We need to hear these prophetic words from Thomas Merton today. Once more, his words, written in the mid-1960’s are profoundly relevant as events in the United States continue to reveal the warped views of this administration and the criminal actions of DHS and ICE against both citizens and undocumented residents of this country. This insanity has to stop! Here is Merton’s challenge to us today:
In this most critical moment of history we have a twofold task. It is a task in which the whole race is to some degree involved. But the greatest responsibility of all rests upon the citizens of the great power blocs which hold the fate of other nations in their hands.
On one hand we have to defend and foster the highest human values: the right of man to live freely and develop his life in a way worthy of his moral greatness. On the other hand we have to protect man against the criminal abuse of the enormous destructive power which he has acquired. To the American and Western European, this twofold task seems reducible in practice to a struggle against totalitarian dictatorship and against war. — Seeds of Destruction (location 950ff — Kindle Edition)
Verse of the day
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
– Philippians 4:8
Voice of the day
I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth — and truth rewarded me.
– Simone de Beauvoir
Prayer of the day
True God, allow us to proclaim honest expressions of reality, no matter what truths we may unearth.
A good friend and colleague in ministry shared a quote by Howard Thurman on her Facebook page. It is found in an article that he wrote in 1946 titled The Fascist Masquerade. In this article he addresses topics such as Christian Nationalism, Americanism, the KKK, fascism in WW2 Europe, and anti-semitism. Thurman wrote the following in a letter to his friend, Ruth Smith, in April of 1946. “I have just completed an essay on the ‘Fascist Masquerade’ which marks my venturing into a brand new field of creative expression,” Thurman wrote his friend, Ruth Smith, in April 1946. “I shall let you know what becomes of it.”
These words are prophetically relevant today as they were when he wrote them They spoke to me of the challenges we face in this country today as I watch the ongoing dismantling of democracy here and is well worth the time to read and study.
It is to the utter condemnation of the Church that large groups of believers all over the United States have stood, and, at present, stand on the side of a theory of inequality among humans that causes the Church to practice in its own body some of the most vicious forms of racial prejudice. It often affirms separateness solely on the basis of race, which separateness it insists upon in worship, in organization and even in its graveyards….
The bitter truth is that the Church has permitted the various hate-inspired groups in our common life to establish squatter’s rights in the minds of believers because there has been no adequate teaching of the meaning of the faith in terms of human dignity and human worth.
“The heart of healing work is transformation—transforming pain, wounds, self-imposed limitations, grief and loss, and discovering within them a gift or grace. The process of healing takes time, a lifetime really. Many of our issues will return again and again. This is where conversion reminds us that we are never done.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
What healing work are you presently engaged in as you move towards the next stage of your inner transformation?
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Verse of the day
Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
– 1 Timothy 6:12
Voice of the day
In a world built on violence, one must be a revolutionary before one can be a pacifist.
– A. J. Muste
Prayer of the day
Defender of life, fill us with the resolve to fight against unjust laws and practices rather than conforming to or normalizing them.
Verse of the day
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
– Isaiah 55:8-9
Voice of the day
She was seeking confirmation of the voice and vision, and everywhere she found and acknowledged answers. A personal answer for all other creations except herself. She felt an answer seeking her, but where? When? How?
– Zora Neale Hurston, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” (1937)
Prayer of the day
Whenever we are buried in the weeds of uncertainty, reassure us that you are at work regardless of how well we perceive your ways.
The movement from loneliness to solitude should lead to a gradual conversion from an anxious reaction to a loving response. Loneliness leads to quick, often spastic, reactions which make us prisoners of our constantly changing world. But in solitude of heart, we can listen to the events of the hour, the day and the year and slowly “formulate,” give form to, a response that is really our own. In solitude, we can pay careful attention to the world and search for an honest response. (From: Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life)
Verse of the day
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will die by the sword.”
– Matthew 26:52
Voice of the day
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. You cannot subjugate a nation forcibly unless you wipe out every man, woman, and child. Unless you wish to use such drastic measures, you must find a way of settling your disputes without resort to arms.
– Albert Einstein
Prayer of the day
God, urge our world to adopt a culture of understanding rather than warmongering and domination.
Verse of the day
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
– Psalm 27:13
Voice of the day
Any time we try to envision a different world—without poverty, prisons, capitalism, war—we are engaging in science fiction. When we can dream those realities together, that’s when we can begin to build them right here and now.
– Walidah Imarisha
Prayer of the day
Wonderful Counselor, give us the fortitude to bring about the better world that you envision alongside us.
Instead of feeding the hungry, we destroy the fields that produce the food; instead of clothing the naked, we bomb factories that produce clothing; instead of giving drink to the thirsty, we bomb reservoirs. In war, the enemy is dehumanized and is no longer seen as a child of God. — Eileen Egan (PAX Christi USA)
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