Author Archives: Laura Dobson

“O Holy One, we thank you for human love,where, in true caring for another,the divine shines through the human;we thank you for love’s powerto transfigure and to heal,for life’s enrichmentin work well done for love’s sake,for beauty, wherein we may see and feelyour radiancewithin and around us.Give us to seek and to findeverywhere and inContinue reading “Thought for the day, Sunday 26th November”

“The Fianna was the prestigious war band of the hero Fionn mac Cumhail, whose honour was bound up in their maintenance of truth, as their motto says; “Truth in our hearts, strength in our hands, consistency upon our tongues.” If we divert truth in pursuit of our ambitions, however marginal the lie, we also divertContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 25th November”

“Whenever you experience the pangs of losing something, don’t treat it like a part of yourself, but as a breakable glass, so when it falls you will remember that and won’t be troubled. So too, whenever you kiss your child, sibling, or friend, don’t layer on top of the experience all the things you mightContinue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 24th November”

“There is no end to the war and death caused by man or to the tears shed by all the innocent victims of such tragedies. What were all these for? Only for conquering, establishing superiority and satisfying our greed for money and fame. Mankind has taken upon itself countless curses. In order to attain freedomContinue reading “Thought for the day, Thursday 23rd November”

Feast Day of St Cecilia, patron saint of music “Don’t let yourself forgetthat God’s grace rewardsnot only those who never slip,but also those who bend and fall.So sing!The song of rejoicing softens hard hearts.It makes tears of godly sorrow flow from them.Singing summons the Holy Spirit.Happy praises offered in simplicity and lovelead the faithful toContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 22nd November”

“When the mind is at peace,the world too is at peace.Nothing real, nothing absent.Not holding on to reality,not getting stuck in the void,you are neither holy nor wise, justan ordinary fellow who has completed his work.. My daily affairs are quite ordinary;but I’m in total harmony with them.I don’t hold on to anything, don’t rejectContinue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 21st November”

World Children’s Day “Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.They come through you but not from you,And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.You may give them your love but not your thoughts,For they have their own thoughts.You may house their bodiesContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 20th November”

“Above all things, love silence. Out of your silence will arise something that will draw you into deeper silence. If you practice this, inexpressible light will dawn upon you.” St. Isaac of Nineveh (c.613 – 700)

“It is not solely in the otherworld or in paradise that spirituality is to be implemented, but in the world in which we live. If our spirituality cannot supply us with resourceful encouragement, then it is very shallowly rooted in us. It is in the challenges to our spiritual peace that we find the strongestContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 18th November”

World Philosophy Day “When philosophy is wielded with arrogance and stubbornly, it is the cause for ruin of many. Let philosophy scrape off your own faults, rather than be a way to rail against the faults of others.” Seneca (Stoic philosopher, c.4 BC – 65 AD), Moral Letters 103.4b-5a