“Wildness says you do not need to fit into the narrowly defined image others think is acceptable. . . The creatures of this earth never think, I will make this journey of the heart once I lose twenty pounds. Birds, fish, and animals live from their bodily nature and instinct and remind us we have that same wisdom available to us.”
–Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, The Wisdom of the Body: A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
What narrow image of yourself can you shed today?
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Verse of the day
Do not, therefore, abandon that boldness of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised.
– Hebrews 10:35-36
Voice of the day
Be a nuisance when it counts. Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action. Be depressed, discouraged, & disappointed at failure & the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption & bad politics — but never give up.
– Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Prayer of the day
God, as we reckon with bad actors, let our boldness be a blessing and our persistence remain steadfast.
Some food for thought in a world filled with fear, hatred, and division. Oh God, make room in our hearts for compassion…
God is making room in my heart for compassion: the awareness that where my life begins is where your life begins; the awareness that the sensitiveness to your needs cannot be separated from the sensitiveness to my needs; the awareness that the joys of my heart are never mine alone—nor are my sorrows. I struggle against the work of God in my heart; I want to be left alone. I want my boundaries to remain fixed, that I may be at rest. But even now as I turn to [God] in the quietness, [God’s] work in me is ever the same.
God is at work enlarging the boundaries of my heart.
Meditations of the Heart, p. 49
War divides; hope unites. Arrogance tramples upon others; love lifts up. Idolatry blinds us; the living God enlightens…. Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! — Reflection at the Vatican Prayer Vigil For Peace
The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society living in illusion, grieve in a society practicing denial, and express hope in a society living in despair. — The Prophetic Imagination
God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.
Verse of the day
Keep alert; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
– 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Voice of the day
When people ask me about what made the biggest difference in my healing, I tell them that I was believed and tremendously loved. I never felt blamed or shamed into silence.
– Aishah Shahidah Simmons
Prayer of the day
Beloved Counselor, ready our hearts to hear the hurts of our siblings. Bolster the urge to help remedy them.
Verse of the day
For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
– Zephaniah 3:12
Voice of the day
Humility is not a matter of self-effacement and self-negation but of being open always to new ways of being responsible.
– Ada María Isasi-Díaz, En La Lucha/In The Struggle: A Hispanic Women’s Liberation Theology (1996)
Prayer of the day
Almighty One, may we adopt a posture of humility not out of shame, but to work toward responsibility and understanding for one another.
Some food for thought in the midst of this world crisis that US “leadership” (I use that term loosely) has created.
Our weapons dictate what we are to do. They force us into corners. They give us our living, they sustain our economy, they bolster up our politicians, they sell our mass media, in short we live by them. But if they continue to rule us we will also most surely die by them. For they have now made it plain that they are the friends of the “preemptive first strike.” They are most advantageous to those who use them first. And consequently nobody wants to be found dead using them second. Hence the weapons keep us in a state of fury and desperation, with our fingers poised over the button and our eyes glued on the radar screen. You know what happens when you keep your eye fixed on something. You begin to see things that aren’t there. — Seeds of Destruction, pp. 265-266 (New Year, 1962)
Merton was writing in the context of the Cold War and little did he know that the USSR and US would stand off in the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 16-29, 1962) before the end of the year. Or perhaps he saw it as an inevitable consequence of the madness that was the Cold War.
Once again we find ourselves here… Lord have mercy on us all.
“[R]esisting empire begins in imagination. It’s daring to dream of a reality entirely brand new: disrupted, shaken, free.”
–Kat Armas, Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World our Lift Every Voice Book Club selection for March and April
What restricts your ability to imagine a different reality? What frees and strengthens your dreaming muscles?
Read or view our conversation with the author here.
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