“Summer Solstice announces the time for full fruits and an extravagance of colour and sweetness in the world around us. Let your breath draw your awareness down to your heart centre, the place where the mystics tell us the living flame of love dwells within us.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Sacred Seasons: A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year — A Self-Study, Online Retreat
Spend some time in meditation on what your own passions are. What would you like to kindle? Where have been the sparks of joy in your life?
Verse of the day
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
– Isaiah 32:16-17
Voice of the day
Peace is not the absence of war or struggle, it is the presence of justice.
– Ella Baker
Prayer of the day
True God, remind us that justice is an inescapable prerequisite for any conversation addressing peace.
Radiant One,
creator of the cosmos
and the luminaries which light our way,
bless this day of longest light
and the gift of the sun
to bring warmth to our lives
and abundance of growth,
sweetness of blueberries,
refreshment of lemons,
nourishment of kale
and a thousand other kinds of food.
We sing in gratitude
along with the sparrows and robins
rising each morning
to celebrate another day.
Help us remember
the universe came into being
14 billion years ago,
with ancient skies unfurling,
stars spilling across the heavens,
and manifesting in every living thing.
Light is our inheritance,
calling us to be bearers of radiance,
bringing new life
from the fertile darkness.
~Christine Valters Paintner, A Book of Everyday Blessings (Ave Maria Press)
When we come in touch with the first love we come in touch with the center of our being where we feel totally loved without condition or limits. When we come in touch with the first love we are free to love people without asking for anything in return. — Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety
“Howard Thurman was an American writer, teacher, philosopher, theologian, and civil rights leader whose radical nonviolence approach was influential to countless social justice movements. . . An author of over twenty books, Howard Thurman continues to be a major influence of contemplative practice and social justice.”
—Abbey of the Arts, Dancing Monk Feast Days: Reflections, Creative Invitations, and Prayers
What sustains or inspires your commitment to working for justice in the world?
I am thankful for Thurman’s presence in my life as a theologian and mentor. I am also grateful for his presence in the world of Christine Valters Paintner and the Abbey of the Arts 💖💚☘️
Verse of the day
Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been seen and understood through the things God has made. So they are without excuse, for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless hearts were darkened.
– Romans 1:20-21
Voice of the day
I found that this promise of freedom is only as strong as those who chose to uphold it. The question is, will you rise to the occasion, or will you stand still as history passes you by?
– Opal Lee
Prayer of the day
Christ the Liberator, you know truth is healing as much as it is hard-won. Do not let us turn a blind eye to how much left there is to be done.
Verse of the day
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.
– Matthew 12:50
Voice of the day
Joy is the mostly invisible, the underground union between us, you and me, which is, among other things, the great fact of our life and the lives of everyone and thing we love going away.
– Ross Gay, The Book of Delights: Essays(2019)
Prayer of the day
God who is perceived through relationships, challenge the boundaries between meaningful connections so we may embrace each other as kin.
Verse of the day
What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.
– 1 Corinthians 14:15
Voice of the day
Now let your soul run the whole gamut of the wondrous scale / Until, responsive to the tonic chord, / It touches the diapason of God’s grand cathedral organ, / Filling earth for you with heavenly peace / And holy harmonies.
– James Weldon Johnson, “Deep in the Quiet Wood”
Prayer of the day
God of David, you cover the earth with music and melodies that call us higher. Fill our souls and minds with an enduring will to be better.
Jesus is the host who wants to gather us around the table, the Good Shepherd who invites his people to a table where the cup is overflowing (Ps. 23). This is not a stern, harsh Lord, but the lamb of God who says, “Come into my home.” We can read the whole Bible with this image in mind. God is continually inviting us to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life (Ps. 27:4). The Lord wants to be our home. — A Spirituality of Homecoming
The Day Exhales (excerpt)
As the sky darkens,
a doorway opens into
another way of being.
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, What Enters Through the Open Heart: Poems
What is the threshold of day into night offering you?
Join us for a book launch celebration in October!
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