You might think lament is the opposite of praise. It isn’t. Instead, lament is a path to praise as we are led through our brokenness and disappointment. The space between brokenness and God’s mercy is where this song is sung. Think of lament as the transition between pain and promise.
It is the path from heartbreak to hope.
— Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, p. 28
Photo: South Riding, Virginia, August 9, 2025
If you feel any rising despair, repeat to yourself that love is stronger, love is stronger, love is stronger than any undoing. If you’re feeling any sense of despair, consider writing it on a sticky note and putting it on the mirror. Pain makes us forget that we are never alone.
–Kate Bowler, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day, p. 67
Photo: International Rose Test Garden, Portland, Oregon, June 18, 2025
Forgiveness can also be bittersweet. It contains the sweetness of the release of a story that has caused us pain, but also the poignant reminder that even our dearest relationships change over the course of a lifetime. Regardless of the decision we reach about whether or not to include someone in our present-day life, in the end, forgiveness is a path to peace and an essential element of love for ourselves and others.
— Sharon Salzberg, Real Love, p. 199
Photo: South Riding, Virginia, December 4, 2018
Verse for the day:
[Photo: Skerries harbor, Ireland, July 2001]
Feeling as though a relationship is required is never a peaceful place to be. Wanting one is a reasonable enough desire, but needing one keeps you from breathing deeply and peacefully during the individual moments as they pass by. And life is made up of individual moments. Nothing more, in fact.
— Karen Casey, Let Go Now, p. 201
To give up control is a peaceful decision. Everyone is blessed by it. But no one more than you.
— Karen Casey, Let Go Now
Prayer is the solution. Detachment is the tool. Peace of mind is the gift.
— Karen Casey, Let Go Now, p. 135
You cannot speed up your efforts to create a life that is slower paced any more than you can successfully fight for peace.
— Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Dance, p. 178
Few practices soothe our spirits as much as gratitude. Feeling appreciative of all that life has given us and continues to give us makes life thrive in our systems. Make gratitude a practice. Do not look for only the large and obvious as a reason for gratefulness. Learn to see your life through a wide-angle lens that includes every detail.
— Carolyn Myss, Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can, p. 192
Patience is supported and nurtured by a quality of forgiveness. Understanding that others, just like ourselves, are affected by stress, disappointment, and frustration is the first step toward being able to forgive, to let it go. Forgiveness of others becomes possible as we learn to forgive ourselves. When anger, resentment, bitterness, irritation, and other such feelings take hold of us, we can’t enjoy peace or a feeling of ease. When others sense our anger, and they will, they can find it difficult to trust us. Thus, we create unrest not only for ourselves, but for those around us as well. On the other hand, when we begin to conscientiously overcome our anger, happiness and inner peace will be present more often.
Allan Lokos, Patience, p. 26