Saturday: Sayings that Resonated This Week

"Come along inside . . . we'll see if

tea and buns can make the world a better place."

KENNETH GRAHAM, The Wind in the Willows

Happy Saturday! As I mentioned to a friend in an email, we've had another week of gorgeous weather. We had a near perfect summer and come September, and now October, it eased so gracefully into Autumn, I hardly felt the bump of seasonal change. I'm still wearing my summer sandals, if you can believe it. Many trees now stand bare while others hold their autumn coats a few more days. To my joy, winds have crisp leaves dancing down the streets. The Peace Rose has several buds on the verge of bursting open; alyssums and the tall purple salvia bloom as if still in deep summer. And most unexpectedly, one hydrangea which struggled all summer to grow up, blazed forth a single hot pink bloom this week. What a delightful surprise!

So our yard continues to create a happy place for us and the few insects still passing through. Many migrating birds have flown south, which means the year-round locals start circling back to us, our yard a part of their wintering feeding area. We hear the chickadees and finches again, and the blue jays call every morning for their share-out of peanuts.

Now, I have been working away on the next installment of My Homes series; alas, it's not ready for today. So, instead I share a few quotes that have been meaningful to me over the last few days. Hope something resonates as you read.

—— ❦ ——

One

"Often God's voice

comes in a whisper,

in a breath of silence.

Remaining in silence in

God's presence, open to

the Spirit, is already prayer.

Allow Christ to pray within you silently—

One day you will discover

that the depths of your being

is inhabited by a presence."

BODMIN HERMIT, as seen on Twitter

—— ❦ ——

Two

"Be as gentle as you can, to everyone you

brush shoulders with, with yourself.

It seems to me that lately everyone is walking

wounded, worried, weary. Make room, be patient, speak softly.

Carry mercy in your body like a necessary salve,

for the world is aching."

JOY MARIE CLARK, as seen on Twitter

—— ❦ ——

Three

"The purpose of art is not the release of

a momentary injection of adrenaline,

but a gradual lifelong construction of a

state of wonder and serenity."

GLENN GOULD

—— ❦ ——

Four

"The best moments in reading are when you come across

something—a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things—

which you had thought special and particular to you.

Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have

never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand

has come out and taken yours."

ALAN BENNETT

—— ❦ ——

Five

On creative work...

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me.

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.

But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good.

It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer.

And your taste is why your work disappoints you.

A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit."

IRA GLASS, as seen on Twitter

—— ❦ ——

Six

"Loneliness does not come from having no people around you,

but from being unable to communicate the things

that seem important to you."

CARL JUNG

—— ❦ ——

Finally

These words I penned in my journal to remind myself:

"I can be a light in someone's darkness;

I can be a patch of blue sky in someone's grey day;

I can be the pink surprise of one hydrangea bloom on an October morning;

I can be present to my world today."

BL

❦

Wishing you a beautiful weekend,

Brenda

Photo Credits:

(Top) Chulmin Park from Pixabay

(Bottom) Rebekka D from Pixabay