Quotations

Psalm 78

Listen long in the Silence that the Word
may be heard,
that decisions arise from the depths
of your Inner Being where
Wisdom dwells.
For the Spirit of Truth is written upon
gentle and open hearts...

With steadfast love will the Counselor
guide you...

~ Nan Merrill from "Psalm 78" in PSALMS FOR PRAYING

Nan Merrill Psalms For Praying soul fire

The gift of utter clarity

But...winter has an even greater gift to give. It comes when the sky is clear, the sun brilliant, the trees bare, and the first snow yet to come. It is the gift of utter clarity...Winter clears the landscape, however brutally, giving us a chance to see ourselves and each other more clearly, to see the very ground of our being.

~ Parker Palmer in SEASONS

Parker Palmer Seasons soul fire

The light of the soul throws sparks

My friends, do not lose heart... For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement...One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires...causes proper matters to catch fire.

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes in DO NOT LOSE HEART

Clarissa Pinkola Estes Do Not Lose Heart soul fire

Cracks of silence

I long to slip into cracks of silence
where breath is connected to spirit and
spirit to wind and a sense of oneness
resonates in my core.

~ Karyn Dedar

Karyn Dedar soul fire

Properties of Light

A field of light, and my need to say
that it exists. Each morning I walk here
almost blinded by water the sun shines on...

Limestone and granite give back radiance, and we
Walkers in this field lift our feet and set out,
moving through our once and only mornings,
afternoons... What if light
did not find itself renewable? As my necessity
for these words, mirrors I carry into the sun
of this blazing day, this dance, this carnival
where I am given access to another world,
to the spirits who walk with me
pointing out the properties of light.

~ Jeanne Lohmann from "Properties of Light" in THE LIGHT OF INVISIBLE BODIES

Jeanne Lohmann THE LIGHT OF INVISIBLE BODIES soul fire

A season of remembering

Solitude is a state of hospitality, a welcoming of all that needs attention. Solitude offers a ground that is embracing and inclusive. Everything can be made welcome in the broad arms of solitude, even fear. For as long as humans have sought counsel with the sacred, much of it has happened in a space set apart from others. Here, in silence and nourishing aloneness, we can become receptive to the influence of soul...

This is a season of remembering the ancient rhythms of soul. It is a time to become immense....to recall how embedded we are in an animate world—a world that dreams and enchants, a world that excites our imaginations and conjures our affections through its stunning beauty. Everything we need is here...

~ Francis Weller in IN THE ABSENCE OF THE ORDINARY

Francis Weller IN THE ABSENCE OF THE ORDINARY soul fire

Unraveling

There is something deeper than hope. Between the hours of darkness and dawn, the voices of our ancestors are amplified in the dreamtime—warning us of our awakening wisdom—a blessing to behold and a burden to enact.

~ Terry Tempest Williams in "Unraveling" EMERGENCE MAGAZINE

Terry Tempest Williams soul fire

Let us find meaning in mystery

We don't know what's around the uncharted bend in this wild river of change... Let us learn from our fellow Earth inhabitants, like mycelium networks who know about sharing resources, recycling toxins into nourishment, communicating underground. Let us find meaning in mystery rather than consumption. Let us turn our ears to the music rising out of the ground.

~ Geneen Marie Haugen in "Soulcraft Musings, November 8, 2024"

Geneen Marie Haugen soul fire

Primary Wonder

Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; caps and bells.
And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng's clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed one, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.

~ Denise Levertov, "Primary Wonder" from SANDS OF THE WELL

Denise Levertov SANDS OF THE WELL soul fire

Blessing for the Longest Night

All throughout these months
as the shadows
have lengthened,
this blessing has been
gathering itself,
making ready,
preparing for
this night.

It has practiced
walking in the dark,
traveling with
its eyes closed,
feeling its way
by memory
by touch
by the pull of the moon
even as it wanes.

So believe me
when I tell you
this blessing will
reach you
even if you
have not light enough
to read it;
it will find you
even though you cannot
see it coming....

This blessing
does not mean
to take the night away
but it knows
its hidden roads,
knows the resting spots
along the path,
knows what it means
to travel
in the company
of a friend.

So when
this blessing comes,
take its hand.
Get up.
Set out on the road
you cannot see.

This is the night
when you can trust
that any direction
you go,
you will be walking
toward the dawn.

~ Jan Richardson, "Blessing for the Longest Night" from THE CURE FOR SORROW

Jan Richardson The Cure For Sorrow soul fire

Golden Repair of the Cracks in the World

I keep imagining how the time of collapse and chaos can also be a radical period of re-imagination and potential renewal... precisely in the midst of chaos each of us may be closer to finding a particular thread that gives our life genuine meaning and also gives us something to contribute to the re-imagining and reweaving of the world.

~ Michael Meade, "Golden Repair of the Cracks in the World" from MOSAIC VOICES

Michael Meade MOSAIC VOICES soul fire

This life is after all a miracle

You do your absolute best to find and hone and wield your divine gifts against the dark. You do your best to reach out tenderly to touch and elevate as many people as you can reach. You bring your naked love and defiant courage and salty grace to bear as much as you can, with all the attentiveness and humor you can muster. This life is after all a miracle and we ought to pay fierce attention every moment, as much as possible.

~ Brian Doyle in ONE LONG RIVER OF SONG

Brian Doyle ONE LONG RIVER OF SONG soul fire

Do Not Be Afraid

Do not be afraid, little flock. It is my Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. ~ Luke 12:32

The game is not over yet. We are still under the loving hand of our Common Father, and the marching orders have not changed: to live and establish ourselves in alignment with the highest benchmarks of what we know human beings are capable of: courage, commitment, compassion, forgiveness, conscience, integrity. To simply keep walking toward these, arm and arm if at all possible, for there the force of individual integrity is vastly magnified. Until then, as we all navigate through this season of winnowing, it will be more important than ever for those of you who can stay with it, to hold fast to sobriety, integrity, impartiality, and métis (skillful action at exactly the right time). To be able to look sphinx-like into the eyes of this necessary winnowing and not wince or flail. Not to indulge in nostalgia, self-pity, blame, or rumination. To keep walking forward in forgiveness and quiet hope into the future. Our Father is still trying to give us the Kingdom; the timing depends on our readiness to bear it. Let us continue, quietly, with the readying.

~ Cynthia Bourgeault, from the blog post "Do Not Be Afraid," on Wisdom Waypoints

Cynthia Bourgeault hope

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. It is an orientation of the spirit and orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.

~ Vaclav Havel in DISTURBING THE PEACE

Vaclav Havel DISTURBING THE PEACE hope

Hope and history rhyme

History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

~ Seamus Heaney in THE CURE AT TROY: A VERSION OF SOPHOCLES' PHILOCTETES

Seamus Heaney THE CURE AT TROY: A VERSION OF SOPHOCLES' PHILOCTETES hope

To be hopeful in bad times

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

~ Howard Zinn in A POWER GOVERNMENTS CANNOT SUPPRESS

Howard Zinn A POWER GOVERNMENTS CANNOT SUPPRESS hope

Hope is holding a creative tension

Hope is holding a creative tension between what is, and what could and should be, and each day doing something to narrow the distance between the two.

~ Parker Palmer, from a podcast with Carrie Newcomer, Episode 29, December 31, 2020

Parker Palmer hope

Try this simple test

Sometimes, in this troubled world of ours, we forget that love is all around us. We imagine the worst of other people and withdraw into our own shells. But try this simple test: Stand still in any crowded place and watch the people around you. Within a very short time, you will begin to see love, and you will see it over and over and over. A young mother talking to her child, a couple laughing together as they walk by, an older man holding the door for a stranger — small signs of love are everywhere. The more you look, the more you will see. Love is literally everywhere. We are surrounded by love.

~ Steven Charleston in LADDER TO THE LIGHT: AN INDIGENOUS ELDER'S MEDITATIONS ON HOPE AND COURAGE

Steven Charleston LADDER TO THE LIGHT: AN INDIGENOUS ELDER'S MEDITATIONS ON HOPE AND COURAGE hope

It's in that place that the alchemy emerges

When we truly open our hearts to each other, there is no burden too heavy for us to carry together, there is no pain too deep for us to hold in each other's arms. And it's in that place that the alchemy emerges. It's in the cauldron of sharing our grief with our community, of gazing at it together and not looking away, that the heartbreak turns to hope.

~ Jeremy Lent in THE ALCHEMY OF HEARTBREAK AND HOPE: A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE FOR OUR TIMES

Jeremy Lent THE ALCHEMY OF HEARTBREAK AND HOPE: A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE FOR OUR TIMES hope

The Gates of Hope

Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of Hope—
Not the prudent gates of Optimism,
Which are somewhat narrower.

Not the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense;
Nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness,
Which creak on shrill and angry hinges
(People cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through)
Nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of
"Everything is gonna' be all right."

But a different, sometimes lonely place,
The place of truth-telling,
About your own soul first of all and its condition.
The place of resistance and defiance,
The piece of ground from which you see the world
Both as it is and as it could be
As it will be;

The place from which you glimpse not only struggle,
But the joy of the struggle.
And we stand there, beckoning and calling,
Telling people what we are seeing
Asking people what they see.

~ Victoria Stafford, "The Gates of Hope" in THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE: PERSERVERANCE AND HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES

Victoria Stafford THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE: PERSERVERANCE AND HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES hope

Active hope is a practice

Active hope is a practice. Like tai chi or gardening, it is something we do rather than have. It is a process we can apply to any situation, and it involves three key steps. First, we take a clear view of reality; second, we identify what we hope for in terms of the direction we'd like things to move in or the values we'd like to see expressed; and third, we take steps to move ourselves or our situation in that direction.

~ Joanna Macy in ACTIVE HOPE

Joanna Macy Active Hope hope

Hope is a muscle

Hope is a muscle, a practice, a choice that actually propels new realities into being. And it's a muscle we can strengthen. It is not the same as idealism or optimism. This kind of hope has nothing to do with wishful thinking. Hope as I've seen it lived is at once fierce and persistently joyful. I've come to understand this quality of hope as an essential foundation and power for the generative story, the generative landscape, that is emerging out of all of the rupture this moment in the life of the world has laid bare.

~ Krista Tippett, from her "Practicing Hope" course

Krista Tippett hope

Psalm 90

Gratitude softens us.

~ Nan Merrill from her interpretation of "Psalm 90" in PSALMS FOR PRAYING

Nan Merrill Psalms For Praying gratitude

Constantly awakening to the new wonder

Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to the new wonder to praise the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good not by hearsay, but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.

~ Thomas Merton in THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE

Thomas Merton Thoughts In Solitude gratitude

Each of us owes the deepest thanks

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.

~ Albert Schweitzer in MEMOIRS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH, translated by Erica Anderson

Albert Schweitzer MEMOIRS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH gratitude

Generosity and kindness and style

Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style.

~ Rebecca Solnit, from the article "We could be heroes" on theguardian.com

Rebecca Solnit gratitude

Mindful

Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It is what I was born for—
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world—
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant—
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these—
the untrimmable light,
of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?

~ Mary Oliver, "Mindful" in WHY I WAKE EARLY

Mary Oliver Why I Wake Early gratitude

Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order,
confusion to clarity.

~ Melody Beattie, from the poem "Gratitude"

Melody Beattie gratitude

Can you see the holiness in those things

Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted—a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.

~ Rabbi Harold Kushner in WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

Rabbi Harold Kushner WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE gratitude

We gain comfort, satisfaction and peace

We often remember to be grateful for big events, like graduating from university or getting married, but it can be more difficult to feel grateful for the small things we do every day. Reminding yourself that eating a meal, for example, is in itself special and can be very powerful. Your immediate awareness of the food in front of you, combining flavors while removing hunger, is a great way to enjoy gratitude as often as you eat! Another is feeling grateful in the morning for being able to comfortably sleep at night. We gain comfort, satisfaction and peace by practicing mindfulness and gratitude in this repeated fashion.

~ Najma Khorrami, from the article "Four Ways to Wire Your Brain for Gratitude" on mindfulness.org

Najma Khorrami gratitude

The humans articulate this

Everything is here for the same reason, for manifestation and celebration. But the humans articulate this. The others cannot articulate it reflectively. They can be a manifestation, but they cannot reflect on that. Humans can, therefore our role is to be spokespersons for the universe and to appreciate the universe as the context in which the Divine and human meet.

~ Thomas Berry

Thomas Berry gratitude

Awakening

Awakening in a moment of peace
I give thanks
to the source of all peace
as I set forth
into the day
the birds sing
with new voices
And I listen
with new ears
and give thanks

nearby
the flower called Angel's Trumpet
blows
in the breeze
and I give thanks
my feet touch the grass
still wet with dew
and I give thanks

both to my mother earth
for sustaining my steps
and to the seas
cycling once again
to bring forth new life
sun-fire
the dewdrops
become jeweled
with the morning
sun's fire
and I give thanks

you can see forever
when the vision is clear
in this moment
each moment

I give thanks

~ Harriet Kofalk, from the song "Awakening"

Harriet Kofalk gratitude

Psalm 107

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

~ Psalm 107

gratitude

Gratitude can transform

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.

~ William Arthur Ward

William Arthur Ward gratitude

Gratefulness has three steps

Gratefulness has three steps: not missing the opportunity, appreciating the opportunity, and using or enjoying the opportunity. By this method we come fully alive, full of joy, which is what we are all longing for.

~ Brother David Steindl-Rast

Brother David Steindl-Rast gratitude

Psalm 27

Love is my light and
my salvation,
whom shall I fear?...

One thing have I asked of Love,
that I shall ever seek:
That I might dwell in the
Heart of Love
All the days of my life,

To behold the Beauty of my Beloved...

Call upon the Beloved,
be strong and trust
in the heart's courage.
Trust in the power of Love;
the Beloved's unconditional and
everlasting love for you.

~ Nan Merrill, from her interpretation of "Psalm 27" in PSALMS FOR PRAYING

Nan Merrill Psalms For Praying joy

Here is the world

Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.

~ Frederick Buechner in BEYOND WORDS: DAILY READINGS IN THE ABC's OF FAITH

Frederick Buechner BEYOND WORDS: DAILY READINGS IN THE ABC's OF FAITH joy

There are doors

In the universe there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.

~ William Blake in THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL

William Blake THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL joy

What if that is joy?

Is sorrow the true wild?

And if it is—and if we join them—
your wild to mine—what's that?

For joining, too, is a kind of annihilation.
What if we joined our sorrows, I'm saying.
I'm saying: What if that is joy?

~ Ross Gay in THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS

Ross Gay The Book Of Delights joy

Marginal

This is where I live,
at the edge of this ploughed field
where sunlight catches meadow grasses
and turns them silver-yellow....

I prefer it here, at the line
where the forest intersects
the field, where deer and groundhog
move back and forth to feed
and hide. On these juts and outcroppings
I can look both ways, moving
As that crow does, all gracelessness
and sway....

This life is not easy,
but wings mix up with leaves there,
like the moment when surf turns into
undertow or breaker, and I can
poise myself and hold
for a long time, profoundly
neither one place nor another.

~ Maggie Anderson, from "Marginal" in WINDFALL: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS

Maggie Anderson WINDFALL: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS joy

The strange path

I am quite confident that even as the oceans boil, and the hurricanes beat violently against our once safe shores, and the air sweats with the heat of impending doom...that there is a path to take that has nothing to do with victory or defeat: a place we do not yet know the coordinates to; a question we do not yet know how to ask. The point of the departed arrow is not merely to pierce the bullseye and carry the trophy: the point of the arrow is to sing the wind and remake the world in the brevity of flight. ... May this new decade be remembered as the decade of the strange path, of the third way, ...the kairotic moment... that opened up new places of power.

~ Bayo Akomolafe

Bayo Akomolafe joy

It is not too late to love

In times like these, many things become too late...It will be too late to save this coastline or that ecosystem, this city or that species, this democracy or that economy. But it is not too late to love, and it never will be. Love will count, no matter what. Even on the last day of the world.

~ Brian McLaren in LIFE AFTER DOOM: WISDOM AND COURAGE FOR A WORLD FALLING APART

Brian McLaren LIFE AFTER DOOM: WISDOM AND COURAGE FOR A WORLD FALLING APART joy

Fluent in the manners and ways of soul

We have entered a time of descent that takes us down into a different geography. In this shadowed terrain, we encounter a landscape familiar to soul—loss, grief, death, vulnerability, and fear...This is not a time of rising and growth. It is not a time of confidence and ease. No. We are hunkered down. Down being the operative word. From the perspective of soul, down is holy ground...

How can we meet these unpredictable times with any sense of presence and faith?
To do so, we must become fluent in the manners and ways of soul. We are required to develop another set of skills and ways of seeing as we descend ever further into the collective unknown. We are being asked to hone the faculties of soul that will enable us to navigate through the Long Dark....

~ Francis Weller in IN THE ABSENCE OF THE ORDINARY

Francis Weller IN THE ABSENCE OF THE ORDINARY joy

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

So, friends, every day do something that won't compute...Give your approval to all you cannot understand...Ask the questions that have no answers. Put your faith in two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years. ...Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts...Practice resurrection.

~ Wendell Berry, from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" in THE COUNTRY OF MARRIAGE

Wendell Berry THE COUNTRY OF MARRIAGE joy

Walking you make the road

Walker, your footsteps
are the road, and nothing more.
Walker, there is no road,
the road is made by walking.
Walking you make the road,
and turning to look behind
you see the path you never
again will step upon.
Walker, there is no road,
only foam trails on the sea.

~ Antonio Machado in BORDER OF A DREAM

Antonio Machado BORDER OF A DREAM joy

Sowing Seeds

An expression of faith
In life Herself
Is to sow seeds into dark soil
Not knowing what awaits.
Returning to the patience
Reverence
Grace
Humility
Practiced by our ancestors...
Reminding me to wake up amidst the confusion
To do what must be done to feed the children.
To tuck vibrant seeds into fertile soil
And patiently tend the garden,...
The garden that our ancestors left for us is beautiful.
May we water it well with our tears and our laughter, our stories, and our songs.

Today I choose to plant seeds of hope into the winds of an unknown future...
It's a New dawn.
The time to be those ancestors our grandchildren are waiting for is upon us.
What seeds are you sowing?

~ Rowen White, from "Sowing Seeds"

Rowen White joy

And All I've Got Is a Love Poem

How rare and beautiful it is that we exist. What if we stun existence one more time?... The earth remembers everything, our bodies are the color of the earth and we are nobodies. Been born from so many apocalypses, what's one more? Love is still the only revenge. It grows each time the earth is set on fire. But for what it's worth, I'd do this again. Gamble on humanity one hundred times over. Commit to life unto life, as the trees fall and take us with them. I'd follow love into extinction.

~ Ayisha Siddiqa, from "On Another Panel About Climate, They Ask Me to Sell the Future and All I've Got Is a Love Poem"

Ayisha Siddiqa joy

Another name for God

Another name for God is surprise.

~ Brother David Steindl-Rast in GRATEFULNESS, THE HEART OF PRAYER

Brother David Steindl-Rast Gratefulness: The Heart Of Prayer love

Love springs from awareness

Love is frequently equated with good feelings toward others, with benevolence or nonviolence or service. But these things in themselves are not love. Love springs from awareness. It is only inasmuch as you see someone as he or she really is here and now and not as they are in your memory or your desire or in your imagination or projection that you can truly love them.

~ Anthony De Mello in THE WAY TO LOVE

Anthony de Mello The Way To Love love

Love deepens towards permanence

This is how we are: we fall in love with each other's strengths, but love deepens towards permanence when we fall in love with each other's weaknesses.

~ Salman Rushdie in THE GOLDEN HOUSE

Salman Rushdie THE GOLDEN HOUSE love

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