“How many mysteries have you seen in your lifetime? How many nets pulled full over the boat's side, each silver body ready or not falling into submission? How many roses in early summer uncurling above the pale sands then falling back in unfathomable willingness? And what can you say? Glory to the rose and the leaf, to the seed, to the silver fish. Glory to time and the wild fields, and to joy. And to grief's shock and torpor, its near swoon.” BodyJoyFallSidesGriefMysteryFieldsReadySummerGloryRoseLifetimeFishesSeedsBoatShockSandSilverWillingnessPaleLeafsSubmissionUnfathomable Book:Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver Source: Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
“Someone once told me a story about long term relationships. To think of them as a continent to explore. I could spend a lifetime backpacking through Africa, and I would still never know all there is to know about that continent. To stay the course, to stay intentional, to stay curious and connected - that's the heart of it. But it's so easy to lose track of the trail, to get tired, to want to give up, or to want a new adventure. It can be so easy to lose sight of the goodness and mystery within the person sitting right in front of you.” ThinkingKnowsWantGivingHeartPersonsLongStillsStoriesCoursesEasyTermLosesMysteryFrontsAdventureGoodnessGiving UpSittingSightTiredLifetimeTrackConnectedCuriousLong TermContinentsTrailsBackpackingLong Term RelationshipNew Adventure Author:Joy Williams
“But what else can we do when we're so weak? We invest hours each day, months each year, years each lifetime in something over which we have no control; it is any wonder then, that we are reduced to creating ingenious but bizarre liturgies designed to give us the illusion that we are powerful after all, just as every other primitive community has done when faced with a deep and apparently impenetrable mystery?” GivingYearsDoneCommunityHoursPowerfulWonderMysteryMonthsCreatingIllusionWeakLifetimeEach DayPrimitiveBizarreIngeniousLiturgy Author:Nick Hornby
“We kissed, then, and the ardour of her kiss stole my breath away. I returned her passion with all the fervor I possessed. A lifetime of vows and heart-felt disciplines had prepared me well, for in that kiss I sealed with all my soul the fate before me, embracing a mystery clothed in warm and yielding female flesh. Holding only the moment, with neither thought nor care for the future, I kissed her, and drank deep the strong wine of desire.” WellsHeartSoulMomentsCareDesirePassionStrongFeltFateMysteryDisciplineKissingFemaleBreathsWinePreparedLifetimeWarmFleshMy SoulPossessedVowDrankFervorHeart Felt Author:Stephen R. Lawhead
“and I shudder sometimes to think of all that stellar mystery of how she IS going to get me in a future lifetime, wow - And I seriously do believe that will be my salvation, too. A long way to go.” ThinkingWayBelieveLongSometimesMysterySalvationLifetimeWowLong WayLong Way To GoStellar Book:Big Sur (Annotated) Source: Big Sur (Annotated)
“There is little to be gained by seeking after the mysteries, for there is hardly time in a lifetime to master the plain and precious things.” LittlesMysteryMastersLifetimeSeekingPrecious Things Author:Boyd K. Packer
“What is it about fire that's so lovely? No matter what age we are, what draws us to it?...The thing man wanted to invent, but never did...If you let it go on, it'd burn our lifetimes out. What is fire? It is a mystery. Scientists give us gobbledygook about friction and molecules. But they don't really know. Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences.” IfsKnowsMenGivingRealMatterAgeWantedResponsibilityFireMysteryGoes OnDrawsConsequenceScientistNo Matter WhatLifetimeLovelyLet It GoMoleculesFrictionReal Beauty Author:Ray Bradbury