William Blake - Happy Birthday

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker.

On Another's Sorrow

Can I see anothers woe,
And not be in sorrow too.
Can I see anothers grief,
And not seek for kind relief.

Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrows share,
Can a father see his child,
Weep, nor be with sorrow fill'd.

Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan an infant fear --
No no never can it be.
Never never can it be.

And can he who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small,
Hear the small birds grief & care,
Hear the woes that infants bear --

And not sit beside the nest
Pouring pity in their breast.
And not sit the cradle near
Weeping tear on infants tear.

And not sit both night & day,
Wiping all our tears away.
O! no never can it be.
Never never can it be.

He doth give his joy to all.
He becomes an infant small.
He becomes a man of woe
He doth feel the sorrow too.

Think not, thou canst sigh a sigh,
And thy maker is not by.
Think not, thou canst weep a tear,
And thy maker is not near.

O! he gives to us his joy,
That our grief he may destroy
Till our grief is fled & gone
He doth sit by us and moan
~ by William Blake

Woman With Flower

I wouldn't coax the plant if I were you.
Such watchful nurturing may do it harm.
Let the soil rest from so much digging
And wait until it's dry before you water it.
The leaf's inclined to find it own direction;
Give it a chance to seek the sunlight for itself.

Much growth is stunted by too much prodding,
Too eager tenderness.
The things we love we have to learn to leave alone.
Naomi Long Madgett

...no man is hurt but by himself

Diogenes said that, and he was right. Every person's
experience is created internally, by him or herself. No
one outside of you can tell you what anything means,
or whether you are "hurt" or not.

If you feel hurt by something or someone, it is the result
of your decision to feel that way. This may be tough to
hear, but it is true. You can change your mind at any
moment.about how something is affecting you.
Neale Donald Walsch

Watching...

A young couple moves into a new neighbourhood.

The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbour hanging the wash outside.

"That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbour would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?"

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

So Powerful Is the Light

"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth"

Baha'u'llah (1817-1892)
Founder and prophet of the Baha'i faith
Teacher of the earth as "one country and mankind its citizens"

There Is More Than Enough

"There is more than enough of everything for everyone to live quite happily. It is simply a matter of changing your "every man for himself" economy to a "highest good for all" economy..."

Tomorrow's God
Neale Donald Walsch

Peace Prayer of St. Francis

O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is discord, harmony.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sorrow, joy.

Oh, Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Prayer of Peace
Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

Roman Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans
Known as the patron saint of animals, birds and the environment

His feast day is October 4

October Trees

How innocent were these Trees, that in
Mist-green May, blown by a prospering breeze,
Stood garlanded and gay;
Who now in sundown glow
Of serious colour clad confront me with their show
As though resigned and sad,
Trees, who unwhispering stand umber, bronze, gold;
Pavilioning the land for one grown tired and old;
Elm, chestnut, aspen and pine, I am merged in you,
Who tell once more in tones of time,
Your foliaged farewell.
~ Siegfried Sassoon