Author Archives: Laura Dobson

“Come when the nights are bright with starsOr when the moon is mellow;Come when the sun his golden barsDrops on the hay-field yellow.Come in the twilight soft and gray,Come in the night or come in the day,Come, O love, whene’er you may,And you are welcome, welcome.You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,You are soft asContinue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 27th June”

First day of Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) “O Marvel,a garden among the flames!My heart can take onany form:a meadow for gazelles,a cloister for monks,For the idols, sacred ground,Ka’ba for the circling pilgrim,the tables of the Torah,the scrolls of the Qur’ān.I profess the religion of love;wherever its caravan turns along the way,that is the belief,the faithContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 26th June”

“Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.” From Animal Farm by George Orwell, born on this day in 1903

Midsummer Day “My Beloved is in the mountains,And lonely wooded valleys,Strange islands,And resounding rivers,The whistling of love-stirring breezes,The tranquil nightAt the time of the rising dawn,Silent music,Sounding solitude,The supper that refreshes,And deepens love.” John of the Cross, born on this day in 1542

“Because we live in the browning seasonthe heavy air blocking our breath,and in this time when livingis only survival, we doubt the voicesthat come shadowed on the air,that weave within our brainscertain thoughts, a motion that is soft,imperceptible, a twilight rain,soft feather’s fall, a small bodydropping into its nest, rustling, murmuring,settling in for the night.Continue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 23rd June”

“Strange to say, the Sermon on the Mount gives pretty precise instructions on how to construct an outlook that could lead to an Economics of Survival. How blessed are those who know that they are poor: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.How blessed are the sorrowful; They shall find consolation.How blessed are those of aContinue reading “Thought for the day, Thursday 22nd June”

Summer Solstice “Have you ever seenanythingin your lifemore wonderfulthan the way the sun,every evening,relaxed and easy,floats toward the horizonand into the clouds or the hills,or the rumpled sea,and is gone –and how it slides againout of blackness,every morning,on the other side of the world,like a red flowerstreaming upward on its heavenly oils,say, on a morningContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 21st June”

World Refugee Day “no one leaves home unlesshome is the mouth of a shark.you only run for the borderwhen you see the whole cityrunning as well.your neighbours running fasterthan you, the boy you went to school withwho kissed you dizzy behindthe old tin factory isholding a gun bigger than his body,you only leave homewhen homeContinue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 20th June”

“Life is what you make it.. Never waste time and energy wishing you were somewhere else, doing something else. You may not always understand why find yourself where you are, but you may be sure there is a very good reason and that there is a lesson to be learnt. Do not fight against it,Continue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 19th June”

International Day for countering hate speech “We have begged for peace around the world.We have fought for peace around the world.We have contributed funds to peace around the world.We have given great speeches for peace around the world.Yet we have failed to make peace with our husbands and wives, our children, and our neighbours.It isContinue reading “Thought for the day, Sunday 18th June”