Saturday Rest

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Here close to earth be cherished, mortal heart,
Hold your way deep as roots push rocks apart
To bring the spurt of green up from the dark.

Where music thundered let the mind be still,
Where the will triumphed let there be no will,
What light revealed, now let the dark fulfill.

Here close to earth the deeper pulse is stirred,
Here where no wings rush and no sudden bird,
But only heart-beat upon beat is heard.

Here let the fiery burden be all spilled,
The passionate voice at last be calmed and stilled
And the long yearning of the blood fulfilled.

Now voyager, come home, come home to rest,
Here on the long-lost country of earth’s breast
Lay down the fiery vision, and be blest, be blest.

extract May Sarton, Now Voyager

photo Yu-hong Wen

Why each moment this day is precious

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Dew evaporates
And all our world is dew…so dear,
So fresh, so fleeting.

Issa, 1763 – 1828, On the death of his child

Without regret

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When I rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird

When I fall
let me fall without regret
like a leaf.

Wendell Berry, Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer

photo sten

Wiser teachers

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It is not easy for a man to be as great as a mountain or a forest.

But that is why the Creator gave them to us as teachers.

Now that I am old I look once more toward them for lessons,

instead of trying to understand the ways of men,

Kent Nerburn, Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder

photo mwolf89

Autumn: Not getting discouraged

harvest

Live as if you liked yourself, and it may happen:

reach out, keep reaching out, keep bringing in.

This is how we are going to live for a long time:

not always, for every gardener knows that after the digging, after the planting,

after the long season of tending and growth, the harvest comes.

from Marge Percy, The Seven of Pentacles

Beneath

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Be the silent watcher of your thoughts and behavior.

You are beneath the thinker.

You are the stillness beneath the mental noise.

You are the love and joy beneath the pain.

Eckhart Tolle

photo freddy2001