Author Archives: Laura Dobson

Summer Solstice “The time has come to live fully. At the summer solstice (as at any high point of life, any peak of fulfilment) we can be changed by the experience of joyfulness, by the land’s loveliness or by a healing vision of how harmony could be restored to all beings – and decide toContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 21st June”

World Refugee Day “The Moon rises above the surrounding, shiny starsNot to compete with the SunBut to allow it to rest.Your face can feel droplets of rainNot falling from the sky just for youBut to refresh the earth’s flower petals.The river moves and is constantNot to make a noise or shake the pebbles underneathBut toContinue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 20th June”

“In speaking of human things, we say that it is necessary to know them before we can love them…the saints on the contrary say in speaking of divine things that it is necessary to love them in order to know them, and that we only enter truth through charity.” Blaise Pascal, scientist and philosopher (1623Continue reading “Thought for the day, Thursday 19th June”

“This morning I felt I was having a touching, quiet conversation with something eternal, like standing in a forest, surrounded by whispers of wisdom that have been growing for centuries. I have spent so many years running through the world, and now I tread more gently and walk more slowly, bowing at times and pausingContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 18th June”

“I live neither in the past nor in the future. I am in the present. I cannot know what tomorrow will bring forth. I can know only what the truth is for me today. That is what I am called upon to serve, and I serve it in all lucidity.” Igor Stravinksy, composer (1882 –Continue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 17th June”

“It is I, Seagull! Everything is fine. I see the horizon; it’s a sky blue with a dark strip. How beautiful the Earth is … everything is going well.” Radio message from Soviet space mission Vostok 6 by Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space, on this day in 1963

Anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, 1215 “At Runnymede, at Runnymede,Your rights were won at Runnymede!No freeman shall be fined or bound,Or dispossessed of freehold ground,Except by lawful judgement foundAnd passed upon him by his peers!Forget not, after all these years,The Charter signed at Runnymede.” Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936)

“Let us resolve: First, to attain the grace of silence; second, to deem all fault finding that does no good a sin; third, to practice the grade and virtue of praise.” Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1811 – 1896), born on this day

“For the love of a tree.She went out on a limb.For the love of the sea.She rocked the boat.For the love of the earth.She dug deeper.For the love of community.She mended fences.For the love of the stars.She let her light shine.For the love of spirit.She nurtured her soul.For the love of a good time.She sowedContinue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 13th June”

“I’ve found that there is always some beauty left – in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance.” From The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, (1929 – 1945), born on this day