"This is how I find compassion:
I stand between a tree and the sun.
I remain until I can find the luminescence in Aspen bark.
I continue because I seek the core of truth in every being.

This is how I find grace:
I surrender to water.
I surrender to the rock.
I observe sensations on the surface of my skin.

This is how I practice gratitude:
I peel a tangerine.
I give away all its quarter moon sections,
Allowing the fruit of service to introduce me to strangers.

With open palms,
I walk into the fire of life.
The soul needs no shelter from the sun.
I remember that everything is a part of me.

In my world,
I seek the divinity of all things.
Finding an eagle feather on the corner of mystery,
I pick it up, holding it between my body and the sun."

- Celeste Labadie, 2003