“As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done.”—Rosa Parks
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on this island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”—Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Verse of the day
As far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.
– Psalm 103:12
Voice of the day
Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.
– Bryan Stevenson, “Just Mercy” (2014)
Prayer of the day
God of new beginnings, thank you for removing our sins and reminding us we are so much more than them.
“It is an unpatriotic lie that we as a nation are based in individualism. The Constitution underscores the fact that we are rooted and raised in a communal society and that we each have a responsibility to build up the whole. The Preamble to the Constitution could not be any clearer: ‘We the People’ are called to ‘form a more perfect Union.’”—Simone Campbell with David Gibson, A Nun on the Bus: How All of Us Can Create Hope, Change, and Community
“For the planet and for all living beings to move forward, we can rely on nothing less than an inherent original goodness and a universally shared dignity. Only then can we build, because the foundation is strong and is itself good. . . The best criticism of the bad is still the practice of the better. Oppositional energy only creates more of the same. All problem solving must first be guided by a positive and overarching vision.”—Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe
“Every time that you remain silent in the face of injustice just know that someone else is raising their voice or have raised their voices so that you can enjoy the privileges that you have, someone chose to be vulnerable so that you can access the privileges that you enjoy.”—Marcia Ranglin-Vassell
“The call of the Prophet [is] to see the divine presence in every single person and to bring our loving gaze upon those who are on the edges of society.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Orphan, Fool, Sovereign, Prophet: Creating New Beginnings in Times of Unraveling – A Self-Study, Online Retreat
What are some of the ways of being that help you to live in resistance to all that devalues and destroys life?
Verse of the day
If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
– James 2:15-17
Voice of the day
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home.
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Prayer of the day
God, help us show love through action, starting close to home, so our faith is alive and just.
“Remembering that we’re part of a community of hundreds of thousands strong is a huge source of hope and strength. The road ahead is long. Together, we will reject a status quo that feeds, grows off, and promises more devastating violence—and use our commitment to one another as the foundation to build the more peaceful world we want and deserve.”—Sara, staff member of Win Without War
Verse of the day
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
– Ephesians 4:4-6
Voice of the day
Our hopes for a more just, safe, and peaceful world can only be achieved when there is universal respect for the inherent dignity and equal rights of all members of the human family.
– Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Prayer of the day
God of all, help us to live into the truth that we are one body, called to embody your justice, peace, and respect for the dignity and equal worth of every member of the human family.
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 