Archiving my old quote of the week...

"When the Unseen Hand leads you in its grasp, you follow. Or turn back and live in eternal regret. Of course there is no certainty in following either. That is what makes faith. Follow or turn back. There is no middle way." ~ Merlin in Merlin by Stephen R. Lawhead

Archiving my old quote of the week...

"She had caused to surround us the very atmosphere of "home," so that however far we traveled, however strange the territory, I was "home" as long as I was with her. "
— Walter Wangerin, Jr. (As For Me And My House: Crafting Your Marriage To Last)

The Piece I Read at the Wedding in Belize

"...tell me the word that will win you, and I will speak it. I will speak the stars of heaven into a crown for your head; I will speak the flowers of the field into a cloak; I will speak the racing stream into a melody for your ears and the voices of a thousand larks to sing it; I will speak the softness of night for your bed and the warmth of summer for your coverlet; I will speak the brightness of flame to light your way and the luster of gold to shine in your smile; I will speak until the hardness in you melts away and your heart is free..."
— Taliesin to Charis in Book One of the Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead

Archiving my old quote of the week...

"Bread is as spiritual as human life gets. Rumi wrote, 'Be a well-baked loaf.' Loaves are made to be eaten, to be buttered, and shared. Rumi is saying to be of service, to be delicious and give life."

~ Anne Lamott from Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

Madonna quote

"We you're your own person and not so concerned with impressing, then the other person is very impressed."

~ Madonna, as quoted in the book The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling by Rachel Gathercole

Quote Archive 1/14/08

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."

~ Krishnamurti, as quoted in the book The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling by Rachel Gathercole

Archiving my old quote of the week...

"I don't want to eke out my life like a resource in short supply. The only selfish life is a timid one. To hold back, to withdraw, to keep the best in reserve, both undervalues the self, and undervalues what the self is.

Here's my life - I have to mine it, farm it, trade it, tenant it, and when the lease is up it cannot be renewed.

This is my chance. Take it."

~ from The Powerbook by Jeanette Winterson

How Do I Love Thee?

A poem I wrote about 10 years ago now...

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
As the willow branches caress the ground.
As snow falls, gossamer-light, without sound;
Sky kissing the earth in a downy haze.
I love thee gently, as sunrise in May
Turns the faces of the daisies around
With a finger under their chin, light-crowned.
As sunset smooths the eyelids of the day.
And I love thee with passion, strong and pure
The gentle willow has roots clenching earth.
The snowflakes melt, but in rivers endure.
Sky has kissed earth since the day of its birth.
These are gentle, but their passion is sure,
I love thee deeply, as sky loves the earth.

~ written by MidnightCafe

Anne

What have I been doing while not posting here you ask?

I'm on my second reading of the Anne of Green Gables books in two years. I used to read them all yearly when I was a kid. There's something so soothing, honest, and, yes, DEEP about these books, and I'm finding all these beautiful little tidbits that I didn't notice when I was younger.

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple, little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string."
~ Anne in Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

"Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay night riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rythm and the music; perhaps...perhaps...love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath."
~ from Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

"...and the sky above was crystal clear and blue - a great inverted cup of blessing."
~ from Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

That's all. I've just been reading Anne.

And next I think I'll be reading The Lord of the Rings again. I read them last year. And the year before.

Thanks for reading.

More for the Collection

"Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup
And I'll not look for wine." ~ Ben Johnson

"Where there is no extravagance there is no love..." ~ Oscar Wilde

"Talking about kissing is like humming about fire." ~ unknown

The Shirt by Jane Kenyon
The shirt touches his neck
and smoothes over his back.
It slides down his sides.
It even goes down below his belt -
down into his pants.
Lucky shirt.

"Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. The same can be said of a good kiss. Enjoy communicating and kissing, and worry about sleeping later." ~ from Kissing; Everything You Ever Wanted to Know by Tomima Edmark

"All human love is a dramatic enactment of the wild, reckless, unquenchable, undrainable love that powers the universe. If death is everywhere and inescapable, then so is love, if we but knew it. We can begin to know it through each other. The tamer my love, the farther away it is from love. In fierceness, in heat, in longing, in risk, I find something of love's nature. In my desire for you, I burn at the right temperature to walk through love's fire." ~ from The PowerBook by Jeanette Winterson

"Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps...perhaps...love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath." ~ from Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Love is in the Air

I'm going to a friend's wedding next weekend, and I've been inspired to collect some of my favorite poems & quotes on love here in my blog...

To start with:

"The Bible says that every human being is created "in the image of God," and what that incredibly powerful verse means is that the same way that God is the one and only - there is no other like Him - every one of us is also the one and only. There is no other like us. ... And the essense and ultimate purpose of a relationship is to establish and substantiate that uniqueness. When someone chooses to love you, it can only mean one thing - that you are worth loving."

"People today appear vulnerable and rudderless. ... To counter this atomization of humanity, God gave us marriage, the essense of which is to find a soul mate who grasps us fully."

"Your marriage is not a facet of your life. It is your life. It is a not a detail of your happiness, but its central source and greatest blessing."

Both of these are from the book "Kosher Sex" by Shmuley Boteach.