Rivers do not drink their own water.

Trees do not eat their own fruit.

The sun does not shine upon itself,

and flowers do not spread their fragrance

for themselves.

Living for others is a rule of nature.

We are all born to help each other.

No matter how difficult life is-

life is good when you are happy,

but much better

when others are happy

because of you.

~Pope Francis

we can know our goodness…..

inquiry for today~ what is ripe for discovery?

living wings

Stranger still, it is the wounded, branded, un-forgetting part of us that eventually makes forgiveness an act of compassion rather than one of simple forgetting. To forgive is to assume a larger identity than the person who was first hurt, to mature and bring to fruition an identity that can put its arm, not only around the afflicted one within but also around the memories seared within us by the original blow and through a kind of psychological virtuosity, extend our understanding to one who first delivered it.

Forgiveness is a skill, a way of preserving clarity, sanity and generosity in an individual life, a beautiful way of shaping the mind to a future we want for ourselves; an admittance that if forgiveness comes through understanding, and if understanding is just a matter of time and application then we might as well begin forgiving right at the beginning of any drama rather than put ourselves through the full cycle of festering, incapacitation, reluctant healing and eventual blessing.

~David Whyte