Inspirational Quotes March 2009

Issue 15, March 2, 2009
“[W]hen the health of one part of the food chain is disturbed, it can affect all the other creatures in it. If the soil is sick or in some way deficient, so will be the grasses that grow in that soil and the cattle that eat the grasses and the people who drink the milk from them. … Our personal health cannot be divorced from the health of the entire food web.”
— from In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan



Issue 16, March 9, 2009
In Tales of the Hasidim, there is a story about Rabbi Baruch, who talked about three ways of bringing money to the zaddik, the head of the temple: “Some say to themselves, ‘I’ll give him something. I am the kind of person who brings gifts to the zaddik.’ Others think, ‘If I give gifts to this devout man, it will profit me hereafter.’ They want heaven to pay them interest. It is a loan. But there are some who know: ‘God has put this money in my hand for the zaddik, and I am his messenger.’ These serve with full and open heart.”
— Ram Dass



Issue 17, March 16, 2009
"Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be... a prudent insurance policy."
— Elizabeth Gilbert



Issue 18, March 23, 2009
“A mystery is that special kind of problem which has no solutions because the more we understand it, the more we see that we don’t understand. In mysteries, knowledge and ignorance advance lockstep. As known unknowns become known, unknown unknowns proliferate; the larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.”
– Huston Smith


Issue 19, March 30, 2009
Our life is shorter than flowers
Then shall we mourn?
No, we shall dance
Plant gardens
Dress in colors
And teach our children
To make the world more beautiful
Because our life is shorter than flowers.
— Toltec fragment