Sometimes we have to “step over” our anger, our jealousy, or our feelings of rejection and move on. The temptation is to get stuck in our negative emotions, poking around in them as if we belong there. Then we become the “offended one,” the “forgotten one,” or the “discarded one.” Yes, we can get attached to these negative identities and even take morbid pleasure in them. It might be good to have a look at these dark feelings and explore where they come from, but there comes a moment to step over them, leave them behind, and travel on.
When we contemplate creation rather than manipulating it, we are able to see nature as a gift of God to be cherished and cared for. When we receive in our hearts with gratitude and awe what God has created, we see nature as it truly is – a transcendent reality that asks for reverence and respect. Then it becomes transparent, and life starts to speak a new language, revealing to us the goodness and beauty of God. The plants and animals with whom we live teach us about birth, growth, maturation, and death, about the need for gentle care, and especially about the importance of patience and hope.
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
When the church fails to respond to the literal thirst of our neighbors, it is not just a moral lapse — it is a spiritual crisis.
– Mae Elise Cannon and Ben Norquist, “Lord, When Did We See You Thirsty in Gaza?”
Prayer of the day
God, we lift up the people of Gaza to you, as many endure extreme thirst and hunger caused by human injustice; give us the courage to speak out and respond with compassion and action to their suffering.
“We are not destined to conquer one another by violence and hatred; we are destined to evolve our capacity to care for and protect all living beings.”—Michael N. Nagler, Stephanie N. Van Hook, Nonviolence Daily 365 Days of Inspiration from Gandhi (pg. 329)
Verse of the day
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
– Psalm 90:1–2
Voice of the day
Our time was yesterday and our time is today and our time will be tomorrow. We stand in these spaces not to claim rightness, but to claim wholeness.
– Kaitlin Curtice, “A Shared Vision of Contemplative Activism”
Prayer of the day
Everlasting God, help us stand rooted in your eternal presence to live into the wholeness you created us for.
Verse of the day
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.
– Matthew 23:23
Voice of the day
You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help!
– Esmeralda, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1996)
Prayer of the day
God, keep us from hollow righteousness, and give us the courage to live out true justice, mercy, and faith, especially for those most in need of our care.
Verse of the day
Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.
– Mark 9:37
Voice of the day
All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.
– Harvey Milk
Prayer of the day
God, help us welcome every young person, especially the most vulnerable, with the love, safety, and dignity you call us to offer.
There are crimes which no one would commit as an individual which he willingly and bravely commits when acting in the name of his society, because he has been (too easily) convinced that evil is entirely different when it is done “for the common good.” — Disputed Questions, p. 167, Kindle Edition)
Our mission in the world is the same as it has always been, to build the Kingdom of God, which is a Kingdom of Love. Love cannot exist except between persons. For there to be love, we must first of all safeguard the liberty and integrity of the human person. We must provide an education that strengthens man against the noise, the violence, the slogans and the half-truths of our materialistic society. — Disputed Questions, p. 148 (Kindle version)
Christians can never, with a good conscience, yield to the lure of totalitarianism. Even when a political system promises a strong arm with which to defend the Church, if that arm ends in a mailed fist, and if the “protection” offered is that of a secret police and concentration camps, we cannot accept its protection. — Disputed Questions, p. 148
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