Author Archives: Laura Dobson

“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.” From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, published on this day in 1843

“I cannot say where it lives, only that it comes to the heart that is open,to the heart that asks, to the heart that does not turn away.It can take practice, days of tugging at what keeps us bound,seasons of pushing against what keeps our dreaming small.When it arrives, it might surprise you by howContinue reading “Thought for the day, Sunday 18th December”

“You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That’s how prayer works.” Pope Francis, born on this day in 1936

“Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience – or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.” Jane Austen, born on this day in 1775

“The saints were capable of seeing through the masks that cover the faces and they saw that the masks are unreal. In the innumerable faces of men they saw only one face: the face of love.” Thomas Merton

“What makes a place sacred? Is it some hallowed action? Is it the siting of a shrine or temple? Is it the occupation by people who have honoured the spirit of that place? Although there is no part of the earth that is not intrinsically sacred in its own right, our recognition of a place’sContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 14th December”

“If there is anythingI still long forI know nothing of itPrisoner as I amNow and foreverIn the abyss of unknowing. The human spirit can never understandOr its words translateWhat is foundWhen all is lostIn the darkness of God.” Hadewijch of Antwerp

“Notice the inner places where you’re holding your breath, walking on eggshells around the living room of your self.Notice the contraction of your muscles, the hump of your shoulders, the pitch of your pelvis, the way you sip air instead of taking it in freely and fully as a gift of divine grace.Notice the qualityContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 12th Decembr”

“In the first reading of the Eucharist today I heard: “I am offering you life or death. . . . Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live in the love of Yahweh, your God, obeying his voice, holding fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:19–20). How do I choose life? I am becomingContinue reading “Thought for the day, Sunday 11th December”

“I dwell in Possibility –A fairer House than Prose –More numerous of Windows –Superior – for Doors – Of Chambers as the Cedars –Impregnable of eye –And for an everlasting RoofThe Gambrels of the Sky – Of Visitors – the fairest –For Occupation – This –The spreading wide my narrow HandsTo gather Paradise –” EmilyContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 10th December”