"Sticks and stones may break your bones
but words will never harm you."

Job is the first in a series exploring a recent experience of bullying.
I am making one doll a day within an hour
until I have worked through the personal impact.

This doll considers 'bullying creates a void':
a numbness, an emptiness, an area of desolation.

Hajnal is the twelfth doll welcoming the sun in a series called 'Salute to the Sun'.

OFFERING

God, my friend,
this day is yours,
I offer you my acceptance
of wherever you send-
suffering, joy, toil, trouble -
ennobled far beyond my means
because it comes through the greatest gift
you gave me to offer,
Jesus, your Son, our Eucharist.
I pray not to change your mind,
only to understand it,
to yield to it.
But I do ask you to be with me, especially in .......
And I ask your loving watchfulness for .......
Help me to find you, through the day,
beneath all your surprising disguises.

Amen.

Gry is the eleventh doll contemplating the sun in a series called 'Salute to the Sun'.

THE DAWN

Listen to nature waking up to greet the newborn day ...

Notice the blending of silence and song in Nature :
how varied are creation's songs,
how deep its silence!
None of Nature's sounds
disturb the Eternal Silence
that enfolds the Universe.
If you listen to those sounds
you will someday hear the Silence.

What sentiment do you think Creation is expressing
as it wakes up,
as it replaces with activity
the quiet of the night?

Listen to your heart now.
There is a song there too,
for you are a part of Nature.
If you have never heard the song,
you have not really listened.
Listen! What kind of song is it?
Sad ... happy ...
hopeful ... loving ...?

There is also silence in your heart.
If you become aware
of each thought, each distraction,
each fantasy and feeling,
you cannot fail to sense that silence ...

Now hear your heart's song blending
with the song of Nature all around you ...

Anthony de Mello

Tsura is the ninth doll greeting the sun in a series called 'Salute to the sun'.

THE BRIGHT FIELD

I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
the treasure in it. I realise now
that I must give all that I love
to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. it is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

RS Thomas

Aurora is the thirteenth doll greeting the sun in a series called 'Salute to the Sun'.

A PRAYER

"For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise,
This our sacrifice of praise."

Folliott Sandford Pierpoint (1835-1917)

Hua-Ling is the eighth doll in a series called 'Salute to the Sun'.

Waking,
set your inner compass.
Evoke
the quality you need
(patience, courage, trust, good humour, resilience, forgiveness).
Think
of that quality often through your day.
Let it inspire you.

Stephanie Dowrick

Usha is the tenth doll acknowledging the dawn in a series called 'Salute to the Sun'.

THE SEVEN STEPS OF MORNING

My first step is that of gratitude ...
for the gift of another fresh day of life.
My second step is that of love ...
for the Holy One and all my dear ones.
My third step is that of hope ...
for the possibility of growth in each moment.
My fourth step is that of compassion ...
for all of creation and our deep connection.
My fifth step is that of generosity ...
for all that shall be asked of me this day.
My sixth step is that of laughter ...
for the joys that will refresh my heart.
My seventh step is that of patience ...
for the difficult challenges that may arise.

Joyce Rupp

Shachar is the seventh doll in a series called 'Salute to the sun.

Korihi ake nga manu
Takiri mai te ata
Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea!
Tihei mauri ora.

The birds call
The day begins
And I am alive.

With the dawn comes a sense of well-being and optimism.

Pink Star is one of an on-going series of small dolls called 'Lilliputians'.

"Everyone has a gift for something,
even if it is the gift of being a good friend"

Marian Anderson

Silver is one of an on-going series of portable dolls called 'Lilliputians'.

Who do we support?
Who do we champion?
Where do our loyalties lie?

"Respect is earned.
Honesty is appreciated.
Trust is gained.
Loyalty is returned."