2026-01-20-2026 I A Patchwork of Possibilities I Inquiry I Trudy Johnston

May the vulnerable be guarded with love. May the powerful awaken to wisdom. May the earth and its being be cherished. May peace take root in every direction. ~Jack Kornfield Praying It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don’t try to make them elaborate, this isn’t a contest but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak. Thank you ~ Mary Oliver Instructions for Having a Soul Take it out in the rain sometimes. It has vast, invisible wings that gather dirt and need rinsing. When it tries to kill you that is because you've forgotten to let it look into someone's eyes for longer than a minute. It needs that the way a bee needs nectar in the early morning dew. Every so often, take it on a journey. Let it read long, hard books and let it stare into the depths of the sea. Yes, you can give it chips and whiskey but from time to time let it kneel in a place that is holy like the simple cathedral of the willows. All it wants is to live, to keep becoming. Nourish it, and it puts down roots, it opens. But starve it, and the mind, the flesh is empty; the world breaks down; symphonies go unwritten; the rockets fall; the children die in flames. Listen. It is not too late to wake it. Say the names of the wild, the forgotten things: bluebird, red wolf, robin; violet, child, clover. You cannot save the world but you can open the window for the trapped wren in the cellar. Read a book to a blind man, to your father. Tell a child you do believe her anger. Make your life the first life that you save. —Joseph Fasano