Friday, September 18, 2009

Dedicated to the Guests of My Life; words to carry you.

I am weary from working on getting my blog site set up, all the networking, and registering that comes with that. I've needed to call upon my toolbox of resources today to keep moving forward. In my grief, following my sister's death, I stumbled upon a book of meditations at the bookstore, not really looking for anything in particular I found myself blessed with every page in the years that followed. I have since gifted copies to several people over the past 10 years with the hopes that it would carry them the way it carried me on the days I felt my faith slipping from me, like sand through my fingers into an ocean of grief.
My copy of "Healing After Loss, Daily Meditations for Working through Grief" written by Martha Whitmore Hickman, has most every page dog-eared or stuffed with the nearest scrap of paper I could reach to mark my essential hold-me-together-that-moment life jacket of inspirational words.
I'm not sad today, just tired. Fatigue burdens my spirit as heavily as sadness. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book I count on to boost my spirit; just a little kick...

"Watch your way then, as a cautious traveller; and don't be gazing at that mountain or river in the distance, and saying, "How shall I ever get over them?" but keep to the present little inch that is before you, and accomplish that in the little moment that belongs to it. The mountain and the river can only be passed in the same way; and, when you come to them, you will come to the light and strength that belong to them." ---M.A. Kelty

"Why not" is a slogan for an interesting life." --Mason Cooley

"Love is the heartbeat of all life." --Paramahansa Yogananda

"Life only demands from you the strength you possess. Only one feat is possible-not to have run away." --Dag Hammarsjold

"For everything there is a season...a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance..." --Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

"Spirituality is that place where the utterly intimate and the vastly infinite meet." --Rick Fields

"Faith is the bird that feels the light And sings when the dawn is still dark." --Rabindranath Tagore

"Where there is great love, there are always miracles." --Willa Cather

"Feeling light within, I walk." --Navajo Night Chant

"Even in the dark you have the power to whistle." --Frederick Buechner

"It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends." --George Macdonald

"Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. I mean, do not be disturbed because of your imperfections, and always rise up bravely from a fall. I'm glad that you make daily a new beginning; there is no better means of progress in the spiritual life than to be continually beginning afresh." --Francis De Sales

"At every point in the human journey we find that we have to let go in order to move forward; and letting go means dying a little. In the process we are being created anew, awakened afresh to the source of our being." --Kathleen R. Fischer

"Joy comes from simple and natural things, mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water. Even rain and wind and stormy clouds bring joy, just as knowing animals and flowers and where they live." --Sigurd F. Olson

"He did not say: You will not be troubled, you will not be belabored, you will not be disquieted; but he said: You will not be overcome." --Julian of Norwich

"When you pass through the waters I will be with you: and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." --Isaiah 43:2

"Never forget that you are not alone. The Divine is with you, helping and guiding. He is the companion who never fails, the friend whose love comforts and strengthens. Have faith and He will do everything for you." --Aurobindo (Hindu)

"I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward. I pray to them because I believe in their existence, the way their songs begin and end each day--the invocations and benedictions of Earth. I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me to listen." Terry Tempest Williams

"The moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it, in confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude...that which we have chosen is given us, and that which we have refused is also, and at the same time granted us...that which we have rejected is poured upon us abundantly." --Isak Dinesen

"How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, til rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself, In the mystical moist night air, and from time to time, Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars." --Walt Whitman

"When I lay (my) questions before God, I get no answer. But a rather special sort of NO answer. It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, 'Peace Child; you don't understand." --C.S. Lewis

This last one I share is dedicated to all of you who visit this site, read these posts, and support me every day with your presence and inspirational comments. I liked this one so much I named one of my Yorkies, Guest!

"Guests of my life, You came in the early dawn, and you in the night.
Your name was uttered by the Spring flowers and yours by the showers of rain.
You brought the harp into my house and you brought the lamp.
After you had taken your leave I found God's footprints on my floor."
--Rabindranath Tagore

Thank you.

Martha Whitmore Hickman web url: http://marthawhitmorehickman.com/index.htm

--Victoria Hart

9 comments:

  1. Martha Whitmore Hickman:
    http://marthawhitmorehickman.com/healing_after_loss__daily_meditations_for_working_through_grief_19569.htm

    I recommend this book to anyone suffering the loss of a loved one.

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  2. Lovely thoughts. I so agree especially with the first one, and keep quotes about my house of a similar vein. Remember Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? The only zen at the top of a mountain is the zen you bring with you, or something along those lines - it is late & I am too lazy to look it up.

    And I think I will begin to pray to the birds. My muse is a bird - she's probably been wondering what has taken me so long.

    :) Debi

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  3. I loved the "pray to the birds" ...because they remind me of what I love.
    Thanks Debi

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  4. Well, I've had my daily (lately) cleansing cry from reading your wonderful words, Victoria. I especially like the quote about not adding tomorrow's burden to today. I'm going to use that with my mother and anyone else who insists on worrying. Worry only causes sickness of heart. I hope I never stop believing in love, grace, hope, and The Divine in me and on this earth. I hope I fight to live until it is my time to no longer ASK the questions but rather, go to the illuminated answers. Two of my tattoos are the Hebrew words: Life and Grace. These are what I ask for you. Blessings, Connie
    p.s. Victoria, I love your play list. I sometimes just stop by to listen to the music. It is soothing.

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  5. Connie, who's crying now? Your words welled me up and gave a smile all at once. I wish all those things for you as well, until it is your "time to no longer ASK the questions..." Happy you enjoy the music; I plan to add more when I "catch up"!!

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  6. thank you victoria.. interesting to read your blog.. i will sure be back again.. and please visit mine.. have a nice day ahead!

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  7. I enjoyed the beautiful quotes. Nice post!!

    Tagore is one of my favorite poets and thinkers!!

    Bring Back Pluto

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  8. wow! this is awesome.Im amazed with this quote

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  9. Happy you enjoyed reading this! Thanks.

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