Author Archives: Laura Dobson

“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.” Jeannette Rankin (1880- 1973), first woman elected to Congress, born on this day

“In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keepContinue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 10th June”

“Spirituality, in order to develop, needs time for contemplation, just as a young plant needs water. But busyness has become one of the great badges of pride in our consumer culture. ‘Empty’ time must be filled by getting, spending, and connecting. This emphasis on doing, rather than being, has created addictive patterns of behaviour acrossContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 9th June”

World Oceans Day “Exultation is the goingOf an inland soul to sea,Past the houses – past the headlands –Into deep Eternity – Bred as we, among the mountains,Can the sailor understandThe divine intoxicationof the first league out from land?” Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)

“A young boy is given an encyclopedia and starts devouring knowledge of the world. But at a certain point it overwhelms him and he turns to his mother, voicing the fear that everything will already have been discovered by the time he grows up. His mother reassures him: “Don’t you worry! When you grow upContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 7th June”

“The musk is held in its pod,yet oblivious of the source of fragrance,the deer wanders all over the forest in its search.O seeker, the Holy One too dwells within.How unaware we are of Him!” Kabir (15th century India)

World Environment Day “What can I say?What can I say that I have not said before?So I’ll say it again.The leaf has a song in it.Stone is the face of patience.Inside the river there is an unfinishable storyand you are somewhere in itand it will never end until all ends.Take your busy heart to theContinue reading “Thought for the day, Thursday 5th June”

“The book of all books is in your own heart, in which are written and engraven the deepest lessons of divine instrution; learn therefore to be deeply attentive to the presence of God in your hearts – the God who is always speaking, always instructing, always illuminating the heart that is attentive.” William Law, AnglicanContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 4th June”

Feast Day of Saint Kevin of Glendalough St. Kevin and the Blackbird(after Seamus Heaney) by Christine Valters-Paintner “Imagine being like Kevin.Your grasping fist softens,fingers uncurl andpalms open, rest upward,and the blackbirdweaves twigs and straw and bits of stringin the bowl of your hand,you feel the delicate weight ofspeckled blue orbs descend,and her feathered warmthsettling in.Continue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 3rd June”

“Whenever we wanted to run away and find something else, my teacher would tell us, “Wherever you go, you will just find yourself.” We will just meet the difficulties, the loneliness, the sadness, and the suffering we already know. Nothing is as affective as sitting there, returning to ourselves, and finding the elements of happinessContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 2nd June”