Author Archives: Laura Dobson

“Precisely what does it mean to experience oneself as a human being? In the first place, it means that the individual must have a sense of kinship to life that transcends and goes beyond the immediate kinship of family or the organized kinship that binds him ethnically or racially or nationally. He has to feelContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 29th July”

“All outward forms of religion are almost useless, and are the causes of endless strife. . . . Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good, behave yourself and never mind the rest.” Beatrix Potter, Unitarian writer, born on this day in 1866

“Enlightenment is to stay as you are. Stay as you are without such labels as “I am enlightened”, “I am a free man”, “I am a sage”, “I am a monk”, or “I am a saint”.Simply, don’t give yourself any label.When you get rid of all labels, that which remains is called “freedom” or “enlightenment”.WhenContinue reading “Thought for the day, Thursday 27th July”

“To our indigenous ancestors, and to the many aboriginal peoples who still hold fast to their oral traditions, language is less a human possession than it is a property of the animate earth itself, an expressive, telluric power in which we, along with the coyotes and the crickets, all participate. Each creature enacts this expressiveContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 26th July”

“I have a theory that the moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.I have tried this experiment a thousand times and I have never been disappointed. The more I look at a thing, the more I see in it, andContinue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 25th July”

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” Amelia Earhart, aviator, born on this day in 1897

“My prayer wheel is the turning year,the sun my confessor, my priestess the moon.My daily offices are morning mist, evening swallows,hush of midnight.My scripture, white clouds on blue emptiness;pictograms of geese, pointing South.I gave up theology to watch the bees make honey.My anointing is the mud between my toes.The barefoot poet, Jesus, taught me toContinue reading “Thought for the day, Sunday 23rd July”

“O my Beloved, You have searched me and known me!You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my innermost thoughts.You find me on the journey and guide my steps; You know my strengths and weaknesses.Even before words rise up in prayer, Lo, You have already heard my heart call.You encompassContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 22nd July”

“Just as one sucks the juice from the sugarcane and spits out the stalk, the religious leaders should encourage their followers to imbibe the essence of religion—which is spirituality—and not give over-importance to the external aspects… May the tree of our life be firmly rooted in the soil of love. Let good deeds be theContinue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 21st July”

INTERNATIONAL MOON DAY “What do you say, Percy? I am thinkingof sitting out on the sand to watchthe moon rise. It’s full tonight.So we goand the moon rises, so beautiful itmakes me shudder, makes me think abouttime and space, makes me takemeasure of myself: one iotapondering heaven. Thus we sit, myselfthinking how grateful I amContinue reading “Thought for the day, Thursday 20th July”