I love all the gratitude quotes and memes that appear every Thanksgiving.
In fact, I love them so much that, instead of struggling to narrow it down to just one, I decided to share a bunch of them instead!
And finally…
An abundance of gratitude
Celebrating St Hildegard of Bingen
Happy Feast Day of St Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 1179)
I wanted to post a quote in honor of St Hildegard‘s feast day, but there were too many wonderful quotes to choose from!
I finally narrowed it down to only three.
Hildegard was an amazing woman. I read a novel a few months ago that is based on her life; it was very interesting and even inspiring in spots. I enjoyed it very much.
Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt
Patriotism & freedom
Thank you to my friend, Joni Palita, for the evocative photo and inspiring quotes. Plenty to think about as we celebrate the 4th of July in these interesting times.
“True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
― Abraham Lincoln
“The function of freedom is to free someone else.”
― Toni Morrison, Nobel Peace Prize for Literature
Maude’s wisdom
This afternoon’s wedding was glorious and beautiful, but we were really pooped afterwards.
So…since “Harold and Maude” has still been rattling around in my brain, I think I’ll share some of my favorite “Maude” quotes. To be perfectly honest, for the longest time Maude is who I wanted to be when I grew up!
Maude: The earth is my body; my head is in the stars.
[pauses] Who said that, Harold?
Harold: I don’t know.
Maude: Well, I suppose I did, then.
Harold: Maude.
Maude: Hmm?
Harold: Do you pray?
Maude: Pray? No. I communicate.
Harold: With God?
Maude: With life.
Harold: You sure have a way with people.
Maude: Well, they’re my species!
Maude: That was fun! Let’s play something together.
Harold: I don’t play anything.
Maude: Nothing? Dear me, everybody should be able to make some music. That’s the cosmic dance.
Maude: I like to watch things grow. They – grow and bloom and fade and die and change into something else. Ah, life!
Maude: I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. They’re so tall and simple. What flower would you like to be?
Harold: I don’t know. One of these, maybe.
Maude: Why do you say that?
Harold: Because they’re all alike.
Maude: Oooh, but they’re not. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals. All kinds of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world’s sorrow comes from people who are this,
[she points to a daisy]
Maude: yet allow themselves be treated as that.
[she gestures to a field of daisies; cut to a shot of a field of gravestones in a military cemetery]
Advice from Thelonious Monk
I was absolutely fascinated to stumble upon this page of “Advice” from the legendary jazz pianist/composer, Thelonious Monk. The soprano saxophonist, Steve Lacy, is the person who actually wrote these quotes down during rehearsals as a member of Monk’s band in the early 1960’s.
Reading these points provides an amazing insight into the mind of this creative genius. And, while I’m no creative genius, I do resonate with a number of his observations.
Check out this article to see the complete list typed out, but here are three that really got me:
Just because you’re not a drummer, doesn’t mean you don’t have to keep time.
The way I understand this is that every musician (or singer, if we’re talking choir) has got to be all in. Not just listening to someone else do it, but actually and actively fully engaged yourself.
Whatever you think can’t be done, somebody will come along & do it. A genius is the one most like himself.
Someone in the comments shared this quote by e. e. cummings: “The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.”
Personally, I found myself thinking of how Swami Kriyananda encouraged Ananda members to be original, but in the true sense of originality: coming from one’s origin, from deep within, instead of from ego. In fact, one of Swamiji’s songs says, “Dare to be different! Dare to be free.”
(What should we wear tonight?) Sharp as possible!
I like this because it tells me that Monk saw himself as a serious professional and expected the same from his band members. I feel similarly with our music on Sundays: we should be “sharp as possible” because we have the privilege of presenting our music to the whole world as part of Sunday service. I mean, what an honor!
Apples of Gold
This evening I was looking for the book of prayers and poems that my mother self-published many years ago; I didn’t find it, though it’s got to be here somewhere. I’ll keep looking tomorrow.
However, in the process I happened to see a book that I’ve had since high school (maybe even junior high): “Apples of Gold” by Jo Petty.
It’s a book of quotes and aphorisms sorted into categories such as love, joy, faith, peace, etc. I remember loving it in my teens and twenties, marking quotes and passages that especially resonated with me. I even dipped into it in my thirties (I can tell because I marked a particular quote with the date!), but I don’t believe I’ve opened it even once in the past thirty years.
And yet, I always took it with me everywhere I moved, which has been a lot of places in the past thirty years! Here are a few of the quotes that I loved then and still appreciate now…
Let us realize that what happens round us
is largely outside our control, but that the way
we choose to react to it is inside our control.
Do you spend more than you make on things you
don’t need to impress people you don’t like?
Some folks just don’t seem to realize when
they’re moaning about not getting prayers
answered, that NO is the answer
Do you pray, and then believing,
Grab your boots and parasol;
Scrub the barrel and get ready
For the rain you asked to fall?
A day to remember a King
Below are two quotes — one by and the other about Martin Luther King Jr. — that I had never heard before. I found both really powerful and hope you do, too.
“Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“The moment I met Martin Luther King, Jr., I knew I was in the presence of a holy person. Not just his good work, but his very being was a source of great inspiration for me…In Vietnam, we refer to Dr. King as a ‘Bodhisattva’, an enlightened being devoted to serving humanity.”
Thich Nhat Hanh