Culture

Mississauga Chinatown 3 (2013, 6.4), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Culture is not fate; it only offers templates, which 
individuals can finally accept, reject, or modify, and do. 

Gish Jen, Tiger Writing: Art, Culture, and the Interdependent Self

Choice

Gate 1 (2013, 3.23), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


It's a choice. Every minute in your life is a choice, and we have a choice as to how we will see the world and how we will see ourselves in it.

James Orbinski

To Love

RIC_9598-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

To Love another person is

to see the face of God.

Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

The one and only one

RIC_9608_edited-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Only you can make your mind up!

You’re the one and only one.

Theodor S. Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, Hunches in Bunches

Art is the mirror

RIC_9647-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Art is the mirror, perhaps the only one,

in which we can see our true collective

face. We must honour its sacred

function. We must let art help us.

Alice Walker,
  The Same River Twice: Honouring the Difficult

What lies within us

RIC_9611-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

   The more articulate one is, the more
     dangerous words become.

    May Sarton

Miracles

RIC_9660_edited-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Most miracles, like everything else,

are firmly rooted in who we are.

Iris Sangiuliano, In Her Time

Fear

RIC_9657_edited-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

To fear is one thing.  To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.

Katherine Paterson

God

RIC_9639-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

   The God who is present to us is present
     to others as well. The God who guides
     us guides others also; the God who
     cares for us cares also for others. The
     whole world is touched by God,
     and therefore the world can mediate
     God’s presence to us. 

    Marjorie Suchocki,

    God, Christ, Church: A Practical Guide to Process

    Theology

Unawareness

RIC_0192, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Unawareness is the root of all evil. 

Anonymous Egyptian Monk

Walk Alone

RCC_2203
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Walk alone
If they answer not thy call, walk alone;
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou of evil luck,
Open thy mind and speak out alone.

Rabindranath Tagore

Worth

RCC_2170
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

We are worth what we are willing to share.

Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility

Awake

RCC_2148
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

“Tell us what you got from enlightenment,” the seeker said. “Did you become divine?”
“No, not divine,” the holy one said.
“Did you become a saint?”
“Oh dear, no,” the holy one said.
“Then what did you become?” the seeker asked.
And the holy one answered, “I became awake.”

From Welcome to the Wisdom of the World and Its Meaning for You: Universal Spiritual Insights Distilled from Five Religious Traditions by Joan Chittister

Consciousness

RCC_2130
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

A basic definition of consciousness is the mind’s capacity to observe the self in reality and to be thoughtful about our actions.

Christina Baldwin, Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture

Marvellous Error!

RCC_2120
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Last night, as I slept,
I dreamt – marvellous error! –
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

Antonio Machado

In relationship

RCC_2212
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Nothing can exist without the other ... it is only in relationship that one can be fully one's self.

Margaret J. Wheatley, Finding Our Way: Leadership For an Uncertain Time