Whispering to the Crocus

 

…Winter still is in the air,

And the earth troubled, and the branches bare,

Yet down the fields to-day I saw her pass –

The spring – her feet went shining through the grass…

she has whispered to the crocus leaves…

She would not stay, her season is not yet,

But she has reawakened, and has set

The sap of all the world astir…

 

John Drinkwater, “The Miracle” –

 

 

Listen for spring’s whisper, and breathe deeply of the quiet hope of a world astir.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Like a New-Opened Flower

 

And if tonight my soul may find her peace

in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,

and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower

then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.

– D.H. Lawrence, “Shadows”

 

May you sleep in peace and wake like a new-opened, new-created flower.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

In the Stir

 

“In the stir of too much motion:

Hold still.

Be quiet.

Listen.”

– Margaret Renkl, Late Migrations

 

“Hold still.” It’s a curious expression, a lovely image: stillness in our cupped hands, our thirsty hearts, our open minds; restfulness held like a treasure, quietly, carefully, gratefully.

“Hold still.” Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Pasturing the Soul

“There is . . .

the fertile silence of awareness, pasturing the soul . . .

the alive silence of alert perception . . .

the silence of peaceful accord with other persons

or communion with the cosmos.”

– Paul Goodman, Speaking and Language

 

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Pasture your soul, and carry the calm.

You can listen to a beautifully read, one-minute version of Goodman’s thoughts on silence at this link.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

They Will Come Again

 

“They will come again, the leaf and the flower . . .

Nothing is certain, only the certain spring.”

Laurence Binyon

“The Burning of the Leaves”

 

Take courage. Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. And carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week – a rose in a street flower market in Hanoi:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.