An Apache Blessing

May the sun
bring you new energy by day,
may the moon
softly restore you by night,
may the rain
wash away your worries
may the breeze
blow new strength into your being.

May you walk
gently through the world and know
its beauty all the days of your life.

A Morning Prayer, by Marianne Williamson

Dear God,

Thank You for this new day,
its beauty and its light.
Thank You for my chance to begin again.
Free me from the limitations
of yesterday.
Today may I be reborn.
May I become more fully a
reflection of Your radiance.
Give me strength and compassion
and courage and wisdom.
Show me the light in
myself and others.
May I recognize the good
that is available everywhere.
May I be, this day, an instrument
of love and healing.
Lead me into gentle pastures.
Give me deep peace that
I might serve You most deeply.

Amen.

Ancient Celtic Prayer to the Nine-Fold Elements

I arise today
through strength of heaven,
light of sun,
radiance of moon,
splendour of fire,
speed of lightening,
swiftness of wind,
depth of sea,
stability of earth,
firmness of rock.

Trees, a poem by Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1913)

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

This Is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

William Carlos Williams, Selected Poems (1212 - 1962)

The Light of Smiles

     I will light the match of smiles.  My gloom veil will disappear.  I shall behold my soul in the light of my smiles, hidden behind the accumulated darkness of ages.  When I find myself, I shall race through all hearts with the torch of my soul-smiles.  My heart will smile first, then my eyes and my face.  Every body-part will shine in the light of smiles.

     I will run amid the thickets of melancholy hearts and make a bonfire of all sorrows.  I am the irresistible fire of smiles.  I will fan myself with the breeze of God-joy and blaze my way through the darkness of all minds.  My smiles will convey His smiles and whoever meets me will catch a whiff of my divine joy.  I will carry fragrant purifying torches of smiles for all hearts.

from Metaphysical Meditations by Paramahansa Yogananda (1982).

An Attitude Adjustment Admonishment, delivered in the language of Love

Change of attitude can come in the twinkling of an eye.  You can be down in the depth of despair one moment and in seventh heaven the next, so change and change quickly and dance and sing through this day hand in hand with Me.  Let us do what has to be done with joy and thanksgiving and deepest love.

Channeled guidance through Eileen Caddy of Findhorn

The Gate Keepers

Gatekeepers are people who live a life at the edge between two worlds - the world of the village and the world of spirit.  Though they do not marry in this world, they say they have partners in other dimensions.

Everybody in the village respects [them] because without gatekeepers, there is no access to other worlds.  Most people in the West define themselves and others by sexual orientation.  This way of looking at gatekeepers will kill the spirit of the gatekeeper.  Gatekeepers in the village are able to do their job simply because of strong spiritual connection, and also their ability to direct their sexual energy not to other people but to spirit.

The gatekeepers stand on the threshold of the gender line.  They are mediators between the two genders.  They make sure that there is peace and balance between women and men.  If the two genders are in conflict and the whole village is caught in it, the gatekeepers are the ones to bring peace.  Gatekeepers do not take sides.  They simply act as "the sword of truth and integrity."

[One] group of gatekeepers has the responsibility of overseeing all the gates. . . . They have one foot in all the other worlds and the other foot here.  This is why the vibration of their body is totally different from others.  They also have access to other-dimensional entities such as the kontombile, small beings who are very magical and knowledgeable.  They are known as leprechauns in the Irish tradition.

I once heard that one of the reasons why gatekeepers are able to open gates to other dimensions is in the way they use their sexual energy.  Their ability to focus their sexual energy in a particular way allows them to open and close different gates.

In the village they are not seen as the other [like gays in the West].  They are not forced to create a separate community in order to survive.  People do not put a negative label on them; they are regarded no differently than any other child of the village.  They are born gatekeepers, with specific purposes, and are encouraged to fulfill the role they're born to in the interests of the community.

- excerpts from The Spirit of Intimacy: Ancient African Teachings in the Ways of Relationships by Sobonfu Some (1997).