Fresh Green Blessings

Genesis 9:8-17: Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, (1) “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with […]

John 14:25-27 [Jesus said,] “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with […]

Matthew 5:30 (KJV): And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. D.T. Suzuki tells the story of Gutei who, […]

Jeremiah 10:12-13,16b: It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends […]

Psalm 4:4 (NRSV): When you are disturbed (or angry), do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Thich Nhat Hanh writes in the Fourth of his Five Mindfulness Trainings: “When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I shall practice Mindful Breathing and […]

Isaiah 2:4 (NRSV): He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Joel 3:10: Beat your plowshares into swords, […]

Jeremiah 14: 3-7, 20: …Nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns, they find no water, they return with their vessels empty…because the ground is cracked. Because there has been no rain on the land the farmers are dismayed…Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn […]

Matthew 5:43-44 (KJV): Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute […]

Genesis 27:1-27 (abridged 1,2,4-6,8-27): When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “See, I am old; I do not know the day of […]

Luke 9:23: Then [Jesus] said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” “Tonglen for Others: Imagine…someone who is suffering and in pain. As you breathe in, imagine you take in all their suffering and […]

Matthew 27:50-51 (KJV): Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. “My master [Jamyang Khyentse] passed away in […]

Genesis 37: 23-28, 31-34 (KJV): And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there […]

Matthew 25:43: I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. There is a Tibetan Buddhist story of people throwing stones at a dog. One of the stones hits the dog […]

Psalm 34:4- 11: I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. The angel of […]

Mark 6:1-6a: He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given […]

Job 39:1-4: “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth, when they crouch to give birth to their offspring, and are delivered of […]

Mark 4: 5-6, 16-17:  Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil.  And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away… And these are the […]

John 3:16 (KJV): For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Most Christians are familiar with the phrase “only begotten son” to describe Jesus. In the King James Version of the Bible, this […]

Matthew 20: 1-16: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw […]

Numbers 3:23-26:  The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, with Eliasaph son of Lael as head of the ancestral house of the Gershonites. The responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with […]

1 Corinthians 12:12-14: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were […]

Matthew 5:27-28 (KJV): Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Each deed performed, however secretly, leaves […]