July Twenty-Twenty-Four

 

This month, we have had a revolving door at our house with a lot of summer comings and goings.  Taylor went on a NOLS trip heading out to backpack for a month in the Waddington Range in British Columbia. Anna returned from Yosemite where she did research through a program at Scripps there.  Jason and I soaked up some NW beauty on some trails nearby. And this past week, Jason, Anna, and I went on a pilgrimage of sorts to experience the gift of the Taizé community in France (an ecumenical Christian monastery that is really one of a kind). 

If I had my life to live over again, I would ask that not a thing be changed, 

but that my eyes be opened wider.  -Jules Renard

 

Do not spoil the wonder with haste! 

— Legolas, The Return of the King

Every morning, the rising sun invites and inspires us to begin again.— Debasish Mridha

Offering genuine gratitude comes from a willingness to take account for all you have been given and to understand that none of it was guaranteed. -Day Schildkret 

Rather than living every day as if it’s my last, I’ve shifted to a gentler approach of living every day as if it’s my first. I want to wake up and meet the day with the wonder of a newborn, to cultivate childlike qualities of curiosity and play. -Suleika Jaouad 

Joy is gratefulness unbound. – Joe Primo 

Blessed is the path on which you travel. Blessed is the body that carries you upon it. Blessed is your heart that has heard the call. Blessed is your mind that discerns the way. Blessed is the gift that you will receive by going. Truly blessed is the gift that you will become on the journey. - Eric Williams, “Blessed is the Path”

Let love start this day. Let love end this day. Let love transform the minutes in between.

-Rachel Macy Stafford 

Time is how you spend your love. -Nick Laird 

Contemplation is nothing more than one’s whole person being seized by the reality of God’s love. - Brother Roger of Taizé

Praying does not remove us from the world's preoccupations. On the contrary, nothing is more responsible than praying: the more we live a very simple, very humble prayer, the more we are brought to love and to express that by our lives.  - Brother Roger of Taizé