Wednesday of Hope . . . . 6

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In the dark of the moon, in flying snow, in the dead of winter,

war spreading, families dying, the world in danger,

I walk the rocky hillside, throwing clover.

– Wendell Barry “February 2, 1968” from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry

The Sense of Wonder

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There is a sixth sense, the natural religious sense, the sense of wonder.

– D.H. Lawrence

Wednesday of Hope . . . . 5

At the bottom of the heart of every human being there is something that goes on indomitably expecting, in the teeth of all experience of crimes committed, suffered and witnessed, that is good and not evil will be done to her. It is this above all that is sacred in every human life.

– Simone Weil

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How to Find Contentment

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

– Lao Tzu

Contentment in the December rose
Contentment in the December rose

Wednesday of Hope . . . 4

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Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.

– Lin Yutang

The Grateful Heart

As the colder and darker days of Advent arrive, let us enter them with joy and anticipation.

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.

– Celia Laighton Thaxter

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Happy Thanksgiving – 2016

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Grant me daily the grace of gratitude, to be thankful for all my many gifts, and so be freed from artificial needs, that I might lead a joyful, simple life.

– Edward Hays, A Book of Wonders

Wednesday of Hope . . . . 3

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As we face the grand ecological crisis of our time, our most important renewable resource is hope. We simply must put it on with our shoes each morning.

-Barbara Kingsolver

Thank Heavens for . . .

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Thanking heaven even for our difficulties and misfortunes is the best way to transform them. You will see your difficulties in a different light, as if you had wrapped them in a film of pure gold.

– Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Wednesday of Hope . . . 2

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Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

– Thich Nhat Hanh