Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked in an interview with TIME magazine, “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?”

Here is his 3-minute answer. Marvellous!

LUKE 15:11-24

We gather now,
harvesters of an all-pervasive grace,
unexpected benefactors of the deed
to this great and glorious cosmic inheritance.
We, the walking, waking stars,
ablaze with wonder,
imagination,
and hope,
gather to remember three words:
kinship with all that is;
debt that can only be paid forward;
gift, sacred mantra of the humble.
Creation,
the great and glorious sacrifice of abundance,
asks in return —
only —
that we shed our entitled egos
and drop to our knees,
uttering a single, simple prayer
that changes everything:
“Thank you.”
Amen.

Bruce Sanguin

As this year draws to its end,
We give thanks
for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time
nor tide can touch them.
The days when the veil lifted
And the soul could see delight;
When a quiver
caressed the heart
In the sheer exuberance
of being here…
We bless this year
for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way
it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.

John O’Donohue

I do not have to go
To Sacred places
In far-off lands.
The ground I stand on
Is holy.
Here, in this little garden
I tend
My pilgrimage ends.
The wild honeybees
The hummingbird moths
The flickering fireflies at dusk
Are a microcosm
Of the universe.
Each seed that grows
Each spade of soil
Is full of miracles.
And I toil and sweat
And watch and wonder
And I’m full of love.
Living in place
In this place.
For truth and beauty
Dwell here.

Mary de la Valette

Just give me this:
A rinsing out, a cleansing free of all my smaller
strivings
So I can be the class act God intended,
True to my purpose,
All my energy aligned behind my deepest intention.

And just this:
A quieting down, a clearing away of internal ruckus,
So I can hear the huge stillness in my heart
And feel
How I pulse with all creation,
Part and parcel of Your great singing ocean.

And this, too:
A willingness to notice and forgive the myriad times
I fall short,
forgetting who I really am,
What I really belong to.

So I can start over,
Fresh and clean
Like sweet sheets billowing in the summer sun,
My heart pierced with gratitude.

Belleruth Naparstek

On a day
when the wind is perfect,
the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty.
Today is such a
day.
My eyes are like the sun that makes promises;
the promise of life
that it always
keeps
each morning.
The living heart gives to us as does that luminous sphere,
both caress the earth with great
tenderness.
This is a breeze that can enter the soul.
This love I know plays a drum. Arms move around me;
who can contain their self before my beauty?
Peace is wonderful,
but ecstatic dance is more fun, and less narcissistic;
gregarious He makes our lips.
On a day when the wind is perfect,
the sail just needs to open
and the love starts.
Today is such
a day.

Rumi

On a day when the wind is perfect,
the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty.
Today is such a day.
My eyes are like the sun that makes promises;
the promise of life that it always
keeps each morning.
The living heart gives to us as does that luminous sphere,
both caress the earth with great tenderness.
This is a breeze that can enter the soul.
This love I know plays a drum. Arms move around me;
who can contain their self before my beauty?
Peace is wonderful,
but ecstatic dance is more fun, and less narcissistic;
gregarious He makes our lips.
On a day when the wind is perfect,
the sail just needs to open
and the love starts.
Today is such a day.

I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight.

I have responsibilities to fulfill today. I am important.

My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don’t have more money or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can grumble about my health or I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn’t give me when I was growing up or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain because I have to go to school or eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or I can feel honored because God have provided shelter for my mind, body and soul.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped.

And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me.

I get to choose what kind of day I will have!

Have a great day…unless you have other plans!

Anon

Quickly, in the rose
garden at noon
or nearly tea time,
my basket full
of pink flowers,
I will drop
to the ground
and the fall will take
a lifetime
and when it is
complete, my still
head on the Earth,
that essence that will be
what I am will be saying
for the universe to hear,
“Thank You”

Alla Renee Bozarth