There are days I feel as if the world is on a rollercoaster that has somehow gone off the rails and is just hurtling through space. Clearly, I am not the only one! There are posts, commentaries, and concerns on social media from a wide range of people in this region, and many of these posts are focused on how to cope in such troubling times. The first thing to remember is that we are not alone. The rest of the world is making the same comments (although often far less politely because we here in the Monadnock Region still hold to the old values of listening and observing thoughtfully), the same concerns, and the same needs for help and direction. We all want to make it through the current crises and come out better at the other end.

Purposeful selection of a belief system is frequently the beginning of our exploration toward finding a way to feel better and survive well. In my searches for my own self-support, I first turned to Bev Aron’s book “The Art of Believing on Purpose: Life Changing Reflections.” I have found that it can start a reader on that expedition for personal growth. Aron, a life coach, begins by asking three questions:

■How do I believe, on purpose, to create the results I want?

■How do I start?

■How exactly can I do this?

Once these questions are used as a focus, the next step is to decide how to read the book. Most books are a cover-to-cover experience, but that is not necessary in this case. Rather, Aron’s format allows a reader to choose an individual selection that applies to one’s present moment, or even just read a single reflection – perhaps as a journal prompt.

The goal of this book is to help readers purposefully focus on moments that happen every day, moments that will uplift us, provide us peace, and eventually inspire us to begin exploring the wisdom that is in all of us. Readers are encouraged to look at the ordinary from a different perspective and then take that first step along a different path. In many ways it encourages our spiritual growth.

I feel that this region has many very spiritual people, who engage in an exploration using a wide variety of sources for inspiration and comfort. In my own spiritual search, I try to explore numerous religions for the astuteness of their teachings. My newest reading is, “Wisdom to Heal the Earth: Meditations and Teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson” by Tzvi Freeman. Again, this is not necessarily a book to read from cover to cover. The Rebbe was a brilliant, deep thinker who spoke to many important points. He was so highly thought of in America that on his 76th birthday the United States Congress proclaimed his birthday “Education Day, USA,” and subsequently awarded him the National Scroll of Honor. In 1995, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his “outstanding and lasting contributions.” At last, many of these contributions have been compiled into this book by Freeman.

The philosophy underlying all of the Rebbe’s teaching is how to bring various religious writings to everyone in ways that provide practical applications to guide us all through turbulent times. Each page can be read in isolation or as part of a thread of thought on various subjects. For example, the first part of this book contains reflections on repairing and improving the world (the world needs this in my opinion). One of the passages states:

“If you see something that is broken, fix it.

If you cannot fix all of it, fix some of it.

But do not say there is nothing you can do, because, if that were true, why would this broken thing have come into your world? Did the Creator then create something for no reason?” This though can lead a reader along many different paths, and that is the purpose. We can develop our own internal resources by accepting guidance from a wide variety of sources, and I especially like the Rebbe’s references to the full moon. “That a time of smallness is the means to become great, and a time of greatness is a time to become small. That in smallness lies the power to receive, and in receiving lies the power to become great.” We can all spend hours contemplating that passage and become better for it.

The Rebbe (which means “teacher” by the way) was not the only one to reflect on the moon. “The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai” by Ha Jin, also identifies many poems about the moon written by this beloved author that we might know better as Li Po.

Although a biography and designed to be read cover-to-cover, much of the text is devoted to the surviving poetry of this writer born in 701 CE., in China. Li Po was a Daoist who had an unquenchable thirst for life; a continuing journey for a higher, more perfect world, and his poetry reflects this. One of his most celebrated frontier poems focuses on the vastness of his world:

“The Mountain Moon”

The moon rises from Tianshan Mountain,

Sailing in an ocean of clouds,

The wind, tens of thousands of miles long,

Is blowing through the Yumen Pass.

Indeed, we are small, we are great, we are insignificant, we are mighty. Each one of us is so much, and those little sparks of insight keep us in the moment, centered and secure – while we still reach for ways to fix the broken around us. I hope all of my readers take the time to reflect, find ways to continue their journey along life’s path, and fix whatever we can – because that means we are not only making a better tomorrow – it means we also believe there will be a better tomorrow.