Worship

St. James United Church, Toronto 5 (2014, 2.15), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

I believe how I live my life everyday
is my act of worship.

Jack Layton

Darkness

St. James United Church, Toronto 3 (2014,,2.15), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

For darkness restores what light cannot repair.

Joseph Brodsky

A Miracle

St. James United Church, Toronto 2 (2014,,2.15), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

      Here is what I was trying to figure out: 

     how a miracle happens. 

     A great work of art—
     something that makes people pay attention, 

     return to the work again and again,

     and reexamine their assumptions,

     something that infuriates, hurts, and confronts—

     a great work of art is always a miracle.

        Masha Gessen

Creating Change

St. James United Church, Toronto 4 (2014,,2.15), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The only way we really create change is 

to enter any situation with the humility to listen

and to recognize the world as it is,

and then the audacity to dream what it could be.

Jacqueline Novogratz

Possibilities

Banner 1 (2014, 1.15), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Listen to the mustn'ts, child. 

Listen to the don'ts. 

Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. 

Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... 

Anything can happen, child. 

Anything can be.

Shel Silverstein

Creativity

Knox United Church (2013, 10.7), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Creativity is piercing the mundane 

to find the marvelous. 

Bill Moyers

Metaphor

Tansley United Church 2 (2013, 10. 17), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     Metaphor is a way of thought 
     long before it is a way with words. 

        James Geary, 
        I is an Other: 
        The Secret Life of Metaphor and
        How It Shapes the Way We See the World

Perspective

RC1_9577, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The particular, concrete image is the lens through which we see the world. 

Pat Schneider, How the Light Gets In

Intensity of Intention

RIC_0051-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


What unites the different forms of pilgrimage 
is intensity of intention, 
the soul's desire to return to the center, 
whether it portends ecstasy or agony. 

Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage

Dream worth having

Richmond Hill United Church 15 (2013, 7.9), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


The only dream worth having ... 
is to dream that you will live while you're alive, 
and die only when you're dead. 

Arundhati Roy

Seeing

Hands (2013, 6.23), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Blessed are they who see beautiful things 
in humble places where other people see nothing. 

Camille Pissarro

Children

Jacqueline Treloar's art displayed at Kingston Road United Church 9, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Children aren't colouring books.

You don't get to fill them with your colours.

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Suffering & Happiness

RIC_4682-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     The truth is: my suffering doesn't have to be 
     out of view for you to be happy, and you don't have 
     to quiet your grief for me to be peaceful.
     Allowing our suffering and happiness to touch each 
     other opens a depth of compassion that helps us 
     to complete each other. 

        Mark Nepo, 
        Hearing the Cries of the World, Parabola (Summer 2013)

Kingdom of God

Baptism Font (2013, 2.24), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

We do not go to the Kingdom of God, 

but the kingdom of God comes to us.

Thich Nhat Hanh, 

Living Buddha, Living Christ

Resemblance

Good Friday 2013, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


My confidence comes from the belief that all human beings
resemble each other, that others carry wounds like mine – that 
they will therefore understand. 

Orhan Pamuk, My Father's Suitcase

Limits

KRUC Cross 2 (2013, 3.4), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion. 

Michael Jordan

Broken Open

Light (2013, 2.14), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

God breaks the heart again and again and

again until it stays open. 

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Clarity

Jacqueline Treloar 2, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Don’t confuse honours with achievement.

Zadie Smith

Joy

Baptismal Font 11, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

For the raindrop,

joy is entering the river.

Ghalib

Unsayable

Kingston Road United Church 1 (2013, 2.25), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

This has always been the driving mystery

of all sacred wisdom:

The only thing worth saying are

those things that are unsayable.

Mark Nepo,

The Book of Awakening