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Posts tagged ‘Nature’

Nov 26

Hushed Expectations

“Never be so focused on what you’re looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find.”― Ann Patchett, State of Wonder

“May you grow still enough to hear the small noises earth makes in preparing for the long sleep of winter, so that you yourself may grow calm and grounded deep within.

May you grow still enough to hear the trickling of water seeping into the ground, so that your soul may be softened and healed, and guided in its flow. May you grow still enough to hear the splintering of starlight in the winter sky and the roar at earth’s fiery core.

May you grow still enough to hear the stir of a single snowflake in the air, so that your inner silence may turn into hushed expectation.” – Brother David Steindl-Rast

Grow still enough.
Soft heart.
Quiet works.
Hushed expectation.
Ground within.
Grow still enough.

“Great works are often quiet works.”― James Martin, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life

Nov 23

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Spring Under Construction

“Snow creates that quality of awe in the face of a power greater than ours. It epitomises the aesthetic notion of the sublime, in which greatness and beauty couple to overcome you—a small, frail human—entirely.”― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

“Winter is the oldest season; it has some quality of the absolute. Yet beneath the surface of winter, the miracle of spring is already in preparation; the cold is relenting; seeds are wakening up. Colors are beginning to imagine how they will return. Then, imperceptibly, somewhere one bug opens and the symphony of renewal is no longer reversible. From the black heart of winter a miraculous, breathing plenitude of color emerges.

The beauty of nature insists on taking its time. Everything is prepared. Nothing is rushed. The rhythm of emergence is a gradual slow beat always inching its way forward; change remains faithful to itself until the new unfolds in the full confidence of true arrival. Because nothing is abrupt, the beginning of spring nearly always catches us unawares. It is there before we see it; and then we can look nowhere without seeing it.”― John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

To enter winter.
Without resistance.
A welcoming.
Curiosity.
Quieting and preparation.
Softening and slowing.
The place, space, foothold of transformation.
Time and timing.
Spring under construction.

“Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.”― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

Nov 22

Slow Steps

“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” – Henry Van Dyke

The Poet Dreams of the Mountain

by Mary Oliver

“Sometimes I grow weary of the days, with all their fits and starts.
I want to climb some old gray mountain, slowly, taking
the rest of my lifetime to do it, resting often, sleeping
under the pines or, above them, on the unclothed rocks.
I want to see how many stars are still in the sky
that we have smothered for years now, a century at least.
I want to look back at everything, forgiving it all,
and peaceful, knowing the last thing there is to know.
All that urgency! Not what the earth is about!
How silent the trees, their poetry being of themselves only.
I want to take slow steps, and think appropriate thoughts.
In ten thousand years, maybe, a piece of the mountain will fall.”

Widen the space between stimulus and response.
Forethought rather than afterthought.
Choose your words well.
They matter.
Observe your thoughts.
They matter.
Actions rooted in love.
They matter.
Slow steps, soft heart, light spirit, refreshed soul.
Cast light, love, kindness, generosity, grace.

“Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.” – Epicurus

Nov 21

The Noble Art

“One thing I’ve learned in the woods is that there is no such thing as random. Everything is steeped in meaning, colored by relationships, one thing with another.”― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” – Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living

In the choosing of the doing.
More in the not doing.
From transactional to relational.
Slowing and pausing.
Pruning to grow.
What is most important?
Put your effort and attention there.
The noble art of choosing well.

“In order to seek one’s own direction, one must simplify the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life.” – Plato

Nov 17

Softness of Morning

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.” – J. B. Priestley

Softest of Mornings

“Softest of mornings, hello.
And what will you do today, I wonder,
to my heart?

And how much honey can the heart stand, I wonder,
before it must break?

This is trivial, or nothing: a snail
climbing a trellis of leaves
and the blue trumpets of its flowers.

No doubt clocks are ticking loudly
all over the world.
I don’t hear them. The snail’s pale horns
extend and wave this way and that
as her finger-body shuffles forward, leaving behind
the silvery path of her slime.

Oh, softest of mornings, how shall I break this?
How shall I move away from the snail, and the flowers?
How shall I go on, with my introspective and ambitious life?”
Mary Oliver, Long Life

To enter the day with reverence.
Carry on with curiosity.
Awakened by awe.
Shifting attention to slow, steady wonder.
Rooted in gratitude.
Anchored in possibilities.
Softest of mornings.
How shall I carry you further into the day?

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius

Nov 16

Brilliant Beams

“A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” – Francis of Assisi

“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.” – Alexander Hamilton

Enter nature.
Let it enter you as well.
To spark awe.
Invite wonder.
Bask in delight.
Beams of light.
Breaking, weaving through.
Cracks and crevices.
The power of a single sunbeam.
The strength of stubborn shining.
Burning off the fog.
Cast light.

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” – Lord Byron

Nov 15

Largeness and Light

“Shine like the whole universe is yours.” – Rumi

“Each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up. All we need to do is stop pounding on the door that just closed, turn around-and welcome the largeness of life that now lies open to our soul.”― Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

Breathe in and out.
Look up and around.
Fresh air, open mind, soft heart.
May peace find you today.
On the ground of the present.

“Open the window of your mind. Allow fresh air, new lights and new truths to enter.” – Amit Ray

Nov 12

A Kernal Bursting

“Beauty surrounds us.” ― Rumi

“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.” ― Herman Hesse, Bäume: Betrachtungen und Gedichte

Be still.
Be quiet.
Listen.
Observe.
Examine.
With your heart, not your opinion.
The world, starting with self, needs love, not your judgment.
We make God in our image – small, petty, othering, self-righteous.
No wonder people run away fast.
We are made in God’s image.
Beyond comprehension by our underused imagination.
When we discover that, we change the world.
Invite. Welcome. Embrace.
Be kind. Love well.

“And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?” ― Rumi

Nov 10

Like a Shepherd

“Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.” ― Rumi

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.” – Rumi

Actions louder than words.
Bridges to unite.
Tunnels through mountains.
Encouragement rather than criticism.
Hands and feet.
Salt and light.
All else is empty noise.

“The moment we choose to love, we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. – bell hooks

Nov 9

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Active Force of Renewal

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”― Leo Tolstoy

“The spirit of a time is an incredibly subtle, yet hugely powerful force. And it is comprised of the mentality and spirit of all individuals together. Therefore, the way you look at things is not simply a private matter. Your outlook actually and concretely affects what goes on. When you give in to helplessness, you collude with despair and add to it. When you take back your power and choose to see the possibilities for healing and transformation, your creativity awakens and flows to become an active force of renewal and encouragement in the world. In this way, even in your own hidden life, you can become a powerful agent of transformation in a broken, darkened world. There is a huge force field that opens when intention focuses and directs itself toward transformation.” – John O’Donohue

Pause
Perspective
Possibilities
Presence
Patience
Resilience
Love, kindness, connection
Hope too
See the beauty in this day
Bask in it
Transformation always in the works
Should we choose to reflect, grow, change
Time and patience

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”― Leo Tolstoy

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