Verse of the day
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
– Psalm 119:105
Voice of the day
Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail. When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength and conviction, the only thing that can stop you is you!
– Ruby Bridges
Prayer of the day
Jesus, you are the one who lights our path. As we start new trails for ourselves and those who will follow us, give us courage and strength.
Verse of the day
Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.
– Philippians 2:3-4
Voice of the day
I’m fundamentally a hopeful person, because I know that decisions made the world as it is and that better decisions can change it. Nothing about our situation is inevitable or immutable, but you can’t solve a problem with the consciousness that created it.
– Heather McGhee, “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together” (2021)
Prayer of the day
Lord, we make decisions every day that affect others. Help us to consider the needs of others as we pursue better decisions for the sake of the world.
Verse of the day
Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
– Daniel 12:3
Voice of the day
Just like moons and like suns, /
With the certainty of tides, /
Just like hopes springing high, /
Still I’ll rise.
– Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise”
Prayer of the day
God of the moon and stars, help us rise above divisiveness and hate. As we rise, let us lead the way for others to rise alongside us.
We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread…even with a crust, where there is companionship. We have all known the long loneliness, and we know that love comes with community. — Dorothy Day in the postscript to her autobiography, The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist which is also found in Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and the Greatest Commandment: Radical Love in Times of Crisis, p. 190.
“Listening was an essential skill for the Peace Force. The work of peace required the ability to pay attention in a deep way, to not interrupt, and to hear what was said and left unsaid.”—Rivera Sun, The Crown of Light
Verse of the day
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
– Matthew 5:6
Voice of the day
But none of us can be erased if we refuse it. The idea of love, justice, and freedom do not belong to the powerful alone. It also belongs to us.
– Danté Stewart
Prayer of the day
Lord, bless us as we work to bring your words of love, justice, and freedom into all the world.
Verse of the day
“Take action, for it is your duty, and we are with you; be strong, and do it.”
– Ezra 10:4
Voice of the day
Sometimes we are blessed with being able to choose the time and the arena and the manner of our revolution, but more usually we must do battle wherever we are standing.
– Audre Lorde, “A Burst of Light” 1988
Prayer of the day
Creator, you have made us with a purpose. Give us wisdom to know where our battles are, and be with us as we take action.
On January 31, 1960, Thomas Merton wrote the following in his journal. He was in a reflective mood on his birthday.
Why was I always half-convinced I would die young? Perhaps a kind of superstition—the fear of admitting a hope of life which, if admitted, might have to be dashed. But now “I have lived” a fair span of life and, whether or not the fact be important, nothing can alter it. It is certain, infallible—even though that too is only a kind of dream. If I don’t make it to sixty-five, it matters less. I can relax. But life is a gift I am glad of, and I do not curse the day when I was born. On the contrary, if I had never been born I would never have had friends to love and be loved by, never have made mistakes to learn from, never have seen new countries, and, as for what I may have suffered, it is inconsequential and indeed part of the great good which life has been and will, I hope, continue to be. January 31, 1960, A Search for Solitude: Pursuing the Monk’s True LifeThe Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 3: 1952-1960 pp. 372–73
The comment, life is a gift I am glad of, speaks to my heart as I continue to embrace this next step in my own journey. Twice retired, preparing to move to our “forever home,” and contemplating the past almost 64 years of life; I too am grateful for this gift. Yes, life has had its challenges, its ups and downs; but it has also had countless blessings too.
It’s hard to believe that he died a month before his 54th birthday. He was taken from this world far too soon but the legacy of writings, photographs, and recordings he left behind have been a blessing to me and to so many others. While one can mourn the fact that he died so young, one can also celebrate the life that he lived.
Today he has given me an opportunity to remember, reflect, and give thanks for my own life. Thank for your invitation to reflect on my own life on your birthday, Thomas Merton.
Verse of the day
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
– Psalm 27:13-14
Voice of the day
We need to know something of God’s justice — something of God’s mercy — in the land of the living.
– Rachael Clinton Chen, “What Is Spiritual Abuse? And How Do We Heal From It?”
Prayer of the day
God, let us know your justice and mercy. We wait on you today.
Verse of the day
For our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
– Ephesians 6:12
Voice of the day
I don’t do anything in order to cause trouble. It just so happens that what I do naturally causes trouble. And that’s fine with me. I’m proud to be a troublemaker.
– Sinéad O’Connor
Prayer of the day
May we be troublemakers, ones who upturn systems of darkness and usher in your great light.
