“I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable. All these and other factors combined, if the circumstances are right, can teach and can lead to rebirth.”

From Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, writer and aviator (1906 – 2001), born on this day

A Weeping Woman by Rembrandt

Summer Solstice

“The time has come to live fully. At the summer solstice (as at any high point of life, any peak of fulfilment) we can be changed by the experience of joyfulness, by the land’s loveliness or by a healing vision of how harmony could be restored to all beings – and decide to serve that vision. As with any climax, this is a turning point. Things will be different now. What we distil from the year’s culmination will enrich our spirits and affect our future creative direction.”

From The Hedge Witch’s Way by Rae Beth

World Refugee Day

“The Moon rises above the surrounding, shiny stars
Not to compete with the Sun
But to allow it to rest.
Your face can feel droplets of rain
Not falling from the sky just for you
But to refresh the earth’s flower petals.
The river moves and is constant
Not to make a noise or shake the pebbles underneath
But to travel far and reach the sea.
The birds sing in Spring
Not for one to listen in admiration
But to sing freely and unleash their feelings.
Clouds move closer together
Hold tight, accumulate in masses
Not to survive,
But in changing to rain
To disappear
And complete their job.
Bees fly between flowers
Choosing them with precision, meticulously
To make the best honey they can.
As humans,
Are we doing the best we can?”

Liminality by Haydeh Ravesh, member of Write to Life, longest-running refugee writing group in Britain

“In speaking of human things, we say that it is necessary to know them before we can love them…the saints on the contrary say in speaking of divine things that it is necessary to love them in order to know them, and that we only enter truth through charity.”

Blaise Pascal, scientist and philosopher (1623 – 1662), born on this day

“This morning I felt I was having a touching, quiet conversation with something eternal, like standing in a forest, surrounded by whispers of wisdom that have been growing for centuries. I have spent so many years running through the world, and now I tread more gently and walk more slowly, bowing at times and pausing often, appreciating that stillness is not stagnation but something “holy”. The trees, with their rooted patience, remind us to stay, to be, to allow the light to flow through us instead of always chasing it.”

Nigel Tattersfield, writer

“I live neither in the past nor in the future. I am in the present. I cannot know what tomorrow will bring forth. I can know only what the truth is for me today. That is what I am called upon to serve, and I serve it in all lucidity.”

Igor Stravinksy, composer (1882 – 1971), born on this day

“It is I, Seagull! Everything is fine. I see the horizon; it’s a sky blue with a dark strip. How beautiful the Earth is … everything is going well.”

Radio message from Soviet space mission Vostok 6 by Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space, on this day in 1963

Anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, 1215

“At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
Your rights were won at Runnymede!
No freeman shall be fined or bound,
Or dispossessed of freehold ground,
Except by lawful judgement found
And passed upon him by his peers!
Forget not, after all these years,
The Charter signed at Runnymede.”

Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936)

“Let us resolve: First, to attain the grace of silence; second, to deem all fault finding that does no good a sin; third, to practice the grade and virtue of praise.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1811 – 1896), born on this day

“For the love of a tree.
She went out on a limb.
For the love of the sea.
She rocked the boat.
For the love of the earth.
She dug deeper.
For the love of community.
She mended fences.
For the love of the stars.
She let her light shine.
For the love of spirit.
She nurtured her soul.
For the love of a good time.
She sowed seeds of happiness.
For the love of the Goddess.
She drew down the moon.
For the love of nature.
She made compost.
For the love of a good meal.
She gave thanks.
For the love of family.
She reconciled differences.
For the love of creativity.
She entertained new possibilities.
For the love of her enemies.
She suspended judgment.
For the love of herself.
She acknowledged her worth.
And the world was richer for her.”

Charlotte Tall Mountain (1941 – 2006), artist and poet of Iroquois heritage.

Image: Copy of traditional Iroquois painting