New Name (excerpt)
I am becoming
a new version of myself
and I whisper back to the woman I was:
do not be afraid
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, What Enters Through the Open Heart: Poems
What do you want to whisper to who you were before?
Join us for a book launch celebrationOctober 19th!
Freedom is the core of the spiritual life. It comes from claiming in your heart that unconditional first love that allows you to love your neighbors freely and unpossessively. Jesus shares this word of hope in our world full of violence – violence in our families, in our communities. In our personal relationships, a moral life is not enough. We must also live the mystical life, a life which is embraced by the God who says, “I love you fully and unconditionally.” — The Road to Peace: Writings on Peace and Justice
Reflection Question: In what ways do you live a mystical life?
To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. – Mark 12: 33
Verse of the day
“In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
– Acts 20:35
Voice of the day
If I can help somebody as I travel along / If I can help somebody in a word or a song / If I can help somebody from doing wrong / No, my living shall not be in vain
– Mahalia Jackson, “If I Can Help Somebody” (1964)
Prayer of the day
God who is seen through the world’s helpers, allow us to perceive all the ways our help can manifest and be a balm.
Verse of the day
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
– Isaiah 11:9
Voice of the day
If we allow sacred places to be destroyed for profit, we are saying that nothing is truly sacred. We are losing something essential about our humanity—our ability to respect Mother Earth, to honor what is holy, and to live in balance with the world around us.
– Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr.
Prayer of the day
May we recognize places where your creation sings as holy ground and champion their right to thrive.
Verse of the day
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
– Proverbs 31:26
Voice of the day
They said she’d never see the day / We’d equal up to them / But here we are, we’ve come so far / I guess we sure showed them
– Dolly Parton, “19th Amendment” (2018)
Prayer of the day
God who regards everyone in the fullness of their being, empower us to recognize the good in each other.
Verse of the day
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
– Psalm 89:14
Voice of the day
Bone-deep love calls us to live our lives out of the possibilities found in wholeness, self-reflection, justice, peace, a new heaven and a new earth, hope and not our shortcomings—that rest on greed, self-centeredness, avarice, coveting, despair.
– Emilie M. Townes
Prayer of the day
Holy One, show us how to remain anchored to a love unafraid to challenge and correct so we do not succumb to uninspired spitefulness.
A sermon about retaining our cognitive sovereignty in the face of those in power manipulating the present to change the past, springing from the most…
Who Did Not Know Joseph
Verse of the day
Jesus said to him, “If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes.
– Mark 9:23
Voice of the day
The world does not need the church to talk about what is already possible. The work of the church is to battle the world’s definition of what is believable and unbelievable.
– Walter Brueggemann, A Gospel of Hope(2018)
Prayer of the day
God of interdependence, show your people the vast realm of possibilities for a just future that awaits us, if only we believe.
A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don’t bother anyone, that’s the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in. — The Violence of Love, p. 44 (Kindle Edition)
We must overturn so many idols, the idol of self first of all, so that we can be humble, and only from our humility can learn to be redeemers, can learn to work together in the way the world really needs. Liberation that raises a cry against others is no true liberation. Liberation that means revolutions of hate and violence and takes the lives of others or abases the dignity of others cannot be true liberty. True liberty does violence to self and, like Christ, who disregarded that he was sovereign, becomes a slave to serve others. — The Violence of Love, pp. 39-40 (Kindle Edition)
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