Mothers

Mother and Child by Frances Hodgkins

There are mothers.

There are birth mothers.

And there are stepmothers.

There are adoptive mothers

and there are soul mothers.

There are real life mothers

and there are heavenly mothers.

There are deceased mothers and mothers alive.

There are mothers of darkness and mothers of light.

And there are mothers of Heavens and of Earth.

There are mother goddesses and the holy womb.

There are angelic mothers of saints and The mother of God.

There are always mothers.

Mothers upon mothers upon mothers.

Earthly mothers.

Holy mothers.

I am told they are all in me.

It takes a while to see,

But in a luminous moment, I do.

~Mette Welhaven Naess

Be Yourself

Be Yourself

“You can waste a perfectly good life trying to meet the standards
of someone who thinks you’re not good enough
because they can’t understand who you are.”

~Barbara Sher

A Blessing for the New Year

Let us bless the imagination of the Earth.

That knew early the patience to harness the mind of time,

Waited for the seas to warm, ready to welcome the emergence

Of things dreaming of voyaging among the stillness of land…

Let us thank the Earth that offers ground for home

And holds our feet firm to walk in space open to infinite galaxies.

Let us salute the silence and certainty of mountains:

Their sublime stillness, their dream-filled hearts.

The wonder of a garden trusting the first warmth of spring…

The humility of the Earth that transfigures all that has fallen of outlived growth.

The kindness of the Earth, opening to receive

our worn forms into the final stillness.

Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth

For all our sins against her:

for our violence and poisonings of her beauty.

Let us remember within us the ancient clay, holding the memory of seasons,

The passion of the wind, the fluency of water, the warmth of fire,

The quiver-touch of the sun and shadowed sureness of the moon.

That we may awaken to live to the full the dream of the Earth

Who chose us to emerge and incarnate its hidden night in mind, spirit and light.

~John O’Donohue