From Celtic Devotional by Caitlin Matthews,

“Glory to the Day-Star, hail!
Lifter of the Light, Burnisher of the Sky.
Gifts of love to earth are bringing,
Summer’s shimmer, dew’s delight.
Dancing be the heart within us,
Open be our souls to bliss,
Courage vanquish every shadow,
Greet midsummer with a kiss.”

“Dear you,
if you don’t like the way that you look it’s probably because you have chosen the wrong mirror to look at yourself in
stop using other people as a mirror to see your reflection in – especially if that other person is an asshole
assholes make the worst mirrors
they only want to reflect your blemishes
and your weaknesses
and your fault lines
and your sins
don’t blame them for making you feel bad.
you are the one looking for them to tell you how you look
of course, they will tell you that you’re ugly
of course, they will say you aren’t enough
they are assholes – what did you expect?
while we are at it…
stop using your bank account as a mirror
it’s a liar
it doesn’t really show you who you really are
neither does your car
or your grades
or your awards
or your Instagram
or your past mistakes
or your diagnosis
or your late bills
or your failures
none of those things make very good mirrors
If you want to know how you actually look I suggest that you hold a baby for a bit.
Pay attention to how a baby will look at you.
To a baby you are a garden of a million wildflowers.
You are a giant.
You are an ancient warrior protecting them from monsters and uncomfortable rashes.
You fill up their sky like a brilliant supernova.
To a baby laying in your arms, you are both the cradle and the lullaby.
A baby will gaze at you with wide eyes and an uncontrollable smile because they have just come from heaven and they know divinely crafted beauty when they see it.
They see the miracle in you. They see the miracle in you. They see the miracle in you.
Babies make the best mirrors.
Look at yourself the way a baby looks at you.
For too long you have let dirty and broken shards of glass tell you who you are.
Their reflection is corrupt – stop trusting them.
Let the innocent show you who you are.
They see your light.
They see you for who you are:
Capable
Strong
Beautiful
Burning
Blooming
Becoming
in the time you have left
be kind to yourself
and choose what reflections you believe with the utmost care.
See you in September,
you’re going to make it
to see the leaves change
I swear it
love,
your soul.”

John Roedel

“My soul suddenly became recollected, and it seemed to me to be like a brightly polished mirror, without any part that was not totally clear. In its centre, Christ our Lord was shown to me. It seemed to me I saw him clearly in every part of my soul, as though in a mirror. And this mirror also – I don’t know how to explain it – was completely engraved upon the Lord himself by means of a very loving communication… I think this vision is advantageous to recollected persons, in teaching them to consider the Lord as very deep within their souls… Within oneself, very clearly, is the best place to look. It’s not necessary to go to heaven, nor any further than our own selves.”

Teresa of Avila

“Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of others – above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.”

Albert Einstein

“All light is Thy radiance,
and shade is the shadow of Thy beauty.

Thou art in both: in light as radiance,
in the dark as shade.

In the light Thou art manifest;
in the shade Thou art hidden.

Light is Thine eye
and shade is its pupil.

In the light I see Thy beauty;
in shade I find Thy mystery.

Light is Thy face,
and shade is Thy bosom.”

Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Baffled, choosing for our against,
The whole world gets lost;
Choiceless, rejoicing in Him
That’s the true knower.

People are bound together
Donkey tied to donkey.
The one with inner vision
Is the only true person.

Those who walk alone
Alone find truth.
The heart dissolved in love
Never returns again.

Wholeness is complete vision:
Everything is sacred.
Kabir says: this can’t be understood
And can never be written.”

Kabir

From The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year by Caitlin Matthews,

“”Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Safely through the world we go.” William Blake

Joy and sorrow do not perform according to logical rules and laws; they come unbidden like the clouds, the rain, the sunshine…
The gifts of sadness, like the gifts of happiness, come to all conditions and types of people. They provide moments of self-clarification that keep our lives on course. Sadness nearly always stems from some form of exclusion, separation, or rejection. When we are disconnected from life, we yearn for union. Joy connects us strongly with life; like people who plunge into the stream, we enter the swim of life in ecstatic connection. Our going safely through the world is based on a true regard of both conditions. When we value the gifts both of joy and of sorrow, our taste for life increases. When we accept both happiness and sadness as our mortal bequest, we grow as human beings.”

“Justice and judgment often lie a world apart… Governments have always tried to crush reform movements, to destroy ideas, to kill the thing that cannot die. Without regard to history, which shows that no government have ever succeeded in doing this, they go on trying in the old, senseless way… Trust in God, She will provide.”

Emmeline Pankhurst, who died on this day in 1928

“The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

Thomas Merton

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”

Anne Frank, born on this day in 1929