“With maturity comes the wish to economize – to be more simple. Maturity is the period when one finds the just measure.”

Béla Bartok, composer and Unitarian, born on this day in 1881

“My peace, O my brothers, is in solitude,
And my Beloved is with me always,
For His love I can find no substitute.”

Rabia al-Adawiyya (717 – 801)

“No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.”

Roger Bannister (born on this day in 1929) on running the first sub four-minute mile

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WATER

“Let us bless the humility of water,
Always willing to take the shape
Of whatever otherness holds it,
The buoyancy of water,
Stronger than the deadening,
Downward drag of gravity,
The innocence of water,
Flowing forth, without thought
Of what awaits it,
The refreshment of water,
Dissolving the crystals of thirst.
Water: voice of grief,
Cry of love,
In the flowing tear.
Water: vehicle and idiom
Of all the inner voyaging
That keeps us alive.
Blessed be water,
Our first mother.”

John O’Donohue

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FORESTS

“When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.””

Mary Oliver

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HAPPINESS

“For real happiness, a warm heart is more important than a brilliant mind. Remember that your best, most reliable friend is your own intelligence and your own warmheartedness. Let this be your guide to a happy life.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Love Song to the Great Mother by Mirabai Starr

“Beloved One,
Our sister, Mother Earth,
Sacred Woman, Holy Girl,
Crucible of Mercy and Fire of Truth,
Thank you.
We have called and you have come.

You descend on the wings of pain,
the wings of joy,
Bringing solace and vitality.
You rise through the roots of the trees
Spreading shelter, offering refuge.
You enter through the cries of the young
Demanding protection for the vulnerable.

Even as we bow before your beautiful body,
You affirm the beauty of our bodies.
You bless every particle of creation
With your Divine Presence.

We welcome you, who have lived long enough in exile,
To dwell among us again.
We offer ourselves
As your loving stewards,
Your beloved reluctant prophets,
Radiant reflections
Of your own Sacred Self.

Thank you.
Thank you.
And again we give thanks.”

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world.”

Albert Einstein

“May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging be generous enough for your dreams.
May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart.
May you find a harmony between your soul and your life.
May the sanctuary of your soul never become haunted.
May you know the eternal longing that lives at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.
May you never place walls between the light and yourself.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world to gather you, mind you and embrace you in belonging.”

John O’Donohue

Conamara, Ireland

“An ancient Indian scripture says, “I established this universe with one fragment of Myself, and I remain.” Now, if there is only one life in which you are I are partakers, one creative thought by which the worlds were formed and maintained, then, however mighty may be the unexpressed Divine Existence – however true that Divinity transcends manifestation, nonetheless the manifestation is still divine. By understanding this we touch the feet of God. If it is true that he is everywhere and in everything, then he is as much in the marketplace as in the desert, as much in the office as in the jungle, as easily found in the street of the crowded city as in the solitude of the mountain peak.”

Annie Besant (1847 – 1933), theosophist and activist for women’s rights and Home Rule

Illustration from Thought Forms by Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater