January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)

Linda DeGraf

Dear Friends ~ Each year the turning of the season calls us to reexamine our way. Where have we been? Where are we going? Last month's newsletter contained a quote about a "traveling light." In the long, dark months of winter we become more mindful of our dependence on light. Where do we find our traveling light? What will sustain us and lift our spirits through these long nights? Will it be the twinkling lights of stars glittering in the small spaces between tree limbs? The tiny glimmer of light in another's eyes? The steady flame of a candle honoring a friend's passing? Can we be traveling lights for each other? In this new year of as yet unknown paths, may we dance on the edges of the eternal dappled interplay betwixt light and dark, trusting love to be our traveling light. As it says in the song, "Love will guide us."

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What does the future hold

Marilyn Markham | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
The past is past, no need to wonder; the present is now, where our love grows daily. What does the future hold? That's up to us. It seems the best thing to do is what we're doing right now, holding on to each other with love in the calm of the eye of the storm, with only one intent: to love one another as we are—completely—as two people raising each other up, as we move through this thing we call life.
~ from DEAREST WAIKI by Marilyn Markham

The shape of shadow and light

Carrie Newcomer | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
I am remembering a lifetime of trying to map
the shape of shadow and light,
To draw the clean edges of change
And what has made me an oddity
Asked me to live far more closely
To the center of all that awe and ache.
~ Carrie Newcomer

Winter garden

Evelyn Lang | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
winter garden
deep roots
waiting for spring
~ Evelyn Lang

Blown again into instant flame

Dr. Albert Schweitzer | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.
~ Dr. Albert Schweitzer

At least we would get off the ground

Zora Neale Hurston | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)

Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to "Jump at de sun." We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.

~ Zora Neale Hurston

Light becomes more evident

Bonnie Bostrom | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
In the midst of gathering darkness, light becomes more evident.
~ Bonnie Bostrom

Shaped and defined by light

Thomas Bontly | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)

Einstein told us that our universe is shaped and defined by light. We live in a visual cage, and what we call time is simply the ever-moving shadow of the bars which confine us....But suppose that...we were able to outrun the waves of light which undulate across the universe. As we leap...across the galaxy we overtake and leave behind the light which left the surface of the earth...the image will travel forever in this everlasting night, seeking its home among the stars, reaching ever outward toward some hypothetical destination at the universe's problematic end. Is light, then, the stuff our souls are made of?

~ from CELESTIAL CHESS by Thomas Bontly

They just stand there shining

Anne Lamott | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.
~ Anne Lamott

Darkness deserves gratitude

Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.
~ Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams

The heavens declare

Chet Raymo | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
Through science we have created magnificent spacecrafts and telescopes to explore the night and the light and the half light. We have made visible things that are invisible to the unaided eye. We have brought the dreamy heavens down to Earth, held them in the mind's eye. Our explorations have produced a vast archive of remarkable astronomical images...The riches are too many for choices, the revelations beautiful and dreadful. Who can look at these images and not be transformed? The heavens declare God's glory.
~ from SKEPTICS AND TRUE BELIEVERS by Chet Raymo

Shed a little light

James Taylor | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)

There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist
There is a hunger in the center of the chest
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
and though the body sleeps, the heart will never rest
Shed a little light oh Lord so that we can see
Just a little light oh Lord...

~ from James Taylor's song " Shed a Little Light"

To kindle a light

Carl Jung | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)

The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.

~ Carl Jung, as quoted in brainpickings.org

We must learn to reawaken

Henry David Thoreau | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.
~ Henry David Thoreau

May the stars light your way

January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
May the stars
light your way
and may you find
the interior road
Forward!
~ an Irish farewell

Turn your face to the sun

January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.
~ Maori proverb

Uphold the Light

Nan Merrill | January 2019 (Vol. XXXII, No. 1)

Uphold the Light that your inner light
may illumine fear-filled hearts...
Light comes with each new dawn.
yield to the Light within;
become a chalice of light
for the world!

~ from LUMEN CHRISTI...HOLY WISDOM by Nan Merrill