Tidbits

TIDBITS

"And God saw everything that He had made, and found it very good. And He said: This is a beautiful world that I have given you. Take good care of it; do not ruin it. It is said: Before the world was created, the Holy One kept creating worlds and destroying them. Finally He created this one, and was satisfied. He said to Adam: This is the last world I shall make. I place it in your hands: hold it in trust." --a Jewish prayer

“The trees were such a radiant hue of vibrant colors it was hard for me to comprehend that in a few weeks the leaves would be part of the landscape in a different way, as they begin to cascade to the ground to be transformed into nutrients for the soil…in God’s creation there is a time for all things in our lives. While it may be difficult to embrace all of the seasons of our lives as brilliant, even the seasons that lack radiance can be nourishing to our souls…let us give thanks for the autumn moments of our life. The autumn moments which hold the possibility of May abundance.” –anon

“In the vast and the minute we see the footsteps of the God who gives luster to an insect’s wings and wheels His throne upon the rolling worlds.” –engraved on St. Olaf College's Holland Hall

"The High, the low, all of creation, God gives to humankind to use. If this privilege is misused, God's Justice permits creation to punish humanity." --Hildegard of Bingen

“And now the Spring is here with yearning eyes; midst shimmering golden flowerbeds, on meadows carpeted with varied hues, in richest raiment clad she treads. She weaves a tapestry of blooms over all." --Judah Ha-Levi (A Letter to his Friend Isaac)

"Great Spirit, give us hearts to understand; never to take from creation's beauty more than we give; never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed; never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty; never to take from her what we cannot use. Give us hearts to understand that to destroy earth's music is to create confusion; that to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty; that to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench; that as we care for her she will care for us. Amen." --U.N. Environmental Sabbath Program

This site will bring you to a collection of translated Russian poetry: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/collections/75.html

Here's a link to a collection of Folktales from around the world.

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