Stories From A Bench (2 of 2)
"There must be 10,000 ways to kneel and kiss the earth." – Rumi"My summer starts today! I’m so excited! Happy summer, everyone! Enjoy the sunshine, the rain." – D.
"What a perfect bench! Look! A book in which we might share our love and wisdom. Hope is the key to the future. Love is our build. Fortune is our humanity. Collectively we shall live life together. We give to tomorrow, but today, yes, today, we live forever." – Daniel
"God loves you! No matter what! God loves you!! – So love him back." – Unsigned
"Life throws some crazy curveballs at you at times – for instance, I’m in a crazy transition in my life. I don’t know what the future holds for me and at the same time, when I felt I was the loneliest man in Baltimore, this book found me. This is the most moving thing I’ve experienced in a long time." – Unsigned
"What if, instead of acting out of fear, or to avoid pain, or to get things we love… We acted out of love of God?" – John (Massachusetts)
"This is a remarkable place of beauty and peace in the midst of the city – and hope, that one-day Isaiah’s vision of The Peaceable Kingdom will come to pass." – Barb
"A year ago today I was fired from a corporate job because I didn’t fit in and I wasn’t a 'yes man'. I hope my intelligence stays near and speaks truth to power. I try to maintain 'joie de vivre', but it does not always present. We are all broken, imperfect, but lovable. Love! Be! Do not be imprisoned by hope or fantasy, or imagination. Be gentle and creative. Do not over think. Learn to relax. Be!" – Unsigned
"What a lovely spot. May whomever is reading this have a blessed day. Amen." – Unsigned
"This day is creation, never was before, never will be again." – Unsigned
"If you are reading these pages, I say, 'I love you, unconditionally, without judgment.' You are perfect just as you are. There is nothing to change. There is nothing to fix." – Unsigned
"Nothing is in the way. Everything is on the way. You are beautiful." – Unsigned
"We should strive to learn to live on less, only then can we hope to succeed. If our goal is constant, growth in material things, we cannot succeed. Those who desire less are closer to God." – Dennis
"Don’t Give Up: As I sit here on this bench, my heart heavy and my eyes filled with tears, I wonder. I wonder if this brief life is worth all the pain and rejection." – Unsigned
"I hear music and laughter, and the birds… Who don’t worry where their next meal is coming from. I hear crickets and cars, and I see the moon in a beautifully lit blue daytime sky." – Unsigned
"I use to tell my children… 'I see the moon and the moon sees me. God bless the moon and God bless me.'" – Unsigned
"I am trying so hard to believe, to still believe in God and all of the good in the world. Is it just wishful thinking or a reality that one can have deep meaningful relationships with a soul mate, parents, children, and friends?" – Unsigned
"I would like to choose the latter, and I would like to believe that God still loves me in spite of all I have done wrong." – Unsigned
"The beauty of the earth shows me that God still loves me and that there is hope." – Unsigned
"Roses and butterflies… Birds and night, where the moonlight spills into my room." – Unsigned
"Is it God touching me, and saying, 'I still love you?'"– Unsigned
"I have a good life – a family, my health, my friends, and yet peace, contentment, and dare I say, happiness continues to elude me. I was just thinking that I had no one to talk to, who might just sit and listen, without comment and without judgment. Thank you for reminding me that there is always someone out there willing to listen. I am a work in progress and although I am not there yet – I am trying very hard. Thank you and God Bless." – JA
"I'm grateful for what I’ve found in this city. I graduate next week and have had to come to terms with my expectances these past four years and prepare for the future. Thanks to friends, family and faith. I can look back and be happy for all the times I have laughed and cried because I know I have grown." – Unsigned
"I am here with my beautiful friend Sarah. In her presence I know love, compassion, kindness, generosity, strength and courage. She inspires me. What inspires you? Who? Love for you all." – DC
Photographs: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
