“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”—Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Verse of the day
Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another.
– Proverbs 27:17
Voice of the day
When you hear stories from people like you, you feel less alone. When you feel less alone, and like you have a community of people behind you, alongside you, I believe you can live a better life.
– Tommy Orange, There There (2018)
Prayer of the day Lord, kindle in my heart a flame of love to my neighbor, to my enemies, my friends, my kindred all.
– Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals
Just what is grace? In this day and age I believe that many have lost the sense of what grace is and how it transforms lives. Grace is far more than a “get out of jail free card” or a magic wand. Isn’t it perhaps an invitation into a deeper relationship with ourselves, with God, and with neighbor? The following quote from Thomas Merton has given me much to ponder and so I share it with you dear reader. Perhaps we can deepen that relationship with God, ourselves, and our neighbors in a time filled with so much division.
Grace is not a strange, magic substance which is subtly filtered into our souls to act as a kind of spiritual penicillin. Grace is unity, oneness within ourselves, oneness with God. Grace is the peace of friendship with God and if it does not necessarily bring us a felt peace, it nevertheless gives us every reason to be at peace, if we could only understand and appreciate what it means. Grace means that there is no opposition between man and God, and that man is able to be sufficiently united within himself to live without opposition to God. Grace is friendship with God. — Thomas Merton in The New Man
“I would rather be a man of conviction than a man of conformity. Occasionally in life one develops a conviction so precious and meaningful that he will stand on it till the end. That is what I have found in nonviolence.”—Martin Luther King Jr.
Verse of the day
They profess to know God, but they deny [God] by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
– Titus 1:16
Voice of the day
If you walk through life and don’t help anybody, you haven’t had much of a life.
– Fred Hampton
Prayer of the day May I live a life full of action. May I obey your call to help.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a busy day for virtual clinic visits for me and with my dad
It has also been a good day of ministry
A time of prayer and reflection
It has also been a time of remembering family who are no longer with us physically
I am thankful for the memories and the gifts they gave to us
As Sister Moon crosses the sky and as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“How exactly to act in particular situations is a matter of waiting on God. The answer comes straight in response to prayer from the heart. Such prayer carries with it the anguish of the soul.”—Gandhi
Verse of the day
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
– 1 Corinthians 13:2
Voice of the day
Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle.
– Fred Rogers, Wisdom from the World According to Mister Rogers (2003)
Prayer of the day Guide me as I act on the imperative to love.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a busy and rewarding day of ministry
It has also been a wonderful day to meet with colleagues via Zoom
It has also been a day where I am humbled to walk with a dear friend
To walk through The Valley of the Shadows
To seek light where darkness at times overwhelms
Even in the most difficult of times and places
You walk with and comfort us
With a full heart my prayers continue into the night
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Verse of the day
[God] will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.
– Psalm 37:6
Voice of the day
You might as well answer the door, my child, the truth is furiously knocking.
– Lucille Clifton
Prayer of the day May I answer the door to the shining rays of truth.
