“Someone once asked me what I regarded as the three most important requirements for happiness. My answer was: A feeling that you have been honest with yourself and those around you; a feeling that you have done the best you could both in your personal life and in your work; and the ability to love others.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962), born on this day

World Mental Health Day

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in …

There is a crack in everything that you can put together: physical objects, mental objects, constructions of any kind. But that’s where the light gets in, and that’s where the resurrection is and that’s where the return, that’s where the repentance is. It is with the confrontation, with the brokenness of things.”

Leonard Cohen (1934 – 2016)

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”

John Lennon (1940 – 1980), born on this day

“The heavens declare the glory of the Creator;
the firmament proclaims the handiwork of Love.
Day to day speech pours forth
and night to night knowledge is revealed.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
Yet does their music resound through all the earth,
and their words echo to the ends of the world.

In them a tent for the sun is set,
which is like a bride and groom on their wedding night
as they sing love’s song and celebrate the dance of life.
Its rising is in eternity, and its circuit to infinity;
Nothing is hidden from the sunlight.

The law of Love is perfect, reviving the soul;
The testimony of Love is sure, making wise the simple;
The precepts of Love are right, rejoicing the heart;
The authority of Love is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The spirit of Love is glorious, enduring forever;
The rites of Love are true, awakening compassion.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them are the loving guided;
in keeping them there is great reward.

But who can discern their own weaknesses?
Cleanse me, O Love, from all my hidden faults.
Keep me from boldly acting in error;
let my fears and illusions not have dominion over me!
Then I shall become a beneficial presence,
freely and fully surrendered to your Love.

Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
find favor in your Heart
O my Beloved, my strength and my joy!”

Psalm 19 from Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill/

“The Dead Sea in the Middle East receives freshwater, but it has no outlet, so it doesn’t pass the water out. It receives beautiful water from the rivers, and the water goes dank. I mean, it just goes bad. And that’s why it is the Dead Sea. It receives and does not give. In the end, generosity is the best way of becoming more, more, and more joyful.”

From The Book of Joy by The 14^th Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu (1931 – 2021), born on this day

“I have never been able to grasp the meaning of time. I don’t believe it exists. I’ve felt this again and again, when alone and out in nature. On such occasions, time does not exist. Nor does the future exist… I also believe that when one dies, one may wake up to the reality that proves that time does not exist.”

Thor Heyerdahl (1914 – 2002), ethnographer and adventurer, born on this day

“We must approach mysticism, which comes closest to overcoming the hierarchical masculine concept of God – a mysticism to be sure, in which the thirst for real liberation does not lead to drowning in the sea of unconsciousness… The mystical certainty that nothing can separate us from the love of God grows when we ourselves become one with love by placing ourselves, freely and without guarantee of success, on the side of love.”

Dorothee Soelle (1929 – 2003), German liberation theologian

World Animals Day (Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi)

“How it is that animals understand things I do not know, but it is certain that they do understand. Perhaps there is a language which is not made of words, and everything in the world understands it. Perhaps there is a soul hidden in everything and it can always speak, without even making a sound, to another soul.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849 – 1924), author of The Secret Garden, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“God has implanted in your heart his wisdom. So throw out of your heart everything that contradicts this wisdom. While foolishness overwhelms wisdom, you are like a deep dark lake where true life cannot survive. When you have thrown out foolishness, follow the path that leads to freedom. This means obeying the wisdom that already shines within you. And as you do so, your own soul will come to life. The wisdom of God which he has implanted in every person brings great blessings, both spiritual and material. It brings prudence, discretion and sound judgment. It enables people to use their abilities to the full in the service of others. Evil cannot enter those who obey the inner wisdom.”

Saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179)

International Day of Non-Violence

“Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being.”

Mahatma Gandhi, born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, on this day in 1869