Something I never considered

A man from Montana told me when he was young he and friends would pack up a car with food when it snowed. They would drive as far as they could until they got stuck. Dig themselves out. Go into they got stuck again. That's how they practiced getting out of the snow.

A Blessing From Us to You

May all beings everywhere
with whom we are inseparably interconnected,
be fulfilled, awakened, liberated, and free.
May there be peace in this world
and throughout the entire universe,
and may we all together complete the spiritual journey.
— Lama Surya Das in Awakening to the Sacred

A Quotation to Inspire

"Like a lover who spends all his time thinking of his distant love, God has been thinking about me before I was born, for all eternity."
— Ernesto Cardenal in Abide in Love

found on http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice--

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do--

determined to save

the only life you could save.

- Mary Oilver

found on peacefulrivers.homestead.com

a little foray into the public
a linking of words, worlds, wonder
a taste of ordinary beauty

A Sweet Story

Mr. Moses
— by Marian SkottMyhre 

He wanted to be sure that the first person who entered our home in the new year brought good tidings for all of us.

knocker with heartA wonderful man, Mr. Moses, lived on the street where I grew up.  From as far back as I can remember, early on New Year's Day each year my mother got up and dressed and let me get up with her so that we were ready and standing in the vestibule when Mr. Moses rang our doorbell.

He got up at dawn, dressed impeccably in a suit and vest and tie and overcoat and dress hat and started at one end of the block, going to each house and ringing the doorbell.  When greeted, he'd take off his hat and step across the threshold just enough so that he was inside. When invited in, he'd decline, saying that he had to keep going but wanted to be sure that the first person who entered our home in the new year brought good tidings and well wishes for all of us. He went to every house, then quietly turned around and walked the length of the long block back to his. It was many, many years later when I'd grown up and moved away that I wondered if there had ever been someone who came to his house to do that for him.

I'm hoping that this might be your first message in the New Year.  I wish you a year of good health, wholeheartedness, increased commitment, strengthening community, shared laughter, new adventures, continual reward, accelerated compassion, faith, and gratitude.

from http://www.gratefulness.org

WORD FOR THE DAY

Saturday, Jan. 14

Those who are awake live in a constant state of amazement.
Jack Kornfield

from www.gratefulness.org

Book Poem by Naomi Shihab Nye - because of libraries we can say these things

because of libraries we can say these things

She is holding the book close to her body,
carrying it home on the cracked sidewalk,
down the tangled hill.
If a dog runs at her again, she will use the book as a shield.

She looked hard among the long lines
of books to find this one.
When they start talking about money,
when the day contains such long and hot places,
she will go inside.
An orange bed is waiting.
Story without corners.
She will have two families.
They will eat at different hours.

She is carrying a book past the fire station
and the five and dime.

What this town has not given her
the book will provide; a sheep,
a wilderness of new solutions.
The book has already lived through its troubles.
The book has a calm cover, a straight spine.

When the step returns to itself,
as the best place for sitting,
and the old men up and down the street
are latching their clippers,

she will not be alone.
She will have a book to open
and open and open.
Her life starts here.
-- Naomi Shihab Nye 

found on www.gratefulness.org