Sunday Dinner: In Peace

Christmas Eve morning in our garden

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“In the end, only three things matter:

how much you loved,

how gently you lived,

and how gracefully you let go of things

not meant for you.”

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Gautama Buddha

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“There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.”

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Gautama Buddha

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“The day the power of love

overrules the love of power,

the world will know peace.”

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Mahatma Gandhi

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“Truth is the same always.

Whoever ponders it

will get the same answer.

Buddha got it.

Patanjali got it.

Jesus got it.

Mohammed got it.

The answer is the same,

but the method of working it out

may vary this way or that.”

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Swami Satchidananda

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“You are the community now.

Be a lamp for yourselves.

Be your own refuge.

Seek for no other.

All things must pass.

Strive on diligently.

Don’t give up.”

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Gautama Buddha

~

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2017

*

“As you walk and eat and travel,

be where you are.

Otherwise you will miss most of your life.”

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Gautama Buddha

~

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“For the good of the many,

for the happiness of the many,

out of compassion for the world.”

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Gautama Buddha

~

 

Christmas Eve: Tuesday Snapshots

The old, traditional holidays always begin at sunset.  So it is Christmas here in Virginia. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

May your greatest gift this Christmas be a gift of love and connection to those who share your life in this moment.  Whether you are near or far from home, close to family or estranged, young or old; may your heart be warmed in the light of love from those who share your path in this moment.  May you find friendship and understanding, support and caring from those with whom you share this Christmas.

We all have loved ones far from home.  Some are away by choice and others by necessity.  We learn that time and distance can not separate those who hold one another in their hearts.

May you find quiet moments, this Christmas, to remember happy moments from Christmases past.  Whether the same cast of characters will gather with you this Christmas, or whether your family includes loved ones who have passed on or gone away for whatever reason; recall those whose lives have touched yours with love.

Christmas is a bittersweet time for many, perhaps more so with each passing year.  We can best honor those who have loved us by remembering them with love.  Our family stretches beyond the boundaries of time and space to include those who have gone before and also those who will come after.  Each year we welcome newcomers into our lives, and look forward to the time we will share along the way.

Perhaps the greatest gift we can offer is an open heart and warm hand to the new ones among us.   Especially to those who find themselves far from home, who need to be included, and made one with a new family; a family of caring, if not of shared blood.  We are all a bit like children at Christmas, and all in need of a little love.

So I hope your halls are decked in holiday cheer, your table is set, your baking done, and your loved ones are gathering.  The door has opened and we have entered Christmas once again.  Let us keep it well, with loving heart and twinkling eye. 

The spirit of Christmas lives in each of us.

Nandina, prized for its beautiful winter berries and rouge touched foliage, is consideered a “thug plant” by many because it tends to crop up unplanted far from the mother plant.

All photos by Woodland Gnome, 2013

“Welcome Christmas. Bring your cheer,
Cheer to all Whos, far and near.

Christmas Day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to grasp.

Christmas Day will always be
Just as long as we have we.

Welcome Christmas while we stand
Heart to heart and hand in hand.”

-From the cartoon version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Theodor Seuss Geisel