“Listen!
There is a call to worship
in the hidden sinews
of our being,
a taut string waiting to be plucked,
a melody longing to be sung.
We are made for praise!
An abundant earth calls it forth:
pounding sea and babbling brook,
sighing trees and their singing residents,
shimmering stars and silent night,
the growing and the greening
and the resting seed
invite a joyful song.
A heart freed sings praise!
Surprise of mercy and resonant flesh,
delight tickled, joy unleashed,
tender touch and shared walk,
we shout and sing together for joy.”

Psalm 65 Redux by Carla Grosch-Miller

Thought for the day, Saturday 25th October

“The most valued lover, the most valuable parent, the most valued friend, the most valuable “wilderman,” is the one who wishes to learn. Those who are not delighted by learning, those who cannot be enticed into new ideas or experiences, cannot develop past the roadpost they rest at now. If there is but one force which feeds the roots of pain, it is the refusal to learn beyond this moment.”

Clarissa Pinkola Estés, quoted in Christian Mystics by Matthew Fox

“Stepping through the gate into Chatsworth Park early this morning, I saw the yellow, brown, and golden leaves quietly swirling to the ground, glinting in the sun that was just breaking through the cold, damp mist of morning. I crunched through the dead leaves piled at the bottom of the great gnarled trees with their roots going deep into the earth. This avenue of trees, reaching high above, created a canopy which had caught the morning mist, whose weighted drops dislodged the last of the season’s leaves… The Great World Soul is in the golden leaves falling in season, and for that we give thanks. But when we plunder Mother Earth, the Great World Soul weeps through the tears of the mothers no longer able to feed their children. Kill Mother Earth, and we will die.”

Joan Wilkinson, Derbyshire Unitarian, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“Instead of “I love you,” it would be better to say “I am love-I am the embodiment of Pure Love.” Remove the I and you, and you will find that there is only Love. It is as if Love is imprisoned between the I and you. Remove the I and you, for they are unreal; they are self-imposed walls that don’t exist. The gulf between I and you is the ego. When the ego is removed the distance disappears and the I and you also disappear. They merge to become one – and that is Love.”

Mata Amritanandamayi, also known as Amma

“We do not have to build a church. Let us be complete in ourselves. Let us drink ourselves empty, give ourselves fully, extend ourselves outward – until, at last, the waving treetops are our own gestures and our laughter is resurrected in the children who play beneath them…”

Rainer Maria Rilke, quoted in A Year with Rilke by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows

DIWALI

“The light is not in the stars, but in the lamp that burns in our hands.”

Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941), Bengali polymath

“One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.”

Viggo Mortensen, actor and filmmaker, born on this day in 1958

Image: Grooming Horse (1909) by Robert Polhill Bevan (1865 – 1925)

“I lift my eyes to the hills.
From whence will my help come?
My help comes from the creativity of the cosmos
Which is making the heavens and the earth.
It comes also from the core of myself.
It is my guide and hope.
On this path I am safe
Whatever befalls me.”

Psalm 121 The Hills by Christine Robinson

Image: New Mexico Hills by Marsden Hartley (1877 – 1943)

“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention.”

Pico Iyer, travel writer

“It is better to keep quiet about our beliefs, and live them out, than to talk eloquently about what we believe, but fail to live by it.”

Saint Ignatius of Antioch (died c. 107), Feast Day today