Blessing from Ireland

May the blessing of light be on you,
Light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine upon you and warm your heart
Till it glows like a great fire,
And strangers may warm themselves as well as friends.

And may the light shine out of the eyes of you
Like a candle set in the window of a house,
Bidding the wanderer to come in out of the storm.
May you ever have a kindly greeting for people
As you’re going along the roads.
And now may the Lord bless you,
And bless you kindly.
- Irish blessing

Irish blessing for a journey

"The love and affection of the angels be to you,
The love and affection of the saints be to you,
The love and affection of heaven be to you,
To guard and to cherish you.
May God shield you on every step,

May He aid you on every path,
And may He hold you safe on every slope,
On every hill and on every plain;
On earth and on sea until you are home again."
- Irish blessings for those taking a journey

 

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The bible

"People always took the literal sense of the Bible seriously, but a literal reading was only one of the senses in which they took the Bible... What is new in our era is the idea of isolating one, single literal sense of the Bible -- and declaring that the only way to read the Bible is literally. That's actually new in the whole history of the Bible." ~ Karen Armstrong 

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A Hasidic Tale

'How can we determine the hour or dawn, when the night ends and the day begins?' asked the Teacher.
'When from a distance you can distinguish between a dog and a sheep' suggested one of the students.
'No' was the answer.
'Is is when one can distinguish between a fig tree and a grapevine?' asked a second student.

'No.'
'Please tell us the answer then.'
'It is, then,' said the Teacher, 'when you can look in the face of a human being and you have enough light to recognise in him or her your brother or sister. Up till then it is night and darkness is still with us.'

 

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