{"id":7286,"date":"2021-12-25T10:35:19","date_gmt":"2021-12-25T15:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/?p=7286"},"modified":"2022-07-16T10:38:28","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T14:38:28","slug":"words-to-help-me-keep-on-keeping-on-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/?p=7286","title":{"rendered":"Words to Help me Keep on Keeping On"},"content":{"rendered":"
This was first posted in July 2016. I’m needing them badly again. Between the holidays and COVID getting worse again, I’m looking at a difficult week. I won’t talk with Erica until January, I’m without her for two weeks. Grief Group is not meeting, and none of the exercise classes.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

\u201cIf he could get to the end without having thrown in his hand he would have kept his integrity.\u201d\u00a0 Paul, thinking of Charles, The Scent of Water<\/a>, p273<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well! \u00a0Deciding to give the link which was not in the original, I find a wonderful description of the book on the Elizabeth Goudge<\/a> website.<\/p>\n

From Mother Teresa:
\n\u201cPeople are often unreasonable, irrational, and\u00a0self-centered. \u00a0Forgive them anyway.
\nIf you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. \u00a0Be kind anyway.
\nIf you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.\u00a0 Succeed anyway.
\nIf you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.\u00a0 Be honest and sincere anyway.
\nWhat you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.\u00a0 Create anyway.
\nThe good you do today, will often be forgotten.\u00a0 Do good anyway.
\nGive the best you have, and it will never be enough.\u00a0 Give your best anyway.
\nIn the final analysis, it is between you and God.\u00a0 It was never between you and them anyway.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The first time I read this, I was in Umbrella<\/a> in St. Johnsbury. I was seeing a therapist. Umbrella was a also where I went to a class for victims of domestic violence which became Journey Into Courage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may not live to see the slaves go free.\u00a0 Neither did Moses reach the promised land.\u00a0 Still none can be more blest than we who are an instrument in God\u2019s hand.\u201d\u00a0 from Magpie<\/a> song \u201cMary Brown, Abolitionist.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In his last speech before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King said “I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you…”<\/p>\n

Walter Benjamin: \u201cEvery line we succeed in publishing today \u2014 no matter how uncertain the future to which we entrust it \u2014 is a victory wrenched from the powers of darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I win or lose? \u00a0All I know is I am full of wounds and still on my feet.\u201d \u00a0Nikos Kazantzakis<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This quote comes from his autobiography Report to Greco. When I went to the tomb of El Greco<\/a> in Toledo, Spain, I found out his name was Domenikos Theotokopoulos. So of course the Spanish called him “the Greek.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing as dark as night
\nBut nothing so strong as light,
\nAnd here is the choice \u2014
\nTo let it burn out \u2014 or bright.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Christine Kane<\/p>\n

\u201cHope \u2026 \u00a0is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizon. \u00a0Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 Vaclav Havel<\/p>\n

\u201cResistance is first of all a matter of principle and a way to live, to make yourself one small republic of unconquered spirit.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Rebecca Solnit.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Martin Luther King JR.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“The arc of the moral universe…” is paraphrasing something first said by Theodore Parker, an abolitionist minister in 1853. An interesting study appears in the Huffington Post<\/a>. I have taken it and turned it into words for me to hang on to: The arc of the physical universe is long, but it bends toward consciousness and compassion.” My evidence is the Dalai Lama. I do not believe that he could exist, if consciousness were not implicit<\/a> in the first hydrogen atom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the face of all the challenges we face today, is my optimism about the future of humanity idealistic? Perhaps it is. Is it unrealistic? Certainly not. To remain indifferent to the challenges we face is indefensible. If the goal is noble, whether or not it is realized within our lifetime is largely irrelevant.<\/em> What we must do therefore is to strive and persevere and never give up.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2014Dalai Lama<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Recently, in a Circle Dance<\/a> Zoom for Winter Solstice<\/a>, I heard this song. It quotes Julian of Norwich: All Shall be Well<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A delightful surprise! \u00a0Revisiting all these friends, ideas and sites, has given me a big lift of the spirit. Badly needed because I woke up feeling pretty bleak.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This was first posted in July 2016. I’m needing them badly again. Between the holidays and COVID getting worse again, I’m looking at a difficult week. I won’t talk with Erica until January, I’m without her for two weeks. Grief … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,14,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-spirit","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}