Monday, January 31, 2011

To be free


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. 

Nelson Mandela

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Artist


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

To be an artist is not a matter of making paintings or objects at all.  What we are really dealing with is our state of consciousness and the shape of our perception.  . . .  The act of art is a tool for extended consciousness. 

Robert Irwin

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Beauty


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

When you reach the heart of life you shall find beauty in all things, even in the eyes that are blind to beauty. 

Khalil Gibran

Friday, January 28, 2011

Life


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed. 
Rachel Naomi Remen

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Empty Handed


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Born empty handed,
Die empty handed.
I witnessed life at its fullest,
Empty handed.

Marlo Morgan

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Look and See


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us, if we
only look, and see.

Mary Oliver, Look and See

Monday, January 24, 2011

Care for the world


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

All that I have created, I created for you.  Take care, therefore, that you do not destroy my world, for if you do, there will be no one left to repair what you have destroyed. 

Ecclesiastes Rabbah, Midrash

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Prayer


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Be thankful and repay
Growth with good work and care.
Work done in gratitude
Kindly, and well, is prayer.

Wendell Berry

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Conversation


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

The greatest single antidote to violence is conversation.

Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations

Friday, January 21, 2011

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Prayers


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

I believe that all prayers that come from the heart converge in God’s infinity, where all persons are loved if they themselves love.

Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Particularity & Universality


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Our particularity is our universality. Only by being what we uniquely are, can we respect other people for what they uniquely are.

Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Worth


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

We are worth what we are willing to share.

Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility

Monday, January 17, 2011

Everything belongs


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

In God's reign "everything belongs," even the broken and poor parts.

Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Being human


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Everyone has relevant observations to make about the nature of God and ultimate things – that the raw material of our lives is stuff of which we construct our sensibility of meaning and purpose in this life, or how the divine intersects or interacts with our lives, of what it means to be human.

Krista Tippett, Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters and How to Talk About It

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Hero


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Who is a hero?  One who turns an enemy into a friend.

Avot deRabbi Nathan

Friday, January 14, 2011

Technologies


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Technologies are not mere exterior aids but also interior transformation of consciousness, and never more so than when they affect the word.

Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Moses


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

The great concern of Moses was … to lay the foundation of a social state in which deep poverty and degrading want should be unknown.

Henry George, Moses

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

God


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

God is always bigger than the boxes we build for God, so we should not waste too much time protecting the boxes.

Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemporary Prayer

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

How to see


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

All religious teachers have recognized that we human beings do not naturally see; we have to be taught how to see.

Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemporary Prayer

Monday, January 10, 2011

Inter-Be


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

To be is to inter-be.  We cannot just be by ourselves alone.  We have to inter-be with every other thing. 

Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Saturday, January 8, 2011

How well we love


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

I believed – and still believe – that when all is said and done, none of us will be measured on how much we accomplish but on how well we love.

Krista Tippett, Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters – and How to Talk About It

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Experiencing beauty


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house. 
Izumi Skikibu

We become available to the beauty of the moment as it is,
 and available to one another as we are. 
Joyce Kornblatt, This Ruined House, The Beautiful Mind: A Conversation with Gina Sharpe, Parabola, 35:4

Monday, January 3, 2011

In presence


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Unless we completely inhabit ourselves, it’s not possible to be completely present.  If we are not completely present, we’re not inclusive – and when we’re not inclusive, that’s when we exclude others who have different views, different opinions, different upbringings – difference.  In presence, we see the beauty in what was previously unbeautiful – in difference and alikeness.  It’s all of life. 

Gina Sharpe, The Beautiful Mind: A Conversation with Gina Sharpe, Parabola, 35:4

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Beauty


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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

There is no exquisite beauty ... without some strangeness in the proportion. 

Edgar Allan Poe