“I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
And, because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
“A pilgrimage is a special kind of journey, one taken to a holy place with the hope for an encounter with the sacred and the intention of being changed by what happens there and along the way. We don’t go on pilgrimages to return the same person.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, The Love of Thousands: How Angels, Saints, and Ancestors Walk with Us Toward Holiness
What inner or outer pilgrimage have you taken? In what ways did the experience change you?
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We have to realize that in the spiritual life there is something very different going on from what the world teaches us. We are surrounded by voices telling us that we have to have worldly success, but Jesus is saying, “Go with me to where the poor are, to where the broken are, and there you will find joy. Happy are the poor, happy are the mourning, happy are those who are persecuted. Joyful are the poor, those who are making peace, and those who are persecuted.” The whole thing is upside down, because in the eyes of God the joy is hidden right in the center of the sorrow.
“Peace is always beautiful.”—Walt Whitman
Verse of the day
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
– Job 4:8
Voice of the day
I have been locked by the lawless. / Handcuffed by the haters. / Gagged by the greedy. / And, if I know any thing at all, / it’s that a wall is just a wall / and nothing more at all. / It can be broken down.
– Assata Shakur, “Affirmation”
Prayer of the day
When the world’s wrongdoings seem vast and insurmountable, remind us that paired with your unfailing help, our attempts can begin to overcome them.
“All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men* do nothing.”—Edmund Burke
Verse of the day
Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
– 1 Peter 3:8
Voice of the day
True community is based upon equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. It affirms the richness of individual diversity as well as the common human ties that bind us together.
– Pauli Murray
Prayer of the day
God, bring us to a place of mutual understanding and care, so that our sincere efforts lead to the common good.
Verse of the day
Speak out; judge righteously; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
– Proverbs 31:9
Voice of the day
Words have more power than any one can guess; it is by words that the world’s great fight, now in these civilized times, is carried on; I never hesitated to use them, when I fought any battle for the miserable and oppressed.
– Mary Shelley, “Lodore” (1835)
Prayer of the day
Righteous God, may your deep desire for justice be made evident through our words and our actions.
“Pilgrim God, you beckon us to the threshold of our lives. Walk with us step-by-step as we venture ever closer to the wild edges of land and spirit. Open our hearts to the creative wisdom and fertility in and all around us.”
—Melinda Emily Thomas, Virtual Celtic Pilgrimage: The Wisdom of Saints Colman, Sourney, and Patrick — A Self-Study, Online Retreat
What are your wild edges, and what wisdom does that wild offer you?
Verse of the day
People were bringing children to him in order that he might touch them, and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.
– Mark 10:13-14
Voice of the day
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.
– Nelson Mandela
Prayer of the day
Beloved God, children cannot help but mirror your closeness to them. Help us keep that at the front of our minds as we fight to uphold their rights.
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