Sunday

"Were I to be the founder of a new sect,

I would call them Apiarians, and, after the example of the bee,

advise them to extract the honey of every sect."  

- Thomas Jefferson

When we enter into the life of God, we can no longer call unclean
that which God has made and those whom God loves.
We can no longer use religion to suggest that there is anyone
that God has made who is condemned to live beyond the boundaries
of the love of God. Prejudice dies in that moment and universalism
is born. That is what atonement is all about.
How badly we have misread its meaning.
God’s love is not and can never be bound by the limits of our love.  

John Shelby Spong

EACH OF US IS BUT ONE IN ALL OF TIME.

“And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot

of others, or strikes out against injustice,

he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other

from a million different centers of energy and daring,

those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls

of oppression and resistance."

Robert Kennedy, South Africa 1966.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,

that we should be called the sons of God:

therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God,

and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:

but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him;

for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope

in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

I John 3:1–3

Remember me with smiles and laughter

For that's how I will remember you all.

If you only can remember me with tears

Then don't remember me at all.

~unknown~

“In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty.

He is always in alliance with the despot,

abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.

It is error alone that needs the support of government.

Truth can stand by itself.”

~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson,

in a letter to Horatio Spofford, 1814

"Gay people are victims not of the Bible, not of religion,

and not of the church, but of people who use religion as a way to devalue

and deform those whom they can neither ignore nor convert...

These realities, which are unreconcilable to some,

are reconciled in me by a loving God, a living Savior, a moving,

breathing, healthy Holy Spirit whom I know intimately

and who knows me."   

Rev. Prof. Peter J. Gomes, Minister at Harvard's Memorial Church.

Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything

of who do the things that no one can imagine.

- “The Imitation Game”

“Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.”

― Jesse Jackson

When children learn that giving is more rewarding than taking;

when they learn that they can't control everything,

but they are masters of their own souls; when they learn

to accept people whose difference they fear,

and that pleasure is found in the power in helping others;

when they learn that the value of one's life is best measured

not by possession acquired, but by wisdom shared, hope inspired, tears wiped,

and hearts touched; when they learn that happiness

and lasting contentment are not to be found in what a person has,

but in what he or she is; when they learn to withhold judgment of people,

knowing that everyone is blessed with good and bad qualities;

when they learn that every person has been given the gift

of a unique self and the purpose of life is to share

the very best of that gift with the world. . . .

When children learn these ideals, they will no longer be children--

they will be blessings to those who know them, and worthy models

for all the world's children.

~David L. Weatherford

SUNDAY

Were I to be the founder of a new sect,

I would call them Apiarians, and, after the example of the bee,

advise them to extract the honey of every sect."  

- Thomas Jefferson

Flowers are Red

"The little boy went first day of school He got some crayons and started to draw He put colors all over the paper For colors was what he saw And the teacher said.. What you doin' young man I'm paintin' flowers he said She said... It's not the time for art young man And anyway flowers are green and red There's a time for everything young man And a way it should be done You've got to show concern for everyone else For you're not the only one And she said... Flowers are red young man Green leaves are green There's no need to see flowers any other way Than they way they always have been seen But the little boy said... There are so many colors in the rainbow So many colors in the morning sun So many colors in the flower and I see every one Well the teacher said.. You're sassy There's ways that things should be And you'll paint flowers the way they are So repeat after me..... And she said... Flowers are red young man Green leaves are green There's no need to see flowers any other way Than they way they always have been seen But the little boy said... There are so many colors in the rainbow So many colors in the morning sun So many colors in the flower and I see every one The teacher put him in a corner She said.. It's for your own good.. And you won't come out 'til you get it right And are responding like you should Well finally he got lonely Frightened thoughts filled his head And he went up to the teacher And this is what he said.. and he said Flowers are red, green leaves are green There's no need to see flowers any other way Than the way they always have been seen Time went by like it always does And they moved to another town And the little boy went to another school And this is what he found The teacher there was smilin' She said...Painting should be fun And there are so many colors in a flower So let's use every one But that little boy painted flowers In neat rows of green and red And when the teacher asked him why This is what he said.. and he said Flowers are red, green leaves are green There's no need to see flowers any other way Than the way they always have been seen. "

Sunday

"Were I to be the founder of a new sect,

I would call them Apiarians, and, after the example of the bee,

advise them to extract the honey of every sect."  

- Thomas Jefferson

Sunday

"Were I to be the founder of a new sect,

I would call them Apiarians, and, after the example of the bee,

advise them to extract the honey of every sect."  

- Thomas Jefferson

Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom

of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grass and gentians

of glacier meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of Nature's darlings.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.

The winds will blow their own freshness into you,

and the storms their energy,

while cares will drop away from you like autumn leaves.

As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed,

but Nature's sources never fail.

~John Muir

"Not only is it the case that happy people are more willing to help others,

but as I generally point out, helping others is the best way

to help yourself, the best way to promote your own happiness.

It is you, yourself, who will receive the benefit."

~the Dalai Lama

"You have choice.  

You can select joy over despair.  

You can select happiness over tears.  

You can select action over apathy.  

You can select growth over stagnation.  

You can select you.  

And you can select life.  

And it's time that people tell you

you're not at the mercy of forces greater than yourself.  

You are, indeed, the greatest force for you."

~Leo Buscaglia

~*~

“I should be suspicious of what I want.”

— Rumi

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

~Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile,

and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.

Wash your spirit clean.

~ John Muir

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat

without losing heart."

~Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

Mankind are not held together by lies.

Trust is the foundation of society.

Where there is no truth, there can be no trust,

and where there is no trust, there can be no society.

Where there is society, there is trust, and where there is trust,

there is something upon which it is supported.

~ Frederick Douglass

I want to be remembered as a poet, a peacemaker,

and a philosopher who played.

Mattie Stepanek

Apiarians

"Were I to be the founder of a new sect, I would call them Apiarians, and, after the example of the bee, advise them to extract the honey of every sect."  

- Thomas Jefferson

We are born of love; Love is our mother.

~ Rumi

"As the moon's fair image quaketh in the raging waves of ocean, whilst she, in the vault of heaven, moves with silent peaceful motion..."

~Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)

Events don't cause stress. What causes stress are the views you take of events.

- Epictetus

Your spirit is mingled with mine, what touches you, touches me.

~ Rumi

"Pleasure is spread through the earth

In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find."

~William Wordsworth

The most beautiful place you get to be in this life is within a beautiful soul's prayer.

~ Shams Tabrizi.

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.

- W.B. Yeats

"If you never chase your dreams,

you'll never catch them!"

~Unknown

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.  ~  Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget

falls drop by drop upon the heart,

until, in our own despair,

against our will,

comes wisdom

through the awful grace of God."

~ Aeschylus