Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

Note that the word ‘sapiens’ itself is the present participle – indicating unfolding in the present moment – of the Latin verb ‘sacred”, to know, to taste, to perceive, to be wise.
Paying attention and atunement to these cycles of nature, of the day and of the hours and the seasons, long before there were clocks and calendars to mark the passage of time, were critical to survival.

pp. 145-146, Coming to Our Senses, Jon Kabat-Zinn

… the necessity of ‘repetition’, ie the periodic recreation of the world – is not understood. The function of repetition (through ritual) is ‘existential’: it s the desire to continue life, the hope to prolong it, ad infinitum (commits to memory).

Merceia Eliade, Journals
p. 111, Thomas Moore, Education of the Heart

If any of our actions lack care and thoughtfulness, they remain largely unconscious and raw.
Staying in touch with religious, cultural, and family traditions may also give out actions an impersonal, eternal quality that is essential to ritual.

p. 111, Thomas Moore, Education of the Heart

“The only way out”, as Helen Keller wisely observed, “is through.”

P. 133, Coming to our senses, Jon Kabat-Zinn

… forgiveness can be accepted only if the power of acceptance is effective in man – biblically speaking, if the power of grace is effective in man.

p. 107, Thomas Moore, Education of the Heart

Forgiveness means giving up hope for a different past. It means knowing that the past is over, the dust has settled and that the destruction left in its wake can never be reconstructed to resemble what it was. It’s accepting that there’s no magic solution to the damage that’s been caused.

Without knowing nature we cannot know who we are or what we are to do. Nature shapes us as much as we shape nature, in that mutual engagement is the fulfillment of both.
As each year of technological change comes and goes, it seems that nature loses its influence over the shaping of human life. It still manifests its power for beauty and for devastation, but the human response seems to be an increasingly defensive and offensive struggle.

p. 65, Thomas Moore, Meditations

What if we always read as prayer, every book a scripture, whether science, fiction, theology. Our minds might release some of their authority and influence, allowing our heart, or some other place of reflection, to be nourished.

p. 51, Thomas Moore, Meditations

For what winter binds, spring releases, summer heats, autumn ripens; and the seasons in turn bring forth their own fruits or help the others to bring forth theirs.

Boethius, p. 62, Thomas Moore, education of the Heart