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Posts tagged ‘Hope’

Dec 20

Making Clearances

“One who has hope lives differently.”– Pope Benedict XVI

“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”– Pope Benedict XVI

Advent to Christmas doorstep.
Threshold to cross.
New space to create.
Slowing to presence.
Making clearances for soul breathing.
Hope, joy, peace.
Cross the threshold.
Open all of the gifts.

“At Christmas, time deepens. The Celtic imagination knew that time is eternity in disguise. They embraced the day as a sacred space. Christmas reminds us to glory in the simplicity and wonder of one day; it unveils the extraordinary that our hurried lives conceal and neglect. We have been given such immense possibilities. We desperately need to make clearances in our entangled lives to let our souls breathe.” – John O’Donohue

Dec 16

Illuminate and Animate

“It is not over,
this birthing.
There are always newer skies
into which
God can throw stars.”
― Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem

“Joy doesn’t demand we silence our grief. It asks us to make just enough room for God to slip in beside it. And sometimes, that tiny crack of space is all joy needs to return.

Blessed are we who cannot fake cheer,
who sing soft instead of loud,
who light blue candles in December
and still hope joy might come.” – Kate Bowler

Hope, light, joy
Even, perhaps especially, on the ground of grief
Thin places and spaces
Cracks for light to enter
Hem of heaven
A particular grace
Throwing stars
Newer skies to illuminate and animate
Once again
Be kind, generous, a warm embrace
You are one of the stars to another’s dark sky
Blessing of a smile, a call, an invitation, place of belonging
A room at the Inn
Cast light.

“Like a thin place, a blessing can help us perceive how heaven infuses earth, inextricable from daily life, even when that life is marked by pain. In the midst of grief, when our loss can make the boundary between worlds feel horribly solid, insurmountable, and permanent, this comes as a particular grace.”― Jan Richardson, The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief

Dec 15

Threads to Fabric, Weave

“Art is the funnel, as it were, through which spirit is poured into life.”― Thomas Mann

“Laughter is a sunbeam of the soul.”― Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

Art
Laughter
Solitude
Connection
Reflection
Celebration
Reverence
Color
Hue
Light
Awe
Wonder
Weave these threads throughout each day
Fabric of ordinary to extraordinary
Giving birth to beauty, joy, peace.

“Solitude gives birth to the original in us.” – Thomas Mann

Dec 11

Encounter and Reverence

“Awe, you see, is what moves us forward.”― Joseph Campbell

“We’re so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.”― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

Encounter
Majesty
Reverence
Gazing
Beholding
Noticing
In slowing, awe, wonder
Hidden in plain sight
Ordinary places and spaces
Awaiting our senses to tend, participate, awaken
Begin anew each day
Hearty yes

“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure ”― Joseph Campbell

Dec 2

Whispered Hope

“I know life is not rainbows and butterflies, but I’d rather die delusional than being a mature cynic.”― Abhaidev, That Thing About You

“Heaven and earth, the Celtic saying goes, are only three feet apart, but in thin places that distance is even shorter. They are places that make us feel something larger than ourselves, as though we are held in a place between worlds, beyond experience.”― Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Thin Places

Thin spaces
Beauty, color, light
Quiet and reflection
Pause and gratefulness
In the midst of this ordinary day
Holding room for butterflies, whispered hope.

“To stand together under a sky – that no matter how grey and uncertain – still holds room for butterflies, moths, dragonflies and things we once were too fearful to name; things like whispered hope.”― Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Thin Places

 

Nov 28

Roots and Shoots

“There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins

“Every morning has a unique story. There are always some seeds of possibilities waiting to sprout.”― Amit Ray, Peace Bliss Beauty and Truth

Deep rising to the surface
Time and timing
Breaking through
Roots and shoots
Small sprouts, big promise
Keep planting, tending, reaching.

“As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Nov 26

Path of Plenitude

“I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.”― Edna St. Vincent Millay

“For a New Beginning
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.”
― John O Donohue

Into the grace of beginning
Crossing the threshold
Of new things blooming, unfolding
Seen with awakened senses
Light spirit
Hope-filled heart
Trusting the journey
Gratitude, praise, awe
And for the choice to live there each day, with delight.

“Fullness of joy is discovered only in the emptying of will.”― Ann Voskamp

Nov 22

Stacking Stones

“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.”― William Arthur Ward

“The adventure of life is to learn.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of like is to serve.
The secret of life is to dare.
The spice of life is to befriend.
The beauty of life is to give.”
― William Arthur Ward

Generosity of spirit
Deep well of gratitude
Overflowing awe and wonder
Kindness, laughter, love
Learning, grow, change, overcome, care, serve, dare, befriend, give
Stacking stones
Build some beauty, delight, joy today

“There is no small act of kindness.
Every compassionate act makes large the world.”― Mary Anne Radmacher

Nov 19

Inner Pause, Trail of Light

“Leave a trail of light behind you
Everywhere you go.
Whose darkness you’ll illuminate
You may never know.”― L.R. Knost

“Here’s to the bridge-builders, the hand-holders, the light-bringers, those extraordinary souls wrapped in ordinary lives who quietly weave threads of humanity into an inhumane world. They are the unsung heroes in a world at war with itself. They are the whisperers of hope that peace is possible. Look for them in this present darkness. Light your candle with their flame. And then go. Build bridges. Hold hands. Bring light to a dark and desperate world. Be the hero you are looking for. Peace is possible. It begins with us.” – L.R. Knost

Freely
In abundance
Without reserve, measure, comparison
Be kind
Door opener
Gentle breeze
Dancer of hope
Bridges not walls
Hand holding and hugs
Make this day a better place and space
Offer peace, enthusiasm, delight
Leave a trail of joy
Cast light

“Patience is an inner pause, a brief stillness, a moment we give ourselves to breathe through our initial reaction so we can move to the place where a calm, thoughtful response is born. Patience is a gift of time we give ourselves so we can give the gift of peace to others.”― L.R. Knost

Nov 9

Invincible Summer

“Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it.”― Albert Camus

“Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but ‘steal’ some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.”― Albert Camus, Notebooks 1951-1959

Invincible summer, in all seasons.
Curiosity, interest, exploration.
Attention, noticing, discovery.
Love, laughter, ease.
This day, not someday “when”
This day.
Cast light.

“In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love.
In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile.
In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm.
I realized, through it all, that…
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.” – Albert Camus

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