Verse of the day
Do not envy the violent, and do not choose any of their ways, for the perverse are an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence.
– Proverbs 3:31-32
Voice of the day
I grant you refuge in knowing / that the dust will clear, / and they who fell in love and died together / will one day laugh.
– Hiba Abu Nada, “I Grant You Refuge”
Prayer of the day
God of the displaced, may your heart ever-united with their sorrow guide an outcry against violence.
Verse of the day
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
– 2 Corinthians 3:18
Voice of the day
Dear brother, dear sister, to God, who changed history in the course of a census, you are not a number but a face. Your name is written on God’s heart.
– Pope Francis
Prayer of the day
God who calls us by name, encourage us to walk in solidarity alongside our community, knowing and treasuring their faces as much as you do ours.
Sometimes we feel so much fear and anxiety, and identify so closely with our suffering, that our pain masks the questions. Once pain or confusion is framed or articulated by a question, it must be lived rather than answered. The first task of seeking guidance then is to touch your own struggles, doubts, and insecurities – in short, to affirm your life as a quest. Your life, my life, is given graciously by God. Our lives are not problems to be solved but journeys to be taken with Jesus as our friend and finest guide.
“To see the holiness, to see the synchronicities, to see all the messages, to see all the beauty that goes so often overlooked in the rush of our days is an invitation to slow down and see in a different way.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Virtual Celtic Pilgrimage: The Wisdom of the Irish Saints Brigid, Ciaran, and Gobnait — A Self-Study Online Retreat
What do you see when you slow down?
Verse of the day
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
– John 8:12
Voice of the day
It is very important, friends, not to think of the soul as dark. We are conditioned to perceive only external light. We forget that there is such a thing as inner light, illuminating our soul.
– St. Teresa of Avila, “The Interior Castle” (1577)
Prayer of the day
Everlasting Light, when we are overwhelmed by the world’s darkness, enlighten us to the ways we can combat it, both in our surroundings and within ourselves.
“Each person, human or no, is bound to every other in a reciprocal relationship. Just as all beings have a duty to me, I have a duty to them. If an animal gives its life to feed me, I am in turn bound to support its life. If I receive a stream’s gift of pure water, then I am responsible for returning a gift in kind. An integral part of a human’s education is to know those duties and how to perform them.”—Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
Verse of the day
For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power.
– 1 Corinthians 4:20
Voice of the day
Power is not brute force and money; power is in your spirit. Power is in your soul. It is what your ancestors, your old people gave you. Power is in the earth; it is in your relationship to the earth.
– Winona LaDuke
Prayer of the day
Ingrain a true sense of what should empower us as we face every day.
Verse of the day
Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
– Romans 12:10
Voice of the day
Leaving no one behind means giving way for the most vulnerable segments of society to move from the back of the line to the front, so they can lead.
– Eddie Ndopu
Prayer of the day
God of the oppressed, may those who are usually left unheard be honored and at the forefront of discerning what a better reality truly means.
“In a nonviolent struggle, it’s not a, ‘me against you.’ It’s how do we join forces together to make things better, to back away from unnecessary suffering?”—Michael Nagler, The Nonviolent Moment
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