Tiny Feet

May your tiny feet walk beside our big ones,

May your tiny, rosy, tender, toes learn to love the touch of earth,

May you know the night and the sunshine,

May you know your own darkness and light

May you hear the music of rain pitter-pattering on the roof,

May you believe in fairy-tales and epics, dreams and God,

May your eyes, bright and wild shine with laughter as kisses rain on you.

May you touch the tender velvet of flowers,

May you learn simplicity with grace,

May you bask in the beauty of your own souls.

May you learn to love the word and use it to heal all wounds,

May your light shine in our lives and make it lovelier than before,

May you love God as lovingly as you love your father.

May you spread the joy of life in everyone you commune with,

May your eyes be deep and discerning to know the world around you,

May your laughter and smiles be the sunshine in our homes,

May Lord bless you in every step, every dream, every moment of your life,

May you learn the art of transforming thoughts into action.

May you connect with goodness in every dimension,

May you love knowledge and use it with wisdom and serve.

May your heart be lifted by simple joys,

May you sing cheerfully and dance to the music,

May you heart be filled with love for God and others,

May you accept all blessings with gratitude,

May you value time and its passage.

May your thoughts flow in a clear stream of purity,

May you face the world with courage and love,

May your presence be a delight, your love a guide,

May you see change as a rule of life,

May you recognise the good in the rude and the shrewd in the nice.

May the fire of love burn bright in your heart,

May your dreams touch the sky,

May you heart bounce with joy at the sight of a bright blue sky,

May your soul move in unison with the winds, the waves and the orbits of planets,

May your being listen to sweet music sung by the tender moonlit night.

May you live by your own thoughts and dreams,

May you see the inner light in another's eyes,

May you trust in Providence for helping you every moment,

May you love beauty and create for yourself a beautiful life,

May the memory of lullabies bring comfort later in life.

May you value the lessons of life; its sudden turns and tides,

May the seasons teach you lessons of life,

May nature teach you the symbols and signs,

May spring bring you fresh flowers of joy,

May summer teach you courage and endurance,

May autumn talk with you about moving on,

May winter tell you hidden secrets of rebirth.

May you protect the earth from destruction and contamination,

May your life be spotless and pure, may your actions be wise and guided,

May your heart swirl in joy and weep in pain,

May you be courageous enough to weep and show your affection.

May you be kind, considerate, truthful and loyal in your dealings.

May you know life as a tough race as well as a beautiful day in the woods,

May you know its calm flow as well as its torrents,

May you learn the paradoxes and extremes,and find your own balance,

May you use humour to takethe dreariness out of tough times,

May you learn to love deeply, purely and passionately,

May you know our own strengths and weaknesses and strive to see them in balance,

May you learn what to love and what to hate,

What to choose and what to discard,

May you read with a smile all the blessings that a fond soul wishes for you!

@writtenforgodchild2006

The Hats

When you work everyday
Wear this little white hat
The one with a cute feather
That makes you look good. 

When you read with me
Wear your dark red hat
For all the future visions
That life may bring to us.

When there is eternal strife
Wear your strong jade hat
That will give you the caution
Of the snakes, for your dove.

When you are down dear
Wear that pretty yellow hat
Which will bring to you 
Some bright lovely sunshine. 

When you feel really stuck
Wear our olive green hat
It can freewheel your mind
Into new pathways unknown. 

When you go out of control
Wear a blue hat and chair
Then you can come back
Straight into the green hat. 

If you have not noticed, 
We shift between all hats
Every single day of life
Don't ever wait for one. 



 

The Queen

“I have named you queen.
There are taller than you, taller.
There are purer than you, purer.
There are lovelier than you, lovelier.
But you are the queen.

When you go through the streets
No one recognizes you.
No one sees your crystal crown, no one looks
At the carpet of red gold
That you tread as you pass,
The nonexistent carpet.

And when you appear
All the rivers sound
In my body, bells
Shake the sky,
And a hymn fills the world.

Only you and I,
Only you and I, my love,
Listen to it.”

Pablo Neruda

The Invention of Wings

There were several books that I read last year but the most memorable among them is Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings published in 2014. The book, which was was selected for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0,  is set against the background of nineteenth century Charleston in North Carolina and deals with the story of the Grimke sisters who fought against slavery not just in writing but in practice as well. 

The two sisters Sarah Grimké and Angelina Grimké were famous for their abolitionist thinking to slavery as well as for their fight for women’s rights. In the history of the United States, Sarah Grimké was famous as the first woman to have written a comprehensive feminist manifesto Letters on the Equality of the Sexes published in 1837 and Angelina was the first woman to have spoken before a legislative body. Moreover, they wrote together the pamphlet American Slavery As It Is , which was an anti-slavery bestseller until Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published. 

The Grimké sisters spoke extensively in public against slavery and Sarah even taught her slave to read. However, these women had to struggle hard because they were much ahead of their times in their ideas of racial equality and gender equality. They faced plenty of opposition in the society that they lived in. Sarah even taught her slave Hetty to read and for this both of them were severely punished. 

The novel The Invention of Wings opens with Hetty Handful’s mother telling that “there was a time in Africa the people could fly”. She tells Hetty that this was how they had lived in Africa but lost their magic once they moved away from their homeland. She explains to Hetty pointing out her shoulder blades that these are what is left of the wings that she once had and that some day she will get back her wings.  Through her stories and her cleverness, Hetty’s mother Charlotte , who is a seamstress for the Grimkés instills in young Hetty’s mind, the desire to find her wings. 

The novel alternates between the narrative voices of Sarah Grimké and Hetty Handful. Sarah gets Hetty as a slave when she is twelve years and they bond quickly. Sarah is educated and wants to become the first female jurist but her dreams are dismissed as nonsense as she is a girl. In her childhood, she had a witnessed a slave being maimed and this leads to a speech problem in her. She is banished from Charleston and when she comes on a visit to her mother, she helps both Hetty and her sister Sky escape from slavery. Though it takes her many years, Sarah helps Hetty to find her wings.