Quote on science and spirituality

Source: mi2g

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.

~ Carl Sagan

Quote on science and spirituality

Source: mi2g

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.

~ Carl Sagan

Loyalties

Photo credit: jdurham from morguefile.com

Old shoes,

where are you taking me now?

You who've spent a night in the Pacific

farther out than I dared to go --

and I found you again, bedraggled in the morning,

separated from each other by fifty feet of beach,

salt in all your seams, and sand, and seaweed.

That time I thought you were lost for good.

Old shoes, the first my grown feet accepted

without the deep ache that comes

of trying on what others have meant for me. Don't worry,

it's me they're laughing at, those who find us unfashionable.

Our last day upright on the earth

we'll fit each other still.

Don't let them trick you into sorrow.

If they stow you in a box that's too small

in the depths of some unfamiliar closet, remember

the walks we took, the close

companionship of shoes and feet.

Remember the long

mouthwatering days, each place

we rested, just taking it in. We took it in

for a reason, for the time when they'll stow us away

where there is nothing to see, to do, to feel.

And when you've relived it all as much as you need,

when you tire of standing still,

remember the imperceptible holes, how they tore and grew,

the socks, pair by pair, those soft

kittens that came between us, playful, how soon

the walking wore them down.

~ Roo Borson

__________________________________________________________

Our loyalties must transend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Loyalties

Photo credit: jdurham from morguefile.com

Old shoes,

where are you taking me now?

You who've spent a night in the Pacific

farther out than I dared to go --

and I found you again, bedraggled in the morning,

separated from each other by fifty feet of beach,

salt in all your seams, and sand, and seaweed.

That time I thought you were lost for good.

Old shoes, the first my grown feet accepted

without the deep ache that comes

of trying on what others have meant for me. Don't worry,

it's me they're laughing at, those who find us unfashionable.

Our last day upright on the earth

we'll fit each other still.

Don't let them trick you into sorrow.

If they stow you in a box that's too small

in the depths of some unfamiliar closet, remember

the walks we took, the close

companionship of shoes and feet.

Remember the long

mouthwatering days, each place

we rested, just taking it in. We took it in

for a reason, for the time when they'll stow us away

where there is nothing to see, to do, to feel.

And when you've relived it all as much as you need,

when you tire of standing still,

remember the imperceptible holes, how they tore and grew,

the socks, pair by pair, those soft

kittens that came between us, playful, how soon

the walking wore them down.

~ Roo Borson

__________________________________________________________

Our loyalties must transend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

White Moments

The best of life, what is it but white moments?

Those swift illuminations when we see

The flying shadows on the fragrant meadows

As God beholds them from eternity.

White moments, when the bliss of being worships,

And fear and shame are heretics that burn

In holy fire of exquisite desire

For love's surrender and for love's return.

White moments, when a Power above the artist

Catches his plodding chisel, sets it free,

And from each urgent stroke there springs emergent

The wayward grace that laughs at industry.

White moments, when the drowsing soul, sense-muffled,

Is stung awake by some keen arrow-flight

And rends the bestial, claiming its celestial

Succession in the lineage of light.

White moments, when the spirit, long confronted

By all the bitter formulae of fate,

Inveterate romancer, finds its answer

In some mysterious faith inviolate.

White moments, when the silence steals on sorrow,

And in that hush the heart becomes aware

Of wings that brood it, visions that seclude it

Forevermore from folly, fear and care.

The best of life, what is it but white moments?

Freedoms that break the chain and fling the load,

Irradiations, ardors, consecrations,

— The starry shrines along our pilgrim road.

~ Katharine Lee Bates

______________________________________________________

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

White Moments

The best of life, what is it but white moments?

Those swift illuminations when we see

The flying shadows on the fragrant meadows

As God beholds them from eternity.

White moments, when the bliss of being worships,

And fear and shame are heretics that burn

In holy fire of exquisite desire

For love's surrender and for love's return.

White moments, when a Power above the artist

Catches his plodding chisel, sets it free,

And from each urgent stroke there springs emergent

The wayward grace that laughs at industry.

White moments, when the drowsing soul, sense-muffled,

Is stung awake by some keen arrow-flight

And rends the bestial, claiming its celestial

Succession in the lineage of light.

White moments, when the spirit, long confronted

By all the bitter formulae of fate,

Inveterate romancer, finds its answer

In some mysterious faith inviolate.

White moments, when the silence steals on sorrow,

And in that hush the heart becomes aware

Of wings that brood it, visions that seclude it

Forevermore from folly, fear and care.

The best of life, what is it but white moments?

Freedoms that break the chain and fling the load,

Irradiations, ardors, consecrations,

— The starry shrines along our pilgrim road.

~ Katharine Lee Bates

______________________________________________________

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.