“War is an absolute failure of imagination, scientific and political.”—Adrienne Rich
As I spent some time with Sister Moon tonight, I pondered all that is going on in this nation and world… the hatred, the fear, the violence… As I sat in the stillness I found myself thinking about Jesus’ command to love our neighbor (yes that includes our enemies) and this quote from Thomas Merton came to mind.
The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them. (No Man Is an Island p. 168)
We could learn a lot by simply being still and listening to the gentle whisper of God’s call to love.
Verse of the day
Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
– John 6:10-11
Voice of the day
[Christ] seems to have come to carry religion out of the temples into the fields and sheep pastures, onto the roadsides and the banks of the rivers, into the houses of sinners and publicans, into the town and the wilderness, toward the membership of all that is here.
– Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow (2000)
Prayer of the day
Jesus, you meet us where we are. Help us have an active faith, one that goes out and is evident in the world.
“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”—Rachel Carson
It is central in the biblical tradition that God’s love for his people should not be forgotten. It should remain with us in the present. When everything is dark, when we are surrounded by despairing voices, when we do not see any exits, then we can find salvation in a remembered love, a love that is not simply a wistful recollection of a bygone past but a living force that sustains us in the present. Through memory, love transcends the limits of time and offers hope at any moment of our lives.
One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better. — Daniel Berrigan
“I am convinced that peace is no more than an empty word unless it is founded on truth, built up in justice, animated and perfected by charity, and attained in freedom.”—Pope Francis, Against War: Building a Culture of Peace
Verse of the day
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos; he formed it to be inhabited!): I am the Lord, and there is no other.
– Isaiah 45:18
Voice of the day
Mother Earth is the oldest ancestor; she knows our story as peoples and has witnessed our transformation.
– Sandy Ovalle Martínez, “Embracing Ancestral Wisdom to Fight Extreme Weather”
Prayer of the day
Creator, you have formed the earth, and blessed us to inhabit it. Help us to learn from Mother Earth and care for her as she cares for us.
“The closest most folks can come to talking about class in this nation is to talk about money. For so long everyone has wanted to hold on to the belief that the United States is a class-free society—that anyone who works hard enough can make it to the top. Few people stop to think that in a class-free society there would be no top.”—bell hooks, where we stand: class matters
Verse of the day
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
– Psalm 147:3
Voice of the day
So on this meaningful morn, we mourn and we mend. /
Like light, we can’t be broken, even when we bend.
– Amanda Gorman, “The Miracle of Morning”
Prayer of the day
God, you are with us in our mourning. Bind up our wounds and heal our broken hearts.
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