Photo: annierooney.com
“When beauty touches our lives, the moment becomes luminous. These grace-moments are gifts that surprise us. When we look beyond the moment to our life journey, perhaps we can choose a new rhythm of journeying which would be more conscious of beauty and more open to inviting her to disclose herself to us in all the situations we travel through.”-John O’Donohue
We should look beyond economics and open our eyes to beauty
“We seem to have forgotten that the human spirit is not satisfied by material progress alone. It’s time for us to reconnect with nature.”-Fiona Reynolds, former National Trust director general
“William Wordsworth is Britain’s best-loved poet, whose thoughts, sentiments and writings about people, nature and society, are so topical and current they could have been written yesterday. Wordsworth is known to be a worshiper of Nature. His love of Nature is tender and truer than any other English poets. There is a separate status of Nature in his poems. He believed that there is a divine spirit in nature. He believed that the company of nature gives joy to the human heart and he looked upon nature as a healing force. Above all, he regarded her as a great moral preacher. He believed that there is a link between man and nature.In his eyes, "Nature is a teacher whose wisdom we can learn if we will, and without which any human life is vain and incomplete. "He believed in the education of man by nature. "Sweet is the lore which Nature brings”.
The Tables Turned”: "' Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.
The future that awaits the human venture: A Story from a Wise and Loving Teacher
“All creatures of Earth are looking to us for their destiny. Among these are our children and grandchildren, who depend on our decisions for the sustenance and flourishing of the life systems of the planet. This remains one of our primary challenges in the twenty first century.”-Father Thomas Berry, Evening Thoughts
Tribute to Father Thomas Berry
In the words and sentiments of Patrick Tolan:
“While this humble tribute can’t approach the eloquence of Thomas Berry, whose prose was “more akin to that of poetry, art, myth, or storytelling,” it can help to introduce those who don’t know Thomas Berry to his life and work, and can serve to remind those who knew him of what made him so special. “Beloved friend and companion,” “priest, prophet and seer,” “renowned scholar,” “thinker,” “Brother”; “[h]e was the truest man I ever knew.” These testimonies at Thomas’s funeral in Greensboro, Vermont, tell volumes about a man who epitomized truth and love.”-Patrick Tolan, Earth Jurisprudence and Environmental Justice Journal+
What the future looks like?
Photo:ecowatch.com
As our home- the planet earth- faces the most dangerous century in its 4.5bn-year history, we look at Thomas Berry for his wise and passionate guidance on what does the future hold for our small blue planet and its inhabitants?
And now, the most important point: Let no one fool us anymore: Happiness and well-being in life cannot be found in the madness of Black Friday Sales, shop till you drop, consumerism and materialism.
True happiness can only be found by recognising the fragility of life, the importance of family, the need to seize the day, and to appreciate and enjoy the wondrous beauty of nature.
To highlight this, I want to share with you a most telling story: The story of:
Chris Roberts: Husband, father, businessman, biker, Alzheimer's sufferer
Photo: BBC
“In a powerful, multi-textured documentary filmed over almost two years, one family living with dementia reveals what life is really like behind closed doors. Using CCTV cameras, video diaries and a small, immersive film crew, the programme follows 55-year-old Chris Roberts from north Wales as he, his wife Jayne and his youngest daughter Kate come to terms with his Alzheimer's diagnosis. From making the decision to choose his own care home to writing a living will, getting lost in his own house and not recognising his family, Chris chronicles his changing life as his independence slips away. Once a businessman and a keen biker, he now struggles to walk and talk - his life is beset by frustration, yet his remarkable insight allows us into his world.”