I don't even go here, but it checks out
This is not a Buffy post.
I was looking for a quote yesterday and ran into the Prayer of St. Francis a.k.a. the Peace Prayer as sung by Sarah McLachlan in "Grave". I'm into it! Now I've listened to it a bunch of times, and it's been rattling around my skull and bumping into other texts that riff on the same message.
(1)
"let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives..."
-
Peace Prayer (excerpt)
The Wikipedia page says this was first written down in 1912 and that it appeals even to people who aren't Christian; can confirm that part.
(2)
"Dod, Dieviņ(i), kalnā kāpt,
Ne no kalna lejiņā;
Dod, Dieviņ(i), otram dot,
Ne no otra mīļi lūgt."
- Latvian folk song.
Rough translation by me:
God, allow to walk uphill, not downhill; make it so that [unspecified person] may give to another, not ask of them.
Or:
Dear God, let me climb a hill rather than walk down it; give me the opportunity to give, rather than having to ask nicely from another person.
Alternative translations of the two parts from balticshop.com:
"May you always have an upward journey"
and
"God, allow me the good fortune to help others, rather than be the one to ask for help."
What I love about the metaphor of walking uphill/ climbing a hill is that it combines the meanings of more effort and more benefit (if we generally assume that high is good and low is bad, or just that someone's climbing that hill for a reason).
(3)
"Gūt var dodot, gūt var ņemot; dodot gūtais - neatņemams."
- Rainis
Basic translation:
One can gain by taking, one can gain by giving; what's gained by giving cannot be taken away.
And I like that this acknowledges tbat - duh! - giving is not the only way we receive.
(Side note, look at how concisely he put it! The man was a menace. He habitually made up new, shorter words to make his verse leaner. This isn't even a very extreme example.)
This entry was originally posted at https://thenewbuzwuzz.dreamwidth.org/178878.html.
I was looking for a quote yesterday and ran into the Prayer of St. Francis a.k.a. the Peace Prayer as sung by Sarah McLachlan in "Grave". I'm into it! Now I've listened to it a bunch of times, and it's been rattling around my skull and bumping into other texts that riff on the same message.
(1)
"let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives..."
-
Peace Prayer (excerpt)
The Wikipedia page says this was first written down in 1912 and that it appeals even to people who aren't Christian; can confirm that part.
(2)
"Dod, Dieviņ(i), kalnā kāpt,
Ne no kalna lejiņā;
Dod, Dieviņ(i), otram dot,
Ne no otra mīļi lūgt."
- Latvian folk song.
Rough translation by me:
God, allow to walk uphill, not downhill; make it so that [unspecified person] may give to another, not ask of them.
Or:
Dear God, let me climb a hill rather than walk down it; give me the opportunity to give, rather than having to ask nicely from another person.
Alternative translations of the two parts from balticshop.com:
"May you always have an upward journey"
and
"God, allow me the good fortune to help others, rather than be the one to ask for help."
What I love about the metaphor of walking uphill/ climbing a hill is that it combines the meanings of more effort and more benefit (if we generally assume that high is good and low is bad, or just that someone's climbing that hill for a reason).
(3)
"Gūt var dodot, gūt var ņemot; dodot gūtais - neatņemams."
- Rainis
Basic translation:
One can gain by taking, one can gain by giving; what's gained by giving cannot be taken away.
And I like that this acknowledges tbat - duh! - giving is not the only way we receive.
(Side note, look at how concisely he put it! The man was a menace. He habitually made up new, shorter words to make his verse leaner. This isn't even a very extreme example.)
This entry was originally posted at https://thenewbuzwuzz.dreamwidth.org/178878.html.