Every Arrow that Flies

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it;

Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.”

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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A Nest and an Apple Tree

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a watered shoot;

My heart is like an apple-tree

Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit.

– Christina Rossetti –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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A Swift Blessing

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“May you live every day of your life.”

– Jonathan Swift –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, carry the calm, and truly live each day.

Nature of the week:

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Part of the Music

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Moments of silence are part of the music.”

– Anonymous –

In music, moments of rhythmic silence are called rests. But rest also means “peace of mind or spirit.” I wondered if the word restore had the same linguistic origin as rest, but it doesn’t. And yet they are related in a sense. Restore means to renew, rebuild, and give back, which is what rest does for us—it renews us, rebuilds our spirits, and gives back our energy. Rest, our moments of silence and peace of mind, are necessary for the rhythms of our lives. Rest is part of life’s music.

Wishing you good rest this week.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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As Long as it Wants to Talk

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Nobody started it,

nobody is going to stop it.

It will talk as long as it wants, this rain.

As long as it talks I am going to listen.”

– Thomas Merton –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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The Wisdom of Water Lilies

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

On a walk at the zoo last week, I crossed a boardwalk bridge and noticed an elegant white waterlily blooming on the river below. Water lilies look as if they’re floating on the surface of the water, but they’re held in place by stems that extend under the water to a rhizome buried in the mud below. It seemed like a symbol of calm and serenity. I thought of how each of us, like a water lily, can root ourselves in the unseen, peaceful flow of life deep in our souls so that what is seen of our lives is a beautiful bloom.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Quietly and Clearly

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others.”

– Max Ehrmann, “Desiderata” –

Curious about the word placid, I looked it up and found that it means “serenely free of disturbance.” That’s what “carry the calm” means to me: It’s possible to make our way through noise and haste with our souls serenely free of disturbance.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and 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.

A Path of Peace

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Think toward whatever leads to hope,

to beauty,

to peace,

to gracious love.

Then move in that direction.

– kh –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

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The First Point of Light

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“It is necessary for me to see the first point of light which begins to be dawn . . . I receive from the Eastern woods, the tall oaks, the one word DAY, which is never the same. It is always in a totally new language.” – Thomas Merton

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week: