“I always tell my friends that they don’t have to die to enter the Kingdom of God – in fact, they have to be alive to do so. We know how to be alive. Breathing in and out mindfully, becoming fully present with body and mind united – these are the conditions for entering the Kingdom of God. You need only take one step, and you’re there.”

Thích Nhất Hạnh

“Blessed be the persistent; may we honor our routines.
Blessed be the audacious; may we take risks.
Blessed be the humble; may we learn to fail and to learn from failure.
Blessed be the curious; may we play and discover.
Blessed be community; may we turn toward each other.”

Prayer for Artists and Creatives by Atena O. Danner

“Men have banned divinity from their midst, they have relegated it inside a sanctuary. The walls of a temple are the limits of its view; beyond these walls it does not exist. You must destroy these barriers that limit your horizon; set God free; see Him everywhere, where he actually is, or otherwise say that he does not exist.”

Denis Diderot, French philosopher (1713 – 1784), quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living…

The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.”

David Attenborough, born on this day in 1926

“Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,
First fill your own house with the fragrance of love.
Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God,
First remove the darkness of sin from your heart.
Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,
First learn to bow in humility before your fellow men.
Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees,
First bend down to lift someone who is down-trodden.
Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,
First forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you.”

Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941), born on this day

“The medieval world was fascinated by alchemy, enthralled by the idea of turning base metal into gold. On some level nature itself inspires this obsession. We see with our own eyes that the world is full of startling transformations. The lowly caterpillar becomes a stunning butterfly. Bare black trees become glorious celebrations of colour. But in a society driven by commerce, alchemists focused on the gold standard, and a transformation that would create wealth. Perhaps they defined wealth too narrowly.

Look to the sky, as it fills with clouds and rain, then clears again; look to the gardens, to the birth cycles of animals. Radical transformations are everywhere, and they require no special alchemical secrets. Change is the only law.”

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

“Magnanimity is the expansion of the soul to great things. Magnanimous people put themselves in all kinds of danger for great things, for instance, the common welfare, justice, divine worship, and so forth.”

Thomas Aquinas (c.1225 – 1274), Dominican Friar and theologian

Portrait by Sandro Botticelli

“To have beautiful lips, say beautiful things. To have beautiful eyes, look at people and see the good in them.”

Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993), born on this day

World Press Freedom Day

“If we don’t believe in free expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”

Noam Chomsky

“I life my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I’ve been circling for thousands of years
and I still don’t know: am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?”

The Book of Hours I, 2 by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926)