Author Archives: Laura Dobson

“I know this happinessis provisional: the looming presences —great suffering, great fear — withdraw onlyinto peripheral vision: but ineluctable this shimmeringof wind in the blue leaves: this flood of stillnesswidening the lake of sky: this need to dance,this need to kneel:this mystery.” Of Being by Denise Levertov (1923 – 1997)

“You have looked at so many doors with longing,wondering if your life lay on the other side.For today, choose the door that opens to the inside.Travel the most ancient way of all:the path that leads you to the center of your life.No map but the one you make yourself.No provision but what you already carryandContinue reading “Words for week beginning Monday 5th January”

“Lost in awe at the beauty around me, I must have slipped into a state of heightened awareness. It is hard – impossible really – to put into words the moment of truth that suddenly came upon me then. Even the mystics are unable to describe their brief flashes of spiritual ecstasy. It seemed toContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 31st December”

“Where are you now, my good friend? Are you out in the field, in the forest, on the mountain, in a military camp, in a factory, at your desk, in a hospital, in prison? Regardless of where you are, let us breathe in and out together and allow the sun of awareness to enter. LetContinue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 30th December”

“”In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a manner in which justice, commonly held to belong to others, is not. Gratitude pays itself back in large measure.” Seneca, Moral Letters, 81.19 Think of all the things you can beContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 29th December”

“Real rest feels like every cell is thanking you for taking care of you. It’s calm, not full of checklists and chores. It’s simple: not multitasking; not fixing broken things.” Jennifer Williamson

“O noble Love, do in me Your holy will in all thingsMy life and my death belong to you.May you make of me one of those spirits tuned to perfect praiseWho let God be God in silence.” Hadewijch of Antwerp, 13th century mystic

“If you have patience, then you’ll also have love. Patience leads to love. If you forcefully open the petals of a bud, you won’t be able to enjoy its beauty and fragrance. Only when it blossoms by following its natural course, will the beauty and fragrance of a flower unfold.” Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, knownContinue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 26th December”

Christmas Day “It is in the simplicity of your ordinary walk that you have to find the secret, which is hidden from so many, of something great and new: love.” Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás (1902 – 1975)

“Lord, may we all love Your creation-All the earth and every grain of sand in it.May we love every leaf, every ray of Your light.For we acknowledge to You that all life isLike an ocean, all is flowing and blendingAnd that to withhold any measure ofLove from anything in Your universeIs to withhold the sameContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 24th December”