“We commune too much with what defeats us. We brood over our failures until failure takes possession of us. May we see the good we have done and be encouraged by it. May we see the good we might have done and be drawn towards it.”

Adapted from a prayer by A. Powell Davies (1902 – 1957), Unitarian minister

“How long, O God, how long?
How long must I wait to see your face,
to feel your presence?
How long until I figure things out,
heal from my wounds, feel whole again?
How long must I live with these longings,
with no more than hints and guesses to go on?
Look on me and give me answers! Light up my eyes!

I put my trust in your love. I know
that you hold me in the arms of life
whether I feel it or not.
If trust and longing are all that I have,
then that is enough, and I will sing.”

Psalm 13 reimagined by Christine Robinson

International Day of Co-operatives

“The entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon, and the stars live together as a cooperative. The same is true for humans and animals, trees and soil. Our bodily parts function as a cooperative. When we realize that the world is a mutual, interdependent, cooperative enterprise, that human beings are all mutual friends in the process of birth, old age, suffering, and death, than we an build a noble, even heavenly environment. If our lives are not based in this truth, the we shall perish.”

Buddhadasa Bhikku

International Asteroid Day

“Like the cosmic dust following after a great Perseid meteor, we are the living remnants of time and all that has come to pass in its wake—briefly shining lights on the way to eternity. We are only visible to the naked eye for an instant. Take this moment to shine like the star dust you are. May the light of our time on earth shine to bless the world and each other. Shine. Shine. Shine.”

Mary Edes

“Although we may see 1,000 suns reflected in 1,000 pots of water, there is only one sun. When we see the consciousness within all of us as one and the same, we will be able to develop a mind that considers the needs of others before our own.”

Mātā Amritanandamayī Devi

‘I’m lying on the ground looking up at the branches of an oak tree. Dappled light is shining through the canopy, the leaves whisper ancient incantations. This tree, in its living stage, rooted in sights and sounds that I’ll never know, has witnessed extinctions and wars, loves and losses. I wish we could translate the language of trees – hear their voices, know their stories. They host such an astonishing amount of life – there are thousands of species harbouring in and on and under this mighty giant. And I believe trees are like us, or they inspire the better parts of human nature. If only we could be connected in the way this oak tree is connected with its ecosystem.’

Dara McAnulty, Diary of a Young Naturalist

“Come when the nights are bright with stars
Or when the moon is mellow;
Come when the sun his golden bars
Drops on the hay-field yellow.
Come in the twilight soft and gray,
Come in the night or come in the day,
Come, O love, whene’er you may,
And you are welcome, welcome.
You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,
You are soft as the nesting dove.
Come to my heart and bring it rest
As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.
Come when my heart is full of grief
Or when my heart is merry;
Come with the falling of the leaf
Or with the redd’ning cherry.
Come when the year’s first blossom blows,
Come when the summer gleams and glows,
Come with the winter’s drifting snows,
And you are welcome, welcome.”

Paul Laurence Dunbar (one of the first influential African American poets), born on this day in 1872

First day of Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)

“O Marvel,
a garden among the flames!
My heart can take on
any form:
a meadow for gazelles,
a cloister for monks,
For the idols, sacred ground,
Ka’ba for the circling pilgrim,
the tables of the Torah,
the scrolls of the Qur’ān.
I profess the religion of love;
wherever its caravan turns along the way,
that is the belief,
the faith I keep.”

Ibn Arabi (1165 – 1240)

“Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.”

From Animal Farm by George Orwell, born on this day in 1903

Midsummer Day

“My Beloved is in the mountains,
And lonely wooded valleys,
Strange islands,
And resounding rivers,
The whistling of love-stirring breezes,
The tranquil night
At the time of the rising dawn,
Silent music,
Sounding solitude,
The supper that refreshes,
And deepens love.”

John of the Cross, born on this day in 1542