“In this quiet place, O God, help us to find quiet for our souls. For we need quietness. Shouting and tumult are always about us, and the noise of the world never dies down. Even in the night-time when we seek rest, the voices of the day go on. But in your presence, there is quietness. O God, let us find your presence now!”

A. Powell Davies, Unitarian minister, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

Indian Independence Day, 1947

“Freedom of mind is the real freedom.
A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man.
One whose mind is not free, though he may not be in prison, is a prisoner and not a free man.
One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead.
Freedom of mind is the proof of one’s existence.”

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

“Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
And whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
Ever hold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
And my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
The things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
In every leaf and rock.
Help me remain calm and strong in the
Face of all that comes towards me.
Help me find compassion without
Empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
But to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
With clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
My spirit may come to you without shame.”

Translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark (1887)

“Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift. There is nothing small in it. For the greatest things grow by God’s Law out of the smallest. But to live your life you must discipline it. You must not fritter it away.. but make your thoughts, your acts, all work to the same end and that end, not self but God. That is what we call character.”

Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing, raised Unitarian, died on this day in 1910

“Any step we take in mindfulness that brings us a little more solidity, freedom, and joy also benefits society and our ancestors. Don’t think that what you do to yourself doesn’t affect the rest of society and the world. Peace and freedom always begin with our own practice. If transformation takes place in us, it takes place in the world at the same time. If peace is in you, peace becomes possible everywhere in the cosmos.”

From Peace Is This Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh

“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God’s compassionate love for others.”

Clare of Assisi (1194 – 1253), Feast Day today

Traditional date of the Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammad began to receive the Qur’an, in 610

“God calls.
The bells ring in the temple;
The perfume rises from the aloes;
The sage in meditation sits.
Om! Tat! Sat!
The nothingness of the now;
The Everythingness of Eternity.
God calls.

God calls.
The muezzin’s voice from minaret tower cries:
“Come to prayer, come to prayer, come to prayer.”
A million Moslems then stretch out their prayer rugs,
A million and a myriad million more.
“There is no God but God,
To this I now bear witness,
There is no God but God;
Mohammed is His Prophet; come to prayer.”
God calls.

God calls.
On Friday eve the Jew prepares himself,
Walks to his synagogue and prays,
Takes down the Torah scroll and reads.
Reads what his forefathers read:
“Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One!”
“And His Name is One.”
This is the Law and the prophets.
God calls.

God calls.
The stations slowly passing one by one.
She tells her beads and tells them o’er and o’er.
Ave Maria! Gratia plena!
Ora! Ora pro nobis!
Paternoster qui est in caelis,
Sanctificetur tuo nomen—
Sanctificetur! Sanctificetur!
God calls.

God calls.
The branches rustle lightly in the breeze,
Above the music of pagoda’s bells.
His humble repeat finished ere ‘tis noon,
The bhikshu tells the children of the Buddha,
They listen, one voice speaks in the forest,
Then all is silent, save the breeze …
There slowly comes that feeling of great peace.
Shanti! … Shanti! … Shanti! …
God calls.

God calls.
The men from every race have come together,
From every land, from every sect or cult.
They gather at the temple for their worship.
Love ye, every man his neighbor;
Be ye brethren, ye who are my brothers.
Worship Him, the Father of us all;
Worship Him, in Love and Faith and Joy;
Worship Him in Silence …
God calls.”

Samuel Leonard Lewis, known as Murshid Sam or Sufi Sam (1896 – 1971)

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

“Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away tonight.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.”

Remember by Joy Harjo, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, 23rd US Poet Laureate

“Mother Earth is serving us; the sun, the moon and the stars all serve us. What can we do in return for their selfless service?”

Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, known as Amma

“With tired feet I scrunch the pebbles at the shoreline, walking hard, pushing my body at the wind as if I could break through the choices and enter the place of peace. A long tree trunk, white with ocean washing, soft with the long slow tempering of time, beckons my body and I sit, then lie along its narrow surface.

And from that prone and precarious balance, I see a tree whose fruit, above the picking line, waits for autumn winds to gather.

I see a hedge of foxglove and blueberry, queen anne’s lace and ragwort, audience to the butterfly ballet choreographed by the unseen master of the dance.

I hear the triumph song of crickets and the satin swish of ocean-tumbled pebbles and my heart reminds me that God is here, not commanding, judging, threatening, or punishing, but creating a world so wonderful, a prayer so obvious that could I but cease in my fever of petition, I could witness its beauty, too.”

Reverie on an August Afternoon by Elizabeth Tarbox (1944 – 1999), UU minister