“What exactly is an angel? Here is how I suggest we can tell if we bump into one. Angels deny that they are angels. They don’t all have wings or halos – those are only the ones who like to dress up. Angels don’t expect anything in return for services rendered. They don’t always tell us what we want to hear… Angels aren’t all called Michael or Gabriel. We might even be angels and not realise it… Yes, angels are here among us, giving us gifts beyond measure. Gifts of humour when we think the sun will never shine again, passion when we believe we are unlovable, inspiration when our life force wanes, confidentiality when we can’t tell anyone else our secrets, forgiveness when we so sorely need it, advice when we don’t know which direction to turn, frankness when we try to tell less than the truth about who we really are, and the gift of just being there when we are so very alone.”

Don Beaudreault, Unitarian-Universalist minister, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“The powers we have released could not possibly be absorbed by the narrow system of individual or national units which the architects of the human Earth have hitherto used. The age of nations has passed. Now, unless we wish to perish we must shake off our old prejudices and build the Earth.”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881 – 1955), Jesuit priest, paleontologist and theologian, quoted in Christian Mystics by Matthew Fox

Image: World Map, 1689

“”Abstinence sows sand all over
The ruddy limbs and flaming hair,
But desire gratified
Plants fruits of life and beauty there.”
William Blake, Abstinence

Abstaining or fasting from the things that we enjoy is not in itself a bad thing; indeed, it can restimulate our appreciation and give us a better balance in the way we use life’s resources. When desires become bullies that have to be pacified, when our freedom is in thrall to those desires, we may well need to employ abstinence to bring ourselves back to normal.

Yet desires submerged or imprisoned can bring us to equally unbalanced regions. If we never allow the fulfilment of our desires, we doom ourselves to perpetual dissatisfaction, to lives that are neither enhanced not enchanted with delight. It may be that we learned such abstinence in times of hardship, difficulty, or illness and are still living under the sway of impossibility. It may be that we were injured by rejection of lack of love – an experience that often consigns all forms of fulfilment to a foreign territory. Let us also recognise, however, that the subtle forms of abstinence that we all practice may spring from laziness or from fear of loss of control as much as from any other cause.

Enjoyment, pleasure, and the satisfaction of our desires are legitimate human duties, as long as they harm no other being. The pursuit of our desires can lead us deeper into life and toward the fulfilment of our life’s purpose.

Today, really enjoy doing something you love but have not done for a long time.”

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

“Life doesn’t always get better.
But you do.
You get stronger.
You get wiser.
You get softer.
With tattered wings you rise.
And the world watches in wonder
at the breathless beauty of
a human who survived life.”

L.R. Knost

Image by Carlos Tamayo

“In our own sense of the Highest and Holiest, let us now in silence face our own shortcomings and failures, and those we find in others; looking first into our own depths and then at the life around us, facing honestly the inevitable imperfection of being human…

Let us now, in some awareness of weakness or sin or failure, in ourselves and in others, recognise our need to forgive and to be forgiven; in silence of heart and mind forgive ourselves and others who need our forgiveness; and be open to receive forgiveness human and divine…

O Holy One, we need your presence in and around us, to know ourselves in both weakness and strength, to find forgiveness for ourselves, to renew our faith and love, to live better lives in ourselves and among others.”

Bruce Findlow, Unitarian minister and Principal of Manchester College Oxford 1974-1985, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“Does the caterpillar know what’s about to happen when it spins a cocoon?
Does it realize that it’s doing more than simply seeking safety?
Does it understand that it’s involved in something greater than simply acting on instinct?
Does it imagine, within its long-sought rest, the beauty to which it will open itself? Does it glimpse the possibility that it may continue its life in a dramatically different fashion than anything it has experience up to this time?
Does it have any idea that it’s about to transform?
Do you?”

From Earth Bound: Daily Meditations For All Seasons by Brian Nelson

“O friend, Who could be so lucky?
Who comes to a lake for water
And sees the reflection of the moon?
Who, like Jacob blind with grief and age,
smells the shirt of his lost son
and can see again?
Who parched with thirst,
Lowers a bucket into a well
And comes up with an Ocean of nectar?
Who could be so lucky?
Or like Moses goes for fire
and finds what burns inside the sunrise?
Jesus slips into a house to escape enemies,
And discovers a passage to the other world.
Soloman cuts open a fish, and there’s a gold ring.
Who could be so lucky?
An oyster opens his mouth for a drop of water,
And discovers a shinning pearl within himself
Who could be so lucky?
But, O friend,
don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others.
Unfold Your Own Myth!”

Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī

“Let us be still and listen for all the sounds around us…
The noise of passing traffic, the steps of passers-by; a distant train or a barking dog; an aeroplane overhead…
The wind in the leaves, the rattle of branches; the singing of birds, the patter of rain; the rustle of autumn leaves or the quiet of winter snow…
The creak of a chair, the tick of a clock, the sound of our own breathing, the beating of our own hearts.
Let us listen to the sounds within us, sounds known only to ourselves…
The unspoken noise of our own tumbling thoughts,
the silent shouting of our own feelings…
The cascading pictures in our own minds’ eyes – all disturbing our quiet. Let us be still within.
Let us listen to a stillness deeper within us. Let us listen to the voice of inner silence.
Let us be still and know that God is here.”

Sydney H. Knight (1923 – 2004), Unitarian minister and hymn writer, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“Make space for having a moment. Go outside and find the magical places. The hidden parts of the garden, the woods and the streams. Even if you’re in the city you can always find the wild. Back-alleys can be great places for that! As for ceremonies, they can be as simple as lighting a candle and giving thanks for the elements. I like to start with earth, to bring us out of our heads and ground; to send our roots down. It doesn’t have to be a big, grand thing. I’m not one for pomp and formality! It just is – we give thanks, our hearts open in gratitude, and we’re in a different place. A more loving place!”

Glennie Kindred

International Youth Day

“When you took the time to recognize
what I was doing well,
you were measuring water into the mouth
of a desert-parched little girl.

Now I carry a pitcher,
treasured legacy in my hand. I offer
witness: a voice to say, “I see you.”
affirm, “What you can do matters.”
argue, “You have something good to share.”

Thank you for those flowers planted,
for my sacred mandate to scatter seeds
into every crack in the concrete;
into every unclenched, opening hand.”

Teacher to Teacher to Teacher by Atena O. Danner