Verse of the day
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
– 2 Thessalonians 3:5
Voice of the day
Love is not a weak, spineless emotion; it is a powerful, moral force on the side of justice.
– Bernice A. King
Prayer of the day May I wholeheartedly abide by the forces of morality and justice.
“In the 21st century, we must have bold nonviolent movements that make all we did in the 20th century look anemic. If we don’t create these sustained creative campaigns humanity may not be able to sustain itself.”—Rev. James Lawson
“No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise.”—Marian Anderson
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”—Elie Wiesel
“Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.”—Bertrand Russell
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a busy day of work with my sweetheart
Trips to the recycle center and thrift store as she sorts through her dad’s estate
Sorting through memories and sharing stories
This has been a long process for my sweetheart (nine weeks and counting)
It has been good to spend the time helping and supporting her
It has also been a day of prayer and reflection
As Thomas Merton said in his book, No Man Is An Island—In Silence, God ceases to be an object and becomes an experience.
May this experience continue to be a blessing dear Lord
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…
“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.
