Wisdom from Martin Luther King, Jr.

Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

One step at a time
One step at a time

Wisdom from Nelson Mandela

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

– Nelson Mandela

One finds in hiking that there is always one more hill
One finds in hiking that there is always one more hill

Wisdom from Helen Keller

ireland_cliffThe best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.

– Helen Keller

Weekly Photo Challenge: An Unusual Point of View

The difference between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective.
– Al Neuharth
Mt. Whitney is definitely not a molehill (at 14,505 feet). But from this perspective at Trail Camp (@12,000 feet), it is difficult to perceive that it really is that tall. And for me, ten years after the backpacking trip, I can no longer recall which peak is which, from the angle I was standing at Trail Camp. It all depends on where you stand, what and how you see.

How like life! It isn’t that I sometimes see “wrong”, but that I need to look from a different angle, or perhaps from the perspective of someone else. It can make all the difference.

From where you stand - from where you sit, how tall does this look to you?
From where you stand – from where you sit, how tall does this look to you?

Basho Haiku

 

across the road

 

from a field of sunflowers

 

a sunflower 

~ Basho

redwoods_sunflower_1

From the Wonderful John O’Donohue

I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.

John O’Donohue, “Fluent” from Conamara Blues

The Pollanass River at Glendalough in Ireland
The Pollanass River at Glendalough in Ireland

How to Find Sacred or Holy Ground

Of course, any San Franciscan would tell you that this is Holy Ground
Of course, any San Franciscan would tell you that this is Holy Ground

 

Any place is sacred ground, for it can become a place of encounter with the divine Presence.

– David Steindl-Rast, A Listening Heart

Would You Like to Stay Young?

The astonishing beauty of the crocus
The astonishing beauty of the crocus

To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.

– Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Quoted in Age Doesn’t Matter Unless You’re a Cheese, by Kathryn and Ross Petras

Let Us Walk Together

redwoods_monastery_path

From of old there were not two paths. “Those who have arrived” all walked the same road.

-Zenrin, The Gospel According to Zen

What Can I Let Happen in my Life?

ireland_grassSitting quietly, doing nothing,
Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

-Zenrin, from The Gospel According to Zen