How easy the breath that kills a flame,

How hard to kindle that light again.

Cold words kill and kind words kindle,

By words withheld a dream may dwindle.

-- Joan Walsh Anglund

How we treat the people we live with affects the happiness of our family.

Just as a breath can blow out a flame, a mean remark can cast a shadow across a brother or sister's heart.

People of all ages have left dreams behind because no one encouraged them.

They are like candles snuffed out.

On the other hand, if we see a friend or family member feeling good about something they have done, we can learn to be happy for them.

If we notice their excitement and encourage them with kind and sincere words, it will help their candle burn brighter.

Sharing the happiness of others will make our own candles burn brighter, and it always feels good when we receive kind words ourselves.

Stars have always helped me

to get things into perspective.

I tried to let the starlight heal

something deep in me that hurt.

-- Madeleine L'Engle

For a long time, people have used stars to find their way in the dark.

Many a lost soul has been guided by the North Star or the Big Dipper.

If we watch the sky at night, we can see thousands of twinkling stars. They are our friends. They remind us how small we are.

They remind us of the vastness of the universe, of the power and beauty that surround us.

Starlight in the sky, or reflected on a lake, can comfort us when we hurt.

With safe and open arms, nature accepts our sorrow, no matter how we express it.

Starlight, like all of nature, reflects a light that comes from way beyond us. It is that light that heals us in a deep and quiet way.

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Everything in nature contributes to something else -- like the hundred-year-old tree that stood tall until a wind storm.

The protection it gave to thousands of birds and squirrels it now gives to insects and fungi.

As it slowly decays, it nourishes the ground, and from the enriched soil grow several other trees.

We human beings are part of this eternal cycle, our ideas and actions enriching those around us and influencing generations yet to come.

Being part of this vast plan gives us comfort, and faith that everything that happens is meant to be.

Our hearts fill with joy with the knowledge that we are needed, just as every tree is needed.

_______________

03/04/2014

Dividers from Hairfish's Net (dead link 07/29/2011)