A Prayer for Your Wild Soul

Give yourself time to make a prayer that will become the prayer of your soul. Listen to the voices of longing in your soul. Listen to your hungers. Give attention to the unexpected that lives around the rim of your life. Listen to your memory and to the inrush of your future, to the voices of those near you and those you have lost. Out of all of that attention to your soul, make a prayer that is big enough for your wild soul, yet tender enough for your shy and awkward vulnerability; that has enough healing to gain the ointment of divine forgiveness for your wounds; enough truth and vigour to challenge your blindness and complacency; enough graciousness and vision to mirror your immortal beauty. Write a prayer that is worthy of the destiny to which you have been called.

~~ John O’Donohue ~~

 

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Compassion hurts…

“Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destiny of others. You must learn to either carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors.” ~ Andrew Boyd

The River

“I am only a ferryman and it is my task to take people across this river. I

have taken thousands of people across and to all of them my river has

been nothing but a hindrance on their journey. They have travelled for

money and business, to weddings and on pilgrimages; the river has

been in their way and the ferryman was there to take them quickly

across the obstacle. However, amongst the thousands there have been

a few, four or five, to whom the river was not an obstacle. They have

heard its voice and listened to it, and the river has become holy to them,

as it has to me. “Have you also learned that secret from the river; that

there is no such thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same

time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the

current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the

present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of

the future.”

 

~ From ‘Siddhartha’ by Herman Hesse

 

 

Human lives…

 “When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must — at that moment — become the center of the universe.” ~ Elie Wiesel

The truth is…

“The truth is of course that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time.” ~ David Bowie

All humans are musical…

“There is a reason you glance up when you first hear a melody, or tap your foot to the sound of a drum.  All humans are musical.  Why else would the Lord give you a beating heart?”

~ from The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom

My wish for you…

“My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart.” ~ Maya Angelou

One of the most calming…

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul.” Clarissa Pinkola Estes

How many times…

“How many times have you turned toward yourself with the love, care, and tenderheartedness that you would toward your child, lover, best friend, or brother? The answer could be never or I can hardly recall. Maybe today will be the day you begin.” ~ Susan Piver

Let me peer out at the world…

“Let me peer out at the world through your lens. (Maybe I’ll shudder, or gasp, or tilt my head in a question.) Let me see how your blue is my turquoise and my orange is your gold. Suddenly binary stars, we have startling gravity. Let’s compare scintillation – let’s share starlight.” ~ Naomi Shihab Nye