“On this day in 1969, the photograph Earthrise was published in Life magazine. The picture was taken by William Anders, an astronaut on the Apollo 8 mission, who writes about that moment in A View from Space: “We’d come 240,000 miles to see the moon, and it was the Earth that was really worth looking at.”

As people around the world saw the planet from a distance for the first time, a fundamental shift in human consciousness began. Certainly we knew that Earth was not the center of the universe from a scientific perspective, but to actually see our globe hanging there in space had a startling effect on Life’s readers. Quickly the term Spaceship Earth became popular, as we recognized both the beauty and fragility of our true place in the cosmos.

Every time you see a photograph of the earth, remind yourself that we are all in the picture.”

Brian Nelson

“To be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future.”

Simone de Beauvoir

“Expect Life!
Do not live too far in the past or the future; live now.
In each moment, expect a miracle: ten kinds of birds at the feeder, and the tracks of a fox in the snow.
Pick up a magnifying glass and scrutinize that crocus. See the pollen at the center of the daffodil, life’s dust, death-defying life. Be astonished at the flower, arrested by its beauty.
Run naked through the garden early in the morning and hope the wild geese fly by.
Get silly and laugh loudly with your grandchildren, or your grandparents. Refuse to leave the dead behind, but bring their memory to all your chores and games and corners of quiet warm tears.
Know always that joy and sorrow are woven together; one cannot be without the other. If you love, know that sometimes your love will bring you tears; if you grieve, know it is because at some time you were willing to love.
Do not be afraid to die today. But expect life!”

Elizabeth Tarbox

“Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.”

Rachel Naomi Remen

FEAST OF EPIPHANY (COMMEMORATING THE WISE MEN BRINGING GIFTS TO THE INFANT JESUS)

“Amid all the noise in our lives,
we take this moment to sit in silence —
to give thanks for another day;
to give thanks for all those in our lives
who have brought us warmth and love;
to give thanks for the gift of life.

We know we are on our pilgrimage here but a brief moment in time.

Let us open ourselves, here, now,
to the process of becoming more whole —
of living more fully;
of giving and forgiving more freely;
of understanding more completely
the meaning of our lives here on this earth.”

Tim Haley

New Year’s Resolution by Fred Lamotte,

“Don’t go, just arrive.
Rest the mind in the heart.
Dissolve your pronouns in ‘Thou.’
Talk to the animals.
Smile for no reason at 3 A.M.
Instead of asking,
“what have I attained?”
let everything around you
become exceedingly awake,
raindrop, silence, stars.
Discover the secret treasure
in the place where you already are
by not searching.
Breath happens.
Just arrive.”

“Today our planet is at perihelion, that point in Earth’s orbit at which it is closest to the sun. It’s not an event you’re likely to notice, but it’s one of the subtle geometries that enfold us every day and make life possible on earth.

When you look up at the stars tonight, think about what their orbits might mean for you. Take note of their patterns and symmetry. Appreciate the beauty and complexity of the universe.”

Brian Nelson

“True education is a kind of never ending story — a matter of continual beginnings, of habitual fresh starts, of persistent newness…

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mould of your life is in your hands to break.”

J. R. R. Tolkien, born on this day in 1892

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in…

So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You’d better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can’t rearrange the universe.”

Isaac Asimov, born on this day in 1920

Prayer for the New Year by Carla Grosch-Miller,

“Be gentle with me, God.
Open the way before me.
Provide refreshment:
clear water, fresh breeze.

Still my anxious, striving mind.
Bind my aching, yearning heart.
Focus my straining, hoping energies.
Accomplish within me what You can.

Give to me
perseverance in work,
direction in darkness,
the strength to stand
and the wisdom to walk
with grace,
that I may feel
the weight
and value
of each step.”