare is against ignorance, heartlessness, and environmental devastation, new kinds of warriors learn the art of sacrifice with a different set of weapons. They seek to tear their lives in two to make a greater mantle in the defence of their poor, the innocent, the needy.

We no longer glorify war as our ancestors did; the loss, grief, and bewilderment of families for their fallen have been too great in this [20th] century for such assuaging. We count the cost and bless the sacrifice of those who have had the courage to tear the cloak in two, knowing that they did not glory in the pain and bloodshed any more than we ourselves do now.”

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

Image: Saint Martin cutting his cloak, stained glass, Paris c. 1230

“Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.”

Martin Luther (1483 – 1546), theologian, born on this day

“We all have a thirst for wonder. It’s a deeply human quality. Science and religion are both bound up with it. What I’m saying is, you don’t have to make stories up, you don’t have to exaggerate. There’s wonder and awe enough in the real world. Nature’s a lot better at inventing wonders than we are.”

From Contact by Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996), astronomer, born on this day

“It seems to me that I have found my Heaven on earth, since Heaven is God and God is in my soul. The day I understood that, everything became clear to me. I wish to tell this secret to those whom I love so that they also, through everything, may also cling to God through everything.”

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880 – 1906), whose feast day is celebrated today (pictured aged 20)

“If you’re smart or rich or lucky
Maybe you’ll beat the laws of man
But the inner laws of spirit
And the outer laws of nature
No man can”

Joni Mitchell, singer-songwriter, born on this day in 1943

Image: Anima Mundi by Thomas Rees

“Wherever you go looking for Me
I’m already always by your side
I’m not in sacred places
I’m not in temple idols
I’m not in solitary retreats
I’m already always by your side.
I’m not in temples or mosques
I’m not in the Kaaba, not in Kailash
I’m already always by your side.
I’m not in austerities, not in meditation,
Not in feasts, not in fasts
Not in rituals laid down in sacred texts
Not in yogic exercises –
Look for Me with passionate sincerity
I’ll be beside you immediately.
Kabir says: seeker, listen to Me –
Where your deepest faith is, I am.”

Kabir, 15th century India, pictured weaving

“There is something insane about a lack of doubt. Doubt, to me anyway, is what makes you human, and without doubt even the righteous lose their grip not only on reality but also on their humanity.”

Tilda Swinton, actress, born on this day in 1960

“We must find sources of strength and renewal for our own spirits, lest we perish…. It is very much in order to make certain concrete suggestions in this regard. First, we must learn to be quiet, to settle down in one spot for a spell. Sometime during each day, everything should stop and the art of being still must be practiced. For some temperaments, it will not be easy because the entire nervous system and body have been geared over the years to activity, to overt and tense functions. Nevertheless, the art of being still must be practiced until development and habit are sure.

If possible, find a comfortable chair or quiet spot where one may engage in nothing. There is no reading of a book or a paper, no thinking of the next course of action, no rejecting of remote or immediate mistakes of the past, no talk. One is engaged in doing nothing at all except being still. At first one may get drowsy and actually go to sleep. The time will come, however, when one may be quiet for a spell without drowsiness, but with a quality of creative lassitude that makes for renewal of mind and body. Such periods may be snatched from the greedy demands of one’s day’s work; they may be islanded in a sea of other human beings; they may come only at the end of the day, or in the quiet hush of the early morning. We must, each one of us, find our own time and develop our own peculiar art of being quiet.”

From Deep Is the Hunger: Meditations for Apostles of Sensitiveness by Howard Thurman (1899 – 1981)

“My bare feet walk the earth reverently
for everything keeps crying,
Take off your shoes.
The ground you stand on is holy
The ground of your being is holy.
When the wind sings through the pines
like a breath of God
awakening you to the sacred present
calling your soul to new insights
Take off your shoes!
When the sun rises above your rooftop
coloring your world with dawn
Be receptive to this awesome beauty
Put on your garment of adoration
Take off your shoes!
When the Red Maple drops its last leaf of summer
wearing it’s “burning bush” robes no longer
read between its barren branches, and
Take off your shoes!
When sorrow presses close to your heart
begging you to put your trust in God alone
filling you with a quiet knowing
that God‘s hand is not too short to heal you
Take off your shoes!
When a new person comes into your life
like a mystery about to unfold
and you find yourself marveling over
the frailty and splendor of every human being
Take off your shoes!
When, during the wee hours of the night
you drive slowly into the new day
and the morning’s fog, like angel wings
hovers mysteriously above you
Take off your shoes!
Take off your shoes of distraction
Take off your shoes of ignorance and blindness
Take off your shoes of hurry and worry
Take off anything that prevents you
from being a child of wonder.
Take off your shoes;
The ground you stand on is holy.
The ground you are is holy.”

Child of Wonder by Macrina Wiederkehr (1939 – 2020)

All Souls’ Day

“When Mexican villagers celebrate Los Dios de los Muertos (the Days of the Dead), the celebrants customarily scatter finely decorated skulls made of sugar amid the feast. Kids, of course, will eat anything. But it’s striking to consider that adults, too, partake of these cranial confections. The sugar skull symbolically reminds us that it is death than gives life its sweetness. As much as we may long for immortality, without death our lives would lack flavor. Too much sugar makes sugar itself meaningless, but the sweet moments that we can snatch away from death are precious because they are limited.”

From Earth Bound: Daily Meditations For All Seasons by Brian Nelson