Flowering

RIC_3757-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Dryness promotes the formation of flower buds . . . flowering is, after all, not an aesthetic contribution, but a survival mechanism.

Ann Haymond Zwinger, The Mysterious Lands

Being Peace

RIC_6060-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the

     thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing

     are right for you. The criterion is: Have they brought you

     inner peace? If they have not, there is something wrong

     with them so keep seeking! If what you do has brought

     you inner peace, stay with what you believe is right.

       Peace Pilgrim

Message of Survival

RCC_5995-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

In spring from the black branches of the

    flowering plum tree

the woodthrush issues its routine

message of survival.

Louise Glück, Flowering Plum

Sabbaths

RIC_1125-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     

     And yet no leaf or grain is filled

     By work of ours, the field is tilled

     And left to grace.  That we may leap,

     Great work is done while we're asleep.

         Wendell Berry, Sabbaths

Rising

RIC_7860-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Whenever something is true, good, or beautiful

whether it be art, prayer, or thought, it rises.

And in rising, it converges with everything else

that is true, good, or beautiful.

Gregory Wolfe,

Convergences, Intruding Upon the Timeless: Meditations on Art, Faith, and Mystery

Love

RCC_6044-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Lost is all the time that is not engaged in love.

from an Italian poem

Poets

RIC_3271-2, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Poets write in the line of prophecy,

and their work teaches us how to live.

Jay Parini, Why Poetry Matters

You

RIC_3409-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

When you are inspired by some great purpose ... 

dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, 

and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far 

than you ever dreamed yourself to be. 

Patanjali

Responsibility

RIC_4939-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.

Jonas Salk

History & Memory

RIC_5437-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     History and memory share events; that is, they share

     time and space. Every moment is two moments.

       Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces

The inner me

RIC_5951-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

El yo interior se encuentra en mi tela, puerza en mi tela, puesto que soy yo quien la hace.

The inner me is necessary in the canvas because I am the one who makes it. 

Le moi intérieur, il est forcément dans ma toile, puisque c’est moi qui la fais.

Pablo Picasso

Setting Free

RIC_3291-2 , a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     The moment you can visualize being free from the things

     that hold you back, you have indeed begun to set yourself

     free.

       Unknown

New Ending

RIC_3463-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

Maria Robinson

Compassion

RIC_3154, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     

     Compassion is rarely a solution but it is

     always a sign of a deeper reality, of a

     deeper human possibilities. And

     compassion is unleashed and wider and

     wider circles by signs and stories, never

     by statistics and strategies. 

       Krista Tippett

Reach Out & Risk

RIC_2965-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Reach out to those you fear.

Touch the heart of complexity.
Imagine beyond what is seen.
Risk vulnerability one step at a time.

John Paul Lederach,

The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace

"The number of documented victims of extrajudicial killings is much higher than the number of political prisoners: 350 political prisoners over more than a thousand extrajudicial killings [in the Philippines in the last 10 years]."  

     - Dr. Ligaya Lindio-McGovern, Professor of Sociology, Indiana University, USA 

Burden of Memory

RCC_5948-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     The camera relieves us of the burden of memory ...

     records in order to forget.

       John Berger

Birthing

RCC_6231-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

No one is born just once. 

If you’re lucky, you’ll emerge again

in someone’s arms;

or unlucky, wake

when the long tail of terror brushes

the inside of your skull.

Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces

Centre of Our Being

RIC_1464-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     May we all grow in grace and peace, and not neglect the

     silence that is printed in the center of our being. It will

     not fail us. 

       Thomas Merton

Find your soul

RIC_2400-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

If you do not find your soul, 

the world is unreal to you.

Kabir

Conviction

RIC_2886-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Prison walls and iron bars can only lock away our bodies

but not our minds, our thoughts and what we stand for.

Angie B. Ipong with Mars Marata and Other Political Prisoners,

A Red Rose for Andrea: Writings from Prison

"The number of documented victims of extrajudicial killings is much higher than the number of political prisoners:

350 political prisoners over more than a thousand extrajudicial killings [in the Philippines in the last 10 years]."  

     - Dr. Ligaya Lindio-McGovern, Professor of Sociology, Indiana University, USA