Wise words
“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”
Doggy in the window
Every time we pass by this house on Ash Street, I look for a sweet face in the window. And nearly every time, a sleepy gaze follows our slow, meandering progress.
“The dog’s gaze is an examination, a regard: a gaze at another animate creature. He sees us, which might imply he thinks about us — and we like to be considered.”
Faithfulness versus Effectiveness
“As long as we are wedded to 'effectiveness' we will take on smaller and smaller tasks, for they are the only ones with which we can get results. If we want to witness to important but impossible values like love, truth and justice, there must be a standard that trumps effectiveness. The name of that standard is 'faithfulness.' At the end of the road, I will not be asking about outcomes. I’ll be asking if I was faithful to my gifts, to the needs I saw around me, to the ways in which my gifts might meet those needs, to 'the truth of the work itself.'”
~ Parker Palmer, A Friendship, A Love, A Rescue
Gentleness
Mother with Children by Gustav Klimt, Public Domain
“Gentleness forms the under-song of survival — the hidden face of evolution, wars, famine — and the partner of resilience. It is the loving touch that reminds us we are not alone, and there is hope.”
~ Andréana E. Lefton
Perhaps somewhere...
The Window by Edouard Vuillard, Public Domain
“Perhaps somewhere, someplace deep inside your being, you have undergone important changes while you were sad.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke