"Be kind,
for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
Philo

May we be blessed as we give and receive kindness.

I found this anonymous blessing on a fridge magnet.

This is my wish for you:
comfort on difficult days,
smiles when sadness intrudes,
rainbows to follow the clouds,
laughter to kiss your lips,
sunsets to warm your heart,
hugs when spirits sag,
beauty for your eyes to see,
friendships to brighten your being,
faith so that you can believe,
confidence for when you doubt,
courage to know yourself,
patience to accept the truth,
love to complete your life.

May it be so in abundance.

"Entering into silence", says Sr Wendy Beckett,
"is like stepping into cool clear water.
The dust and debris are quietly washed away,
and we are purified of our triviality.
This cleansing takes place whether we are conscious of it or not.
The very choice of silence,
of desiring to be still,
washes away the day's grime."

Be still and be blessed.

Carl Jung wrote,
"The attainment of wholeness
requires one to stake one's whole being.
Nothing less will do;
there can be no easier conditions;
no substitutes;
no compromises."

But the attainment of wholeness is resplendent
with grace and joy and blessing.
May these be yours today.

What a delicious concept ... 'thingness'!
I read it in Bunan's work:

"The moon's the same old moon,
The flowers exactly as they were,
Yet I've become the thingness
of all the things I see."

May we be blessed as we become 'the thingness of all the things we see."

"Listen my child to the silence,
An unknowing silence,
a silence
that turns valleys and echoes slippery,
bends foreheads
toward the ground."
Frederico Garcia Lorca

Silence is a rich endowment. Share its grace today.

To disperse;
        to scatter;
        to send off;
        to distribute;
        to dissipate;
        to rout;
        to dispel;
        to drive off.
What in my life needs dispersal?
What am I clinging to that needs to be distributed or dispelled?
What enculturated beliefs need to be routed?
What self-limiting messgaes need to be driven off?

There is blessed relief in dispersal.
May we all be richly blessed.

Do we rely on external support in our lives:
employment?
family?
relationships?
kudos?
power?
reward?

Or do we seek to strengthen ourselves from within:
meditation?
relaxation?
contemplation?
attentiveness?
control?

Sister Wendy Beckett suggests we seek peace.
"There is an immense freedom in peace," she says.
"Because it needs no external support,
it can take all risks
that seem wise to it."

Blessings to all those who seek peace: within and without.

Shel Silverstein in 'Where The Sidewalk Ends' wrote,

"Once I spoke the language of flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of starlings,
And shared a conversation with a housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of flowers ...
How did it go?
How did it go?"

We can spend our lives in regret and self-recrimination.
Or we can take this moment - now - and reclaim the displaced art of attentiveness.
Of consciously - actively and reflectively - living in this gift of the present.
And blessings will rain down upon us.