Thinking of those far from home and under duress. And those left behind.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
~ Wilfred Owen, from "Anthem for Doomed Youth"
...out of this year's dinosaur marathon. But meantime:
"Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---"
~ Emily Dickinson
One of the great uses of art, I think. And also sometimes of humor.
"I would not creep along the coast but steer
Out in mid-sea, by guidance of the stars."
~ George Eliot
... to stop and catch my own thoughts, here's another borrowed one:
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
~ Dr. Seuss
"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."
~ Thomas Merton
I am haunted by numberless islands, and many a Danaan shore,
Where Time would surely forget us, and Sorrow come near us no more;
Soon far from the rose and the lily, and fret of the flames would we be,
Were we only white birds, my beloved, buoyed out on the foam of the sea!
~ Rumi
No matter what is going on
Never give up
Develop the heart
Too much energy in your country
Is spent developing the mind
Instead of the heart
Be compassionate
Not just to your friends
But to everyone
Be compassionate
Work for peace
In your heart and in the world
Work for peace
And I say again
Never give up
No matter what is going on around you
Never give up
~His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
If each day falls
inside each night,
there exits a well
where clarity is imprisoned
We need to sit on the edge
of the well of darkness
and fish for fallen light
with patience.
~ Pablo Neruda
"Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to a man. Even the lowliest insect strives for protection against dangers that threaten its life. Just as each one of us wants happiness and fears pain, just as each one of us wants to live and not die, so do all other creatures."
~His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."
~Thomas Merton
Angel underway:
(The ribbons behind the ears of Eastern angels always flutter, to indicate they perpetually hear the whisper of God.)
And, with thanks to Lisa S., who sent it way long ago:
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
~ 'Wild Geese' by Mary Oliver
“Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral obligation.” ~ André Gide
With thanks to Fran, who sent it!
"I shut my eyes in order to see."
~ Paul Gauguin, 1848 - 1903
And then there’s social media, of course:
