journey

The Dark Night of the Soul ~ A Poem by St. John of the Cross

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The Dark Night of the Soul

St. John of the Cross

On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings–oh, happy chance!–
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.

In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised–oh, happy chance!–
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest.

In the happy night,
In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide, save that which burned in my
heart.

This light guided me
More surely than the light of noonday
To the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me–
A place where none appeared.

Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!

Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.

The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand he wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.

I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.

“Longing” A Poem in Search of Beauty by Friedric von Schiller

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Longing by Friedrich von Schiller

Could I from this valley drear,
Where the mist hangs heavily,
Soar to some more blissful sphere,
Ah! how happy should I be!
Distant hills enchant my sight,
Ever young and ever fair;
To those hills I’d take my flight
Had I wings to scale the air.

Harmonies mine ear assail,
Tunes that breathe a heavenly calm;
And the gently-sighing gale
Greets me with its fragrant balm.
Peeping through the shady bowers,
Golden fruits their charms display.
And those sweetly-blooming flowers
Ne’er become cold winter’s prey.

In you endless sunshine bright,
Oh! what bliss ‘twould be to dwell!
How the breeze on yonder height
Must the heart with rapture swell!
Yet the stream that hems my path
Checks me with its angry frown,
While its waves, in rising wrath,
Weigh my weary spirit down.

See–a bark is drawing near,
But, alas, the pilot fails!
Enter boldly–wherefore fear?
Inspiration fills its sails,
Faith and courage make thine own,–
Gods ne’er lend a helping-hand;
‘Tis by magic power alone
Thou canst reach the magic land!

Thinking Out Loud ~ Where Do You Want to Go?

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Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Lewis Carroll’s work, Alice in Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland is available for free download from Project Gutenberg here.

“The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.

“Cheshire Puss,” she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. “Come, it’s pleased so far,” thought Alice, and she went on. “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where——” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

“—— so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

Note: Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wonder what I’ll do when I grow up?” Or, “I wonder where all this is going?” We can be parallelized by those thoughts believing we need certitude before we commit ourselves. The Cheshire cat offers us some sage advice, if we start walking and continue walking, we’ll get somewhere. By worrying less about where we want to go and putting our energy into constructive action, we’ll get somewhere, and we will be pleasantly surprised at where we end up. Something good will happen because we decided to get off the sofa and start walking.

Thinking Out Loud ~ You Will Overcome the Struggle

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Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Lewis Carroll’s work, Alice in Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland is available for free download from Project Gutenberg here.

“Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of

time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen

next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and

noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there

she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the

shelves as she passed; it was labelled “ORANGE MARMALADE”, but to

her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for

fear of killing somebody underneath, so managed to put it into one of the

cupboards as she fell past it.”

Note: Poor Alice. She didn’t know where she was going. It was too dark to see her way. And, when she thought she found something, it was of no help. How often have you felt the same way when embarking on a new adventure? I know I’ve felt lost and questioned my wisdom for choosing a journey. I discovered by toughing it out, answers begin to form, and confidence build with every small success. If we stop and look back on our journey we’ll see that we overcame the darkness.

“Poem of Life” A Poem by an Unknown Author

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Poem of Life

Unknown Author

Life is but a stopping place,
A pause in what’s to be,
A resting place along the road,
to sweet eternity.
We all have different journeys,
Different paths along the way,
We all were meant to learn some things,
but never meant to stay…

Our destination is a place,
Far greater than we know.
For some the journey’s quicker,
For some the journey’s slow.
And when the journey finally ends,
We’ll claim a great reward,
And find an everlasting peace,
Together with the lord

Source

Stay True to Yourself – Inspiration from Today’s Photo

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“The Road Goes Ever On” Read J.R.R.Tolkien’s Poem

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The Road Goes Ever On

J.R.R. Tolkien

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet

And whither then? I cannot say.

Source: The Road Goes Ever On

Today’s Photo ~ Let Your Star Guide You

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Today’s Photo ~ Friends on the Journey

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We All Need a Friend

Feel Good Tip ~ Embrace the Journey

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“You have to die a few times before you can really live.” Charles Bukowski

What a wonderful quote. No one likes to fail or suffer. We like to get it online and get delivered to our door. That may be the way business works in contemporary society. it’s not the way life works. Each time we walk through the fire in our lives, we gain lessons. Life is shaping us to become what we are destined to become. Our only part in this play is to learn the lessons life is teaching us and to love what we are becoming. When we do, the suffering ends and living begins.

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