“O Holy One, we thank you for human love,
where, in true caring for another,
the divine shines through the human;
we thank you for love’s power
to transfigure and to heal,
for life’s enrichment
in work well done for love’s sake,
for beauty, wherein we may see and feel
your radiance
within and around us.
Give us to seek and to find
everywhere and in all things
the beauty of your presence.”

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

“The Fianna was the prestigious war band of the hero Fionn mac Cumhail, whose honour was bound up in their maintenance of truth, as their motto says; “Truth in our hearts, strength in our hands, consistency upon our tongues.”

If we divert truth in pursuit of our ambitions, however marginal the lie, we also divert the course of our honour; we weaken our soul’s thread. It is often easier to lie than to admit the truth. To state our honest objections, to cut across the dishonesty of those with whom we associate, to challenge falsehood in the workplace or in high places may seem a kind of foolhardiness today.

The practice of honesty is a daily exercise that hones our integrity. In both trivial and important actions, the experienced truth-bearer is like a hero who has practised her sword strokes so many times that she can cleave though thistledown with accuracy and perception.

The integrity of truth offers us a clean way of dealing in our lives – a way of dealing that sets down better and more honourable patterns upon which our society can be reformed.”

Caitlin Matthews

“Whenever you experience the pangs of losing something, don’t treat it like a part of yourself, but as a breakable glass, so when it falls you will remember that and won’t be troubled. So too, whenever you kiss your child, sibling, or friend, don’t layer on top of the experience all the things you might wish, but hold them back and stop them, just as those who ride behind triumphant generals remind them they are mortal. In the same way, remind yourself that your precious one isn’t one of your possessions, but something given for now, not forever..”

From the Discourses of Epictetus (50 – 135)

“There is no end to the war and death caused by man or to the tears shed by all the innocent victims of such tragedies. What were all these for? Only for conquering, establishing superiority and satisfying our greed for money and fame. Mankind has taken upon itself countless curses. In order to attain freedom from these curses, at least a hundred generations to come should wipe the tears of the suffering, striving to console them and alleviate their pain. At least now, as an atonement, shouldn’t we try to introspect?

.. We must turn inwards to search deep within ourselves. “Is my heart still vibrant with life? Can I still experience the source of love and compassion within me? Does my heart still melt at the pain and sorrow of others? Have I cried along with those who are suffering? Have I really tried to wipe another’s tears to console them or given someone at least a single meal or a set of clothing?” Like this, we can honestly introspect. Then the soothing moonlight of compassion will spontaneously shine within our minds.”

Mātā Amritanandamayī Devi

Feast Day of St Cecilia, patron saint of music

“Don’t let yourself forget
that God’s grace rewards
not only those who never slip,
but also those who bend and fall.
So sing!
The song of rejoicing softens hard hearts.
It makes tears of godly sorrow flow from them.
Singing summons the Holy Spirit.
Happy praises offered in simplicity and love
lead the faithful to complete harmony,
without discord.
Don’t stop singing.”

Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179)

“When the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace.
Nothing real, nothing absent.
Not holding on to reality,
not getting stuck in the void,
you are neither holy nor wise, just
an ordinary fellow who has completed his work..

My daily affairs are quite ordinary;
but I’m in total harmony with them.
I don’t hold on to anything, don’t reject anything;
nowhere an obstacle or conflict.
Who cares about wealth and honour?
Even the poorest thing shines.
My miraculous power and spiritual activity:
drawing water and carrying wood.”

Layman P’Ang (c. 740 – 808)

World Children’s Day

“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.”

From The Prophet by Khalil Gibran (1883 – 1931)

“Above all things, love silence. Out of your silence will arise something that will draw you into deeper silence. If you practice this, inexpressible light will dawn upon you.”

St. Isaac of Nineveh (c.613 – 700)

“It is not solely in the otherworld or in paradise that spirituality is to be implemented, but in the world in which we live. If our spirituality cannot supply us with resourceful encouragement, then it is very shallowly rooted in us. It is in the challenges to our spiritual peace that we find the strongest solutions. Like a parched tree that has to send out deeper roots to sources of water, we also have to send our spiritual roots deeper in search of help. To live our sacred text, to implement our holy philosophy, there is no better place than here and now.”

Caitlin Matthews

World Philosophy Day

“When philosophy is wielded with arrogance and stubbornly, it is the cause for ruin of many. Let philosophy scrape off your own faults, rather than be a way to rail against the faults of others.”

Seneca (Stoic philosopher, c.4 BC – 65 AD), Moral Letters 103.4b-5a