If you suddenly

and unexpectedly feel joy,

don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are

plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed

or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often

kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some

possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes

something happened better than all the riches or power in the world.

It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant

when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case.

Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid

of its plenty. Joy is not made

to be a crumb.

 

Mary Oliver

 

 

A friend may

well be reckoned

the masterpiece

of nature.

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

heard in,
and don’t miss, this
beautiful conversation with
Nicholas Christakis

 

sarah van rij

 

Dying

and giving birth go

on inside the one consciousness,

but most people misunderstand the pure

play of creative energy, how inside

that, those are one

event.

 

Lalla

 

 

The laws of physics

appear “fine tuned” for our existence.

Even slight deviations in the laws would result

in a universe devoid of stars and life. If, for instance,

the force of gravity were just a few per cent weaker it could

not squeeze and heat the matter inside stars to the millions of

degrees necessary to trigger sunlight-generating nuclear reactions.

If gravity were only a few per cent stronger, however, it would

heat up stars, causing them to consume their fuel faster.

They would not exist for the billions of years

needed for evolution to produce

intelligence. This kind

of fine tuning is

widespread.

 

Marcus Chown

 

bhadri verduzco

 

In the morning

When I began to wake,

It happened again–

 

That feeling

That you, Beloved,

Had stood over me all night

Keeping watch,

 

That feeling

That as soon as I began to stir

You put Your lips on my forehead

And lit a Holy lamp

Inside my heart.

 

Hafiz