“Hope is about the possible; despair is about the impossible.”

Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)

Hope in a Prison of Despair by Evelyn de Morgan

“The interdependence of all living things is something we often take for granted. It goes unnoticed in the daily round, so we forget that what happens in one place has its effect upon another place. It is only now that deforestation has been revealed to be a terrible legacy to our children that we begin to appreciate the contribution of trees to the life of our planet.

At this time of year, the spring rains have an important function in the revivification of the land, especially around the full moon. Trees are able to draw up the rainfall from their roots to their highest branches so that the canopy can become green again. As the leaves emerge from their buds, we notice a corresponding unfurling of spirit in ourselves as we respond with gladness to the annual regreening of the world.

As those leaves unfurl, they exude oxygen, so vital for our planet’s atmosphere and our own living breath. The carbon dioxide that human beings exhale is absorbed and transformed by trees. Our lives and those of the trees are beautifully and aptly intertwined as we share and replenish the atmosphere for each other. Our breath and the exhalation of trees have a symbiotic link that is necessary to our very life.

Verdancy of spirit comes when the sap rises in our souls, when we return to a state of thankfulness and welcome the spring with joy.”

Caitlin Matthews

“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