If we see the world as sacred,

which is an expression of the spiritual life,

then gratitude follows immediately and naturally.

…..Jack Kornfield

to pray for the compassion of the world is a call to our drained and weakened heart…..restless need settles into a promise of understanding…..a gracious potential….we fall into a new way of seeing…..at once, we are healed…..

In the name of daybreak
And the eyelids of morning
And the wayfaring moon
And the night when it departs,
I swear I will not dishonor
My soul with hatred
But offer myself humbly
As a guardian of nature,
As a healer of misery,
As a messenger of wonder
As an architect of peace.
In the name of the sun and its mirrors…
And the uttermost night
And the crowning seasons
Of the firefly and the apple

I will honor all life –
Wherever and in whatever form
It may dwell- on Earth my home.
And in the mansions of the stars

….Diane Ackerman

real sanctuary

Whenever we feel held by a caring presence, by something larger than our small frightened self, we too can begin to find room in our own heart for the fragments of our life, and for the lives of others. The suffering that might have seemed “too much” can now awaken us to the sweetness of compassion…..Tara Brach