—Sister Simone Campbell, Sisters of Social Service
41
Have Faith in Yourself, Too
If the whole universe can be found in our own body and mind, this is where we need to make our inquiries. We all have the answers within ourselves, we just have not got in touch with them yet. The potential of finding the truth within requires faith in ourselves.
—Ayya Khema
42
Let Us Love One Another
Together we travel the ongoing concentric spiral
knowing that we are loving to know how loving we are.
We are loving to know how loving we are.
Knowing that we are loving.
Loving to know how.
How loving we are to know.
We are loving to know how loving we are.
—Amy Leader
43
Everything You Need to Know Is Inside You
The answer lies within ourselves. If we can’t find peace and happiness there, it’s not going to come from the outside.
—Tenzin Palmo
44
Love Holds the World Together
The Goddess falls in love with Herself, drawing forth her own emanation, which takes on a life of its own. Love of self for self is the creative force of the universe. Desire is the primal energy, and that energy is erotic: the attraction of lover to beloved, of planet to star, the lust of electron for proton. Love is the glue that holds the world together.
—Starhawk
45
Turning toward God Every Day
To surrender oneself is something more
than to devote oneself, more than to give oneself,
it is even more than to abandon oneself to God.
To surrender oneself is to die to everything and to self,
to keep it continually turned towards God.
Self-surrender is no longer to seek self-satisfaction in anything
but solely God’s good pleasure.
It should be added that self-surrender is to follow
that complete spirit of detachment
which holds to nothing;
neither to persons nor to things—
The whole thing consists in making a generous act
at the very beginning,
by saying with all the sincerity of your heart:
“My God, I wish to be entirely thine; deign to accept my offering”
—then all is said…
You must always remember that you have surrendered yourself.
—St. Thérèse Couderc
46
Life Comes at You Fast
This life you must know
as the tiny splash of a raindrop:
A thing of beauty that disappears as it comes into being.
Therefore, set your goal.
—Buddhist Prayer
47
Listen to the Wisdom of Your Own Heart
Turn within and seek the wisdom of your higher self. It is able to speak to us from the combined wisdom of our heart, mind, and spirit.
—Madisyn Taylor
48
Today Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life
This is the beginning of a new day.
I can waste it or use it for good.
What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever,
leaving in its place something for which I have traded it.
I want it to be a gain, not a loss;
good, not evil;
success, not failure—
in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it today.
—Author Unknown
49
Cover Our Earth with Flowers
Cover my earth mother four times with many flowers.
Let the heavens be covered with the banked-up clouds.
Let the earth be covered with fog;
cover the earth with rains.
Great waters, rains, cover the earth.
Lightning cover the earth.
Let thunder be heard over the earth;
let thunder be heard;
Let thunder be heard over the six regions of the earth.
—Native American Chant
50
Love and Miracles
Let me always insist on miracles to
celebrate love.
And when all I love on earth
lies lifeless in my arms
let me offer it to you with such freedom of heart
That I am swept up into the heavens. Amen.
—Mary Lou Kownacki
51
Water Is Life
We travel your powerful currents
to meet our relations.
We flood our rice fields.
We bathe our children.
We cleanse the dead.
We baptize, we purify, we do ablutions,
We immerse in the mikvah.
We heal with you—Holy Water.
We remember to protect you.
We remember to protect you.
We remember to protect you.
We remember to protect you.
—Water Protection for Women
52
A Message to Take to God
Saint Therese, the little flower,
Please pick me,
A rose from the heavenly garden,
And send it to me
With a message of love.
Ask God to grant me
The favor I thee implore
And tell him I will love him
Each day more and more.
—Prayer of Petition to Saint Therese of Lemieux
53
Believe in the Human Spirit
We pray for an end to cruelty,
whether to humans or other animals,
for an end to bullying, and torture in all its forms.
We pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving
and the strength we gain in loving;
that