Goodness of Creation ~ Arthur Gish

"The best way to affirm the goodness of creation is to use it properly  and give all people equal access and rightful stewardship responsibilities to it.  This means good stewardship of what has been given to us, conservation, and non-exploitation. One treats the environment with respect and therefore does not waste or pollute it. It means taking care of what we have and not accumulating more than we can take care of. An affirmation of the goodness of creation leads to passionate concern for economic and social justice."

 ~ Arthur Gish

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Gish

Artwork from R S Badmin
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Roy_Badmin

So Simple ~ Monica

 "The sky was clear and blue, and the sun sparkled on all three inches of pool water. Off in the distance I could hear the hum of an air conditioner, and much closer, the song of birds. The air smelled fresh and clean. My brain was parked in neutral. I was having that elusive experience that is a complete moment of peace.

I had the presence of mind to ask myself, how did I obtain this moment? How can I have more?

One thing I noticed was that in my peaceful moment, I was engaging almost all of my senses. Everything I saw, heard, touched, and smelled was calm and pleasing. The other thing I noticed was that I was completely engaged in the moment. There were no thoughts of what needed to be done or what happened yesterday. It was full immersion in the present. What a blessing it is to focus on being and not doing, to celebrate and give praise to what life is at that very moment. Oh, it's so simple and yet so rare!

So here is another lesson I learned on obtaining a more peaceful life. Take time to live in the moment. Engage all of your senses in that moment. Most importantly, plan for peaceful moments, and if you can't plan, then be on the look out for random moments of being still that you can cultivate into quiet moments of joy."

~ Monica

More of this outstanding blogg at 
 http://www.blueskiesandshooflypies.com/

Artwork Rom Welsh-Canadian artist Valeriane Leblond
http://www.valeriane-leblond.eu/home.html

Divine Pleasures ~Thomas de Quincey

“Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four o'clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without.”

~ Thomas de Quincey

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_De_Quincey 

I am unable to find the artist, sorry!

Thoughtless ~ Amish Rules of a Godly Life

"Be especially diligent to keep free from the vulgar thoughtless habit of swearing and the profane use of the holy name of G_d. It is indisputable evidence of a frivolous, impious, and ungodly character. It is also true that he who seeks with oaths to add strength and truth to his words is seldom a man of integrity; for if he has no scruples against misusing G_d's name, why should one suppose that he has any conscience against lying? "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (Matt. 5:37). And that you might the better avoid profaneness, seek not the companionship of the profane, where you, too, may through familiarity fall into the habit."

 ~ Amish Rules of a Godly Life

More att http://hayquaker1.blogspot.com/p/rules-of-life-translated-by-joseph.html

Change The World ~Margaret Mead

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

~Margaret Mead

More at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead

Artwork from P J Crook 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._J._Crook

Simple, Genuine Goodness ~ Louisa May Alcott

“Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.” 

~ Louisa May Alcott

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_May_Alcott

Artwork from  Paige Koosed http://www.koosed.com/index.html

Pulsing with Sentience ~Joel Salatin

"All of creation is pulsing with sentience: when the sunflower tracks the sun across the sky, when the maple tree withholds its sap in a windstorm so that if a big branch falls it will have enough sap to run to the wound. Appreciating these things elevates our reverence, awe, and wonder to a higher plane. When you kill something on a video game, you wait five seconds and it gives you a new icon. But when you go out to the garden and the tomato plant is dead, that’s it. The gravity of that situation helps to create a frame of reference to how we interact with each other. Sometimes we become so disconnected that we don’t have a frame of context for what true sacrifice is....

As people become more disconnected, they become disempowered. At the same time, government agents and the bureaucracy is addicted to this manipulative attitude: oh, we can just manipulate the market and health, as opposed to realizing that, fundamentally, we are very, very dependent and this is the posture that G_d wants us to have. It is the mutual dependency; a servant’s heart toward each other. When our hands are in the soil, when we are actually thinking about our dependence on air, soil, water, microbes, and the magnificence of life, it gives us a better perspective on what is at our fingertips. It makes us a little more humble and a little less manipulative, and a little more appreciative of other people’s abilities, gifts, and talents. I think that is true diversity."

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Salatin

Artwork from Eric Ravilious

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Ravilious

Grace of Silence~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Let us resolve: First, to attain the grace of silence; second, to deem all fault finding that does no good a sin; third, to practice the grade and virtue of praise.” 

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

More from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe

Artwork from Marion Lee James http://marionleajamieson.ca/

Continuing Creation ~ Canadian Yearly Meeting

"We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly,with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God’s continuing creation."

Advices and Queries Canadian Yearly Meeting 

More at  https://quaker.ca/resources/faith-and-practice/

Artwork From Angela Harding https://angelaharding.co.uk/

At The Boundaries ~ Will Bonsall

“When you look at the boundaries of your garden, I assure you that you are seeing a mirage. There are no borders around your garden. Your garden is more like a pebble dropped in the water - what you perceive as a boundary is just the innermost ripple; countless other ripples spread out from there and bounce back from afar. This must be so, else how can we call a garden organic?.......For me - and, I believe, everyone else - that’s the challenge: to focus on the minute details while constantly remaining aware of the big picture. It's what motivates me to farm, indeed to live, as I do.”

~ Will Bonsall

More from  https://www.scatterseedproject.org/will-bonsall/

Artwork from Vincent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh

Where I Exist~ Donna Tartt

"And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between them, just as the sun strikes raindrops at a certain angle and throws a prism of color across the sky - so the space where I exist, and want to keep existing, and to be quite frank I hope I die in, is exactly this middle distance: where despair struck pure otherness and created something sublime." 

~ Donna Tartt 

More at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Tartt

Artwork from Carl Larsson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Larsson

Constant Dynamic Process~ Stephen Batchelor

"A genuine spiritual life is not one consisting of a series of disconnected and undefined experiences occurring at random; it is a constant dynamic process incorporating every element of our being."

~Stephen Batchelor

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Batchelor_(author)

Artwork from Ellie Ling http://www.ellieling.co.uk/

Sense of Joy ~ Kallistos Ware

“If I do not feel a sense of joy in G_d's creation, if I forget to offer the world back to G_d with thankfulness, I have advanced very little upon the Way. I have not yet learnt to be truly human. For it is only through thanksgiving that I can become myself.” 

~ Kallistos Ware

More from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallistos_Ware
Artwork from Mary Azarian https://www.maryazarian.com/

Fresh Sunrise ~ Monica

"Renewal is among the greatest gifts bestowed on us, whether we're worthy of it or not. I can't think of anything better than second chances, new beginnings, and a fresh sunrise each day. "

~ Monica

More at the outstanding blog http://www.blueskiesandshooflypies.com/

Artwork from Dora Carrington https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_Carrington

Desire Less ~ G.K. Chesterton

“There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.” 

~ G. K. Chesterton

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton

Artwork  Vanessa Lubach  http://www.vanessalubach.co.uk/

Being Told ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Our inability to see things that are right before our eyes, until they are pointed out to us, would be amusing if it were not at times so serious. We are coming, I think, to depend too much on being told and shown and taught, instead of using our own eyes and brains and inventive faculties, which are likely to be just as good as any other person's.”

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

More at
https://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Wilder-Laura-Ingalls.html

Artwork from Paul Nash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Nash_(artist)

Draw Hard Breath~ John Ruskin

“To watch the corn grow, or the blossoms set; to draw hard breath over the plough or spade; to read, to think, to love, to pray, are the things that make men happy.”


~ John Ruskin

More at http://www.ruskinmuseum.com/content/john-ruskin/who-was-john-ruskin.php

Artwork from John Nolan https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-nolan.html

Where you Come From ~ Ron Franscell

“Some journeys take you farther from where you come from, but closer to where you belong.”

~ Ron Franscell

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Franscell

Artwork from Mig Wyeth https://www.greenpebble.co.uk/collections/mig-wyeth

The Secret of Contentment~ The Northumbria Community.

"Help me know the secret of contentment lies in organizing the self in the direction of simplicity."

~ The Northumbria Community.

Artwork from Valériane Leblond  http://www.valeriane-leblond.eu/

More at https://www.northumbriacommunity.org/

Need to be Grounded ~Craig Jensen

"I believe that good farming, like good teaching, is long-term activism. Farming and teaching are both optimistic vocations: they assume not only that there can be a future for humans on this planet, but that there should be and that our work can make that future world better. Good farmers work hard to build and balance their soils. We value the complex, often unseen, web of life all around us, allowing for sustainable yields over a very long time...... A good onion harvest this season won’t end a war, but providing access to healthy food healthfully grown—and the nourishing relationships that often accompany it—may be part of the foundation for the world we want. Work towards this aim might ultimately subvert the causes of war and continuing conflicts. Farming and community are an active yes to peace, and I believe that living a yes is a very strong way to say no to war.

Participation in rural life can be lonely, and the work of farming can be physically and emotionally overwhelming. An isolated life could set me in ruts or into self-pleasing patterns as easily as it could keep me rightly aimed toward peace. So I know that my life and farm need to be grounded by the joys, challenges, and accountability of community. Living in close, committed relationship with other people is one of the most radical acts of love and peace that we can make in our lives."

~Craig Jensen

More at https://www.friendsjournal.org/farm-community/

Artwork from Paul Gauguin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gauguin