pilgrimage

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
— JRR Tolkien

Here every bird and fish knew its course. Every tree had its own place upon this earth. Only man had lost his way. ― Margaret Craven

We’re not lost. We’re just headed somewhere different.
― Emily X.R. Pan

We all seek for lost things within us. ― Toba Beta

Remember your name. Do not lose hope —what you seek will be found. ― Neil Gaiman

SONGS about BEING LOST and BEING WHERE YOU BELONG:

• Lost by Dermot Kennedy (Celtic): https://youtu.be/oK9wqtAwnoE
• See You Again by Whiz Khalifa (pop/rap): https://youtu.be/RgKAFK5djSk
• Hard Days by Brantley Gilbert (country): https://youtu.be/5A3pPJuAH7s
• Fix You by Coldplay (pop/blues): https://youtu.be/aK3TROzVRiE
• Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park (rock/rap): https://youtu.be/4ZI8AC4AR5A
• Lost by Maroon 5 (pop): https://youtu.be/U05fwua9-D4
• Lost Are Found by Hillsong Worship (Christian): https://youtu.be/ywdaLbIjGaQ
• It’s You I’ve Been Looking For by Lewis Brice (country): https://youtu.be/LS6UTbxAiS0
• Home by Gabrielle Aplin (pop): https://youtu.be/8mVbdjec0pA
• I Lost Myself by Munn (pop): https://youtu.be/QbNEIQvgIdg
• Goodbye by NF (pop): https://youtu.be/EDw_d2_HKcA
• Lost & Lonely by Aaron Lewis (country): https://youtu.be/t5THbA_MLLc
• Lost Without You by Nightcore (pop): https://youtu.be/JRVZVMsUROo

BLESSING — Jan Richardson

You hardly knew
how hungry you were
to be gathered in,
to receive the welcome
that invited you to enter
entirely…
Tentative steps
became settling in…
You began to breathe again…
You learned to sing.

But the deal with this blessing
is that it will not leave you alone,
will not let you linger…
this blessing
will ask you to leave,
not because it has tired of you
but because it desires for you
to become the sanctuary
that you have found…

I Want to Thank the Wind Blows — Alli Warren 
Sound of the rain so I knowthere’s constraintsound of  the trainso I know commercehas not come to a standstillnow they raise the barriernow they set it back in place What coats the bottomof  the surface of  the soundwhen the swifts come inwhen the clerks come homewho will bathe the childrenwho will bake the bread when the luff is tightwhen the mainsheetstarts the boat underway whatever you do don’tlet the tongue slipfrom its moorings what’s that song?love lift us up where we belong I ate the pilland the pill was real

I Belong Here —  Ray Gonzalez 
There is no act of forgiveness,only the redeeming light onthe shoulders dancing intall weeds, cigarettes goneand the girls slapping free. The tortilla cart burns againstthe wall because Jesus calledmy brother who was acquiredby whistling gangs of menunder the hanging arch. There can be no night withoutthe wind on shoulders exhaustedby games and messages my brotherlost between the darkness andthe bridge into Juarez, Mexico, where no crows caw becausethe buildings are torn andflashlights are narrow intheir beaming stumble,my thoughts the last oneson this side of the river, my sudden happiness hiddenin celestial light without beingappalled at what I see, my earsto the ground listening to weedsoverrun by boys who can’t spelland are waiting for me withoutknowing pilgrims are on the border. Whatever kills them spares methe journey to beg for purityamong unspoken Spanisheveryone fears in their greed.The group doesn’t know it iswhat the river stones teach,though I can’t speak of them because faith is prehistoric andmy brother is pursued by duststorms that erase his footprintsacross the back roads where heloses his language of need.

ON BEING LOST

Lost is a lovely place to find yourself. ― Michael Faudet

Maybe family were the people who came looking for you when you were lost. ― Vikki Wakefield

I’m not sure this is a world I belong in anymore. I’m not sure that I want to wake up. ― Gayle Forman

In this world, it is too common for people to search for someone to lose themselves in. But I am already lost. I will look for someone to find myself in. ― C. JoyBell C

If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant, or weak, return to yourself, to who you are, here and now and when you get there, you will discover yourself, like a lotus flower in full bloom, even in a muddy pond, beautiful and strong. ― Masaru Emoto

Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost. ― Erol Ozan 

Getting lost is just another way of saying ‘going exploring. ― Justina Chen Headley

I realise now that I wanted to disappear. To get so lost that nobody ever found me. To go so far away that I’d never be able to make my way home again. ― Jessica Warman

I Think it is lost…..but nothing is ever lost nor can be lost .
The body sluggish, aged, cold, the ember left from earlier fires
shall duly flame again. ― Walt Whitman 

First I lost my heart. Then I lost my mind. ― Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Slowly, with many lost days, I come back to life. ― Suzanne Collins

Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong anywhere, & it’s gonna take so long for me to get to somewhere, Sometimes I feel so heavy hearted, but I can’t explain cuz I’m so guarded. But that’s a lonely road to travel, and a heavy load to bear. And it’s a long, long way to heaven but I gotta get there
Can you send an angel
Can you send me an angel…to guide me?
― Alicia Keys

APPLY WITHIN — Suzy Kassem 

You once told me
You wanted to find
Yourself in the world –
And I told you to
First apply within,
To discover the world
within you.

You once told me
You wanted to save
The world from all its wars –
And I told you to
First save yourself
From the world,
And all the wars
You put yourself
Through.