“I think it’s a deep consolation to know that spiders dream, that monkeys tease predators, that dolphins have accents, that lions can be scared silly by a lone mongoose, that otters hold hands, and ants bury their dead. That there isn’t their life and our life. Nor your life and my life. That it’s just one teetering and endless thread and all of us, all of us, are entangled with it as deep as entanglement goes.”

Kate Forster

“Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.”

From Matilda by Roald Dahl (1916 – 1990), born on this day

“Western man has been turning outwards to the world of the senses for centuries and losing himself in outer space. He has to learn again to turn inwards and find his Self. He has to learn to explore not outer space but the inner space within the heart, to make that long and difficult journey to the Centre, to the inner depth and height of being, which Dante described in the Divine Comedy compared with which the exploration of the moon and the other planets is the play of children.

Each man must therefore discover this Centre in himself, this Ground of his being, this Law of his life. It is hidden in the depths of every soul, waiting to be discovered. It is the treasure hidden in a field, the pearl of great price. It is the one thing which is necessary, which can satisfy all our desires and answer all our needs… It is the original paradise from which we have all come.”

Bede Griffiths / Swami Dayananda (1906 – 1993), quoted in Christian Mystics by Matthew Fox

“There never was a good war or bad peace.”

Benjamin Franklin, September 11, 1773

“Go deeper.
Past thoughts into silence.
Past silence into stillness.
Past stillness into the heart.
Let love consume all that is left of you.”

Kabir

“No one leaves here alive. So please stop treating yourself as an afterthought. Eat delicious food. Walk in the sun. Jump into the sea. Speak the truth that you carry in your heart like a hidden treasure. Be silly. Be good. Be weird. There is no time for anything else.”

Anthony Hopkins

“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.”

Jean Shinoda Bolen

International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies

“Lord, the air smells good today,
straight from the mysteries
within the inner courts of God.
A grace like new clothes thrown
across the garden, free medicine for everybody.
The trees in their prayer, the birds in praise,
the first blue violets kneeling.
Whatever came from Being is caught up in being, drunkenly
forgetting the way back.”

Rumi

“The next time you refuse to sing
because you’ll never fill a stadium
or decline the joy of dance
for fear of looking ridiculous
or you resist risking the new adventure
because you’re not entirely ready
or you dim your shine
because you’re not completely healed and whole
the next time you hold yourself suspect
because you’re not entirely qualified
just remember
a bird doesn’t sing because it’s talented
a bird sings because it has a song
the moon doesn’t only shine when it’s whole
it can show up
with a single sliver of itself
and still light an entire night sky
show up. sing. shine.
the world needs you
as you are.”

Angi Sullins

“Perhaps one of the most profound expressions of nature is the simple equation E=mc2. Einstein’s calculation establishes that every mass contains a remarkable quantity of energy.
Look around the common objects in your room. Every object – even a bookmark, a paperweight, or a pair of shoes – contains enough power within itself to light a sun. And you are no different. What will it take to release the energy inside you? You might shed light across distances you’ve never dreamed of.”

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