Very wet and windy this morning, the beginning of of a storm. The news today is full of agitation and uncertainty, including Brexit, Ukraine, migration and the lack of vision of our “leaders”. Where can we find a firm ground?
O to be self-balanced for contingencies,
to confront night, storms, hunger,
ridicule, accidents, rebuffs,
as the trees and animals do
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
The first very cold night of the year here and strong wind and rain expected later today. Ancient wisdom for dealing with the changing weathers of life:
All things, the grass as well as the trees,
are tender and soft while alive
When dead, they are withered and dried.
Therefore the stiff and the rigid are companions of death
The gentle and the kind are the companions of life
Lao Tzu
Every day
I was surrounded by the beautiful crying forth
of the ideas of God,
One of which was you.
Mary Oliver, So every day
Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.
Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for my Journey Now
Prayer is not a strategem for occasional use, a refuge to resort to now and then. It is rather like an established residence for the innermost self. All things have a home; the bird has a nest, the fox has a hole, the bee has a hive. A soul without prayer is a soul without a home.
Abraham Joshua Heschel, Conference on Liturgy, 1969
A special greeting for Thanksgiving for all those who read and follow the Blog in the United States. Gratitude helps us to focus on what we have, and not on what we lack,
I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite – only a sense of existence. I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years, and exhaust it. How sweet to think of my extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on the bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.
Henry David Thoreau, Letter, Friends and Followers, 1856
Often in popular culture, mindfulness is taken to mean simply “be present” rather than how we are relating to the present. I think that is a significant understanding that it would be helpful to clarify.
Joseph Goldstein
Mindfulbalance 