Thought for the day, Monday 11th December

“It was granted me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience: how a human being becomes evil and how good…

Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained.”

Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn (1918 – 2008), Soviet dissident writer, born on this day

Thought for the day, Sunday 10th December

“Prayer is as natural to man as speaking, sighing and seeing, as natural as the palpitation of a loving heart; and actually that is what prayer is: a murmur, a sigh, a glance, a heartbeat of love…

All our bodily acts are the nature of prayer. Our body performs a perfect physiological act of thanksgiving when, thirsting, it receives into itself a glass of water. Or, when on a hot day we bathe in a cool river, our skin sings a hymn of thanksgiving in praise of the Creator, even though this kind of prayer may be non-rational, unconscious and at times involuntary. However we are able to transform everything we do into prayer. Work and labour are forms of existential prayer.”

Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan Catholic priest and liberation theologian (1925 – 2020)

Thought for the day, Saturday 9th December

“Like treasure hidden in the ground
taste in the fruit
gold in the rock
oil in the seed
the Absolute hidden away in the heart
no one can know the ways of our lord white as jasmine…

Breath for fragrance, who needs flowers?
With peace, patience, forgiving and self-command,
who needs the Ultimate Posture?
The whole world becomes oneself,
who needs solitude?
O lord white as jasmine.”

Mahadeviyakkha, 12th century India

Thought for the day, Friday 8th December

“In my belief, there’s one spirit. I prefer to call it the Holy Spirit. I don’t think it matters if you call it God or Allah or Jesus or Fred or David or too early in the morning or whatever…

At some point the entire population of the earth is gonna have to look back at the kind of essence of spirituality which is basically caring about each other.”

Sinead O’Connor, singer-songwriter (1966 – 2023), born on this day

Thought for the day, Wednesday 6th December

“This day was honored centuries ago as the feast of Saint Nicholas, progenitor of Santa Claus. Whatever your stance toward mythic Christmas figures, Nicholas also deserves notice as the patron saint of weavers, bakers, and sailors – all people who work with nature intimately, shaping it to their own ends.

Weavers take the raw fibers of the wild and shape them into recognizable patterns, seeing to one of the our most basic needs. Bakers combine grains and other harvest goods with spices and herbs, firing the mixtures until they provide sustenance and flavor our lives. And sailors roam the horizons, testing the limits of our lives and bring back their own harvests from the deep.

Even if Saint Nicholas doesn’t bring presents anymore, he brings us plenty by reminding us to appreciate those craftspeople who help us make the most of this world.”

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