Elysium on earth

And, oh! if there be an Elysium on earth,
It is this, it is this.

~Thomas Moore, (1759 – 1882)

the light that shines from within

Nothing can dim the light
that shines from within.

~Maya Angelou, (1928 – 2014)

when you’re standing under the sky

When life feels too big to handle, go outside.
Everything looks smaller
when you’re standing under the sky.

~L. R. Knost

even the trees leaned toward her

A woman described a friend of hers as being such a keen listener that even the trees leaned toward her, as if they were speaking their innermost secrets into her listening ears. Over the years I’ve envisioned that woman’s silence, a hearing full and open enough that the world told her its stories.

~Linda Hogan

what you hope for

The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for.
And the most you can do is live inside that hope.
Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.

~Barbara Kingsolver

keep going

Strength is not a roar of thunder in the heart.
That is passion.
Strength is not a process of logic in the mind.
That is reason.
Strength is a soul-deep voice that whispers ‘keep going’
when we feel like giving up.

~L. R. Knost

in a time of no rain

Sit and be still until in the time
of no rain you hear beneath the dry
wind’s commotion in the trees
the sound of flowing water among
the rocks, a stream unheard before,
and you are where breathing is prayer.

~Wendell Berry

the perfect teacher

This very moment is the perfect teacher,
and, lucky for us,
it’s with us wherever we go.

~Pema Chödrön

I must return the gift

Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us,
giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair,
not because I have my head in the sand,
but because joy is what the earth gives me daily,
and I must return the gift.

~Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

the bells that still can ring

 

Ring the bells that still can ring. . . .

~Leonard Cohen