“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. …

“Every relation to mankind, of hate or scorn or neglect, is full of vexation and torment. There is nothing to do with men but to love them; to contemplate their virtues with admiration, their faults with pity or forbearance, and their injuries with forgiveness. Task all the ingenuity of your…

“An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist. In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you pre-plan and defend against all interlopers… If you think…

“Our whole trouble in our lot in this world rises from the disagreement of our mind therewith. Let the mind be brought to the lot, and the whole tumult is instantly hushed; let it be kept in that disposition, and the man shall stand at ease, in his affliction, like…

“What inexpressible joy for me, to look up through the apple-blossoms and the fluttering leaves, and to see God’s love there; to listen to the thrush that has built his nest among them, and to feel God’s love, who cares for the birds, in every note that swells his little…

“Our garden is now a wilderness of sweets. The violets, sweet briar, and primroses perfume the air, and the thrushes are full of melody and make our concert complete. It is the pleasantest music I have heard this year, and refreshes my spirits without the alloy of a tumultuous crowd…

“Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God…let your words be few.” ~Ecclesiastes 5:2, NKJV “He who restrains his lips is wise.” ~Proverbs 10:19, BSB I grew up hearing about the power of words. In my Christian tradition, I was taught…

*This is the first in a two-part series in honor of Mother’s Day. My mother was a Jafra Queen Bee. If you were alive and used cosmetics in 1980’s America you may or may not remember Jafra. Jafra is an American skin care and beauty products company similar to Avon…

*This is part of a two-part series on transcendent living: examining how we can focus on the half we can control in any situation (our responses) and how we can get outside of ourselves to find ourselves again, more content and joyful, through helping and loving others. “However perplexed you…