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Posts from the ‘Love’ Category

Jun 24

Bear Fruit Not Busy

“Love turns work into rest.”― Teresa of Avila

“Untilled ground, however rich, will bring forth thistles and thorns; so also the mind of man.”― St. Teresa of Avila

Till and turn.
Dig and loosen.
Rich soil.
Plant seeds.
Water and wait.
Nurture and pull weeds.
Thoughts, words, right action.
Change and be changed.
Growth and fruition.
Hope, joy, enthusiasm, kindness, generosity, encouragement, laughter, delight.
Daily practices to live big, each ordinary day.
Bear good fruit not empty busy.

“Pessimism, cynicism and fear will only lead to a very small life. Don’t live small.”― Neil Abramson

Jun 19

Take In and Give Out Good

“Taking in the good, whenever and wherever we find it, gives us new eyes for seeing and living.”― Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living

“But if I’ve learned anything, it is that goodness prevails, not in the absence of reasons to despair, but in spite of them. If we wait for clean heroes and clear choices and evidence on our side to act, we will wait forever, and my radio conversations teach me that people who bring light into the world wrench it out of darkness, and contend openly with darkness all of their days. […] They were flawed human beings, who wrestled with demons in themselves as in the world outside. For me, their goodness is more interesting, more genuinely inspiring because of that reality. The spiritual geniuses of the ages and of the everyday simply don’t let despair have the last word, nor do they close their eyes to its pictures or deny the enormity of its facts. They say, “Yes, and …,” and they wake up the next day, and the day after that, to live accordingly.” – Krista Tippett, Speaking of Faith

Fight the good fight.
Do not back down.
Do not despair.
Work to do.
Get to it.
Daily.
Love wins.
Long hard haul, worth the trip.
Journey and destination,
Till dry soil.
Dig deep to fertile soil.
Plant seeds.
Tend, nourish, feed.
Bloom love, kindness, curiosity, enthusiasm, resolve, joy, freedom, resilience, hope.
Cast light.

“Generous listening is powered by curiosity, a virtue we can invite and nurture in ourselves to render it instinctive. It involves a kind of vulnerability – a willingness to be surprised, to let go of assumptions and take in ambiguity. The listener wants to understand the humanity behind the words of the other, and patiently summons one’s own best self and one’s own best words and questions.”― Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living

Jun 8

Spirit of Generous Love

“Only love can be divided endlessly and still not diminish.”― Anne Morrow Lindbergh

WHEN WE BREATHE TOGETHER
A Blessing for Pentecost Day

“This is the blessing
we cannot speak
by ourselves.

This is the blessing
we cannot summon
by our own devices,
cannot shape
to our own purposes,
cannot bend
to our own will.

This is the blessing
that comes
when we leave behind
our aloneness,
when we gather
together,
when we turn
toward one another.

This is the blessing
that blazes among us
when we speak
the words
strange to our ears,

when we finally listen
into the chaos,

when we breathe together
at last.”

—Jan Richardson, Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

Community.
Connection.
Communion.
Core to widening circles.
Woven and knit.
Empathy, compassion, kindness.
We belong to each other.
Love generously, without measure.
The only kind.
Breathing together.

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa

Jun 3

Plant Rather than Weed

“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.”― Henri J.M. Nouwen

“You will find it less easy to unroot faults than to choke them by gaining virtues. Do not think of your faults, still less of others faults; in every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it and as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.”― John Ruskin

To walk in love.
With self and others.
Lightly and with kindness.
Yielding and merging.
May goodness be the lens through which we see today.
An instrument of peace.
Conduit of encouragement, laughter, joy.
The great and daily work of love in bloom.
Plant more, weed less.

“I believe that the first test of a great man is his humility. I don’t mean by humility, doubt of his power. But really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not of them, but through them. And they see something divine in every other man and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful.”― John Ruskin

May 28

Light and Gravity

“Love is not consolation. It is light.”― Simone Weil

“Late Fragment

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.”
― Raymond Carver, A New Path to the Waterfall

 May you experience the light of love.
Invite, embrace and cast it back out.
The gravity of joy, awe, wonder.
Anchor, root, extend.
Beloved on the earth.
Inviting others to partake.
Taste and see.
Light and gravity.
Love always wins.

“Two forces rule the universe: light and gravity.”― Simone Weil

May 24

Creating Beauty, Lens of Love

“Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul.” – Alice Walker

“Love as a disposition does not primarily act on abstract principle. Instead it is a way of seeing habitually and responding to the real, separate, individual needs of each of the people we encounter in our lives every single day.”― Roberta C. Bondi, To Love as God Loves

To be kind when it is not offered or withdrawn
To go first again
To not count or compare
To be peace in the chaos
To be patient longer
To yield rather than lunge
To slow and gaze
To abide and embrace
To trust and allow
A state of grace, awe, wonder
Love in action

“A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”― Henri J.M. Nouwen

May 13

Another Story

“Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.” – Saint Augustine

“There’s always another story. There’s more than meets the eye.”― W.H. Auden

May I be better at counting what is already present and available
Recording rights
Racking up joy
Frivolous with kindness
Hoarding awareness
Hearty with laughter
Harboring reverence
Rapt with attention
Careless with forgiveness, compassion, empathy
Slow to judge, assume, name, dismiss
Quick to inquiry
Choosing abundance over scarcity
Blown away again and again by simple beauty, abase and abound
Wandering aimlessly into unknowing, unlearning, undoing
On the hunt for wonder, awe, delight
Swift to praise, encouragement, enthusiasm
A bleeding heart, a sucker for believing in goodness, light, generosity
Early to welcoming, inviting and hospitality
Saving chairs at the table of love.

“There isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story. ”― Mary Lou Kownacki

May 11

Love without Measure

“The measure of love is to love without measure.”― Augustine of Hippo

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Mothers, sisters, aunts, friends
To all the women
Fierce
Brilliant
Bold
Resilient
Tough
Beautiful
Gritty
Patient
Grace
Endurance
Nurturing
Creative
Kind
Love with no boundaries, walls, borders
Grateful for all the women who bless my life each day
Past, present, to come
Here, gone ahead but remaining ever present, alive in my heart
Happy Mother’s Day today and each day
The world is complete, colorful, ever blooming with your presence
Shine

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”― Brigham Young

Apr 28

Sheltering Tree

“If there is any immortality to be had among us human beings, it is certainly only in the love that we leave behind. Fathers like mine don’t ever die.” – Leo Buscaglia

A Blessing for a Father
by John O’Donohue

“The longer we live
The more your presence
We find, laid down
Within our lives.
The quiet constancy of your gentleness
Drew no attention to itself,
Yet filled our home
With a climate of kindness
Where each mind felt free
To seek its own direction.
As the fields of distance
Opened inside childhood,
Your presence was a sheltering tree
Where our fledgling hearts could rest.”

Nine years ago today my Dad passed away.
There’s not one day that has gone by since I don’t miss our daily calls.
If we allow, time gives perspective, demands reflection, deepens gratitude.
He taught us with actions more than words. Consistency and fidelity.
Fundamental principles, foundations, truths that don’t shift with the wind, the times.
Be kind, humble, work hard, play too, say I love you daily, character matters, quiet strength, faith, family, friendships, forgive, let it go-most of it, gratitude, steadfastness, generosity, resilience, laughter, ask good questions and listen, check your facts, the ends do not justify the means, keep going, eyes on the road ahead, defensive driving, always fill the gas tank when it’s half empty, keep your promises, girls can do anything and are not second class, do your best and let the outcomes be what they will, let it roll off your back like water off a duck, finish well… so much more woven into a lifetime of being a good Dad and best friend.
If your Mom and Dad are still here with you, call, spend time with them.
Things change in a flash from before to after.
Yet love rooted remains.
Love well today.

“Grief never ends … But it changes. It’s a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It is the price of love” —Author Unknown

Apr 22

1 Comment

The Gospel of Love

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.” – Pope Francis

“We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace.” – Pope Francis

The Gospel of love
Walked out daily
Small acts
A smile, an embrace, open arms
Bridges not walls
Peace, kindness, inclusion, hope, diversity, joy, grit, flipping tables, listening, optimism, goodness, love
Sowing seeds, casting light, spreading love
Our daily call
Rest in peace Pope Francis

“This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.” – Pope Francis

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