Thought for the Day

Then they came for me —

and there was no one left to speak for me.

~ Martin Niemoller 

__________________________________________

 

Quoted from Martin Niemoller's "First they came for . . ." (The famous quotation, of which only the last line is given here, is on display permanently at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.)

 

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemoller (January 1892 - March 6, 1984), German Theologian and Lutheran Pastor

 

Niemoller, though strongly nationalist and an early Nazi supporter, subsequently found himself in conflict with Hitler and the National Socialist Party when he began openly opposing the party political ideology and laws and otherwise preaching against the Nazi government and its interference with church governance. Repeatedly arrested by the Gestapo, Niemoller ultimately spent more than seven years, much of it in solitary confinement or "protective detention," imprisoned in, first, Sachsenhausen and, later, Dachau concentration camps. In the mid-1950s he became a pacifist and worked for international peace. By the time of his death he was a global public figure.

 

Quotation's Origin

Thought for the Day

My belief is that tears, although they look like a mere emotive

reaction, are much more: a deeply free action that many do not

enjoy. They proceed from deep inside, where we are most truly

ourselves. Tears reveal the depths at which and from which we care.

~ Fr. Richard Rohr

______________________________________

 

Quoted from Fr. Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditations, The Tears of Things: Universal Sadness," March 5, 2025; Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage (Convergent, 2025), pp 96-98

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar and Ecumenical Teacher; Author; Founder, Center for Action and Contemplation

 

Thought for the Day

[. . .] I don't expect the light / to save me, but I do believe /

in the ritual. [. . .]

~ Linda Gregg 

_____________________________

 

Quoted from Linda Gregg, "The Light Continues" in In the Middle Distance: Poems by Linda Gregg (Graywolf Press, 2006) 

Linda Gregg (1942- 2019), American Poet

 

The New York Times Obituary for Linda Gregg

Thought for the Day

[. . .] The system that is not benefitting the poor

is not benefitting us either. [. . .]

~ Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra and Dr. Peter Heltzel

_________________________________________

 

Quoted from Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra and Dr. Peter Heltzel, "Practicing Solidarity" (Online) (This excerpt was published in the Center for Action and Contemplation's Weekly Summary of "Loving Other Stories," February 22, 2025.) See Joerg Rieger's Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude (Rowman and Littlefield, 2012) and Alexia Salvatierra and Peter Heltzel, Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World (InterVarsity Press 2013), p. 55.

 

Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra, Lutheran Pastor; Academic Dean, Centro Latino, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Assistant Professor of Integral Mission and Global Transformation; Public Educator, Speaker, Trainer  (Website)

 

Dr. Peter Heltzel, Associate Professor, Systematic Theology; Director, Micah Institute, New York Theological Seminary; Writer, Editor, Author

 

Center for Action and Contemplation Website

 

Another Ash Wednesday (Poem)

Another Ash Wednesday

Thumb dipped deep

in the ashes of the palm

 

branches burned to black,

the priest stains our foreheads

 

on this day of prayer and penance,

abstinence and fasting.

 

Re-marked with the shape

of the cross we are called to

 

remember the two thousand

years of deaths and resurrections —

 

ashes to ashes, dust to dust —

to wait through the next forty days

 

for the darkness to lift,

our wounds to heal. 

Thought for the Day

I think attention might be so closely bound up with love

as to be almost indistinguishable. And I think it might be

the thing we owe the world most. [. . .]

~ Katherine Rundell

__________________________________

 

Quoted from "VCS Creative Conversation: Ben Quash with Katherine Rundell," The Visual Commentary on Scripture, 2024 (This interview and conversation can be found on The VCS YouTube channel.)

 

Katherine Rundell, English Author and Academic; Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford; Hay30 Writer and Thinker; Recipient, Costa Children's Book Award (The Explorer), Waterstones Children's Book Prize, Blue Peter Book Award, British Book Awards Author of the Year

 

Katherine Rundell on Instagram

 

Ben Quash, Theologian; Director, The Visual Commentary on Scripture 

Thought for the Day

[. . .] New growth must come from a vision

beyond the embers, a belief in resilience,

and a recognition that the fate of forests

and all other life is intertwined.

~ Lauren E. Oakes

______________________________

Quoted from Lauren E. Oakes, "Beginning with Seeds: Restoration in the Wake of Wildfires" (Op-Ed), Emergence Magazine, February 5, 2025

Lauren E. Oakes, Environmental Scientist, Writer, Author of In Search of the Canary Tree and Treekeepers: The Race for a Forested Future

Thought for the Day

[. . .] The courage to be brave when it matters most

requires a lifetime of small decisions that set us on

a path of self-awareness, attentiveness, and willingness

to risk failure for what we believe is right.

~ Right Rev. Mariann Budde

_________________________________

Quoted from Right Rev. Mariann Budde, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith (Avery, 2023)

Right Rev. Mariann Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C. (Washington's First Female Diocesan Bishop);  Spiritual Leader; Writer and Author

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde Website

Thought for the Day

[. . .] Your love for someone else can only grow in relation

to the extent to which you commit to that love. Love cannot

increase without sacrifice and commitment. [. . .]

~ Zachary Bortot

_________________________

Quoted from "Two Become One: Marriage a Great Mystery," Center for Christianity Culture & the Arts, Biola University Advent Project 2024,  December 30, 2024 (Online)

Zachary Bortot, M.F.A., Associate Professor of Theatre, Theatre Arts Division Director, Collinsworth School of Performing Arts, California Baptist University at Riverside (See "About" at the first link above for additional information about Bortot.)

Thought for the Day

. . . [Y]ou come to poetry not out of what you know
but out of what you wonder. [. . .]
~ Lucille Clifton

_____________________________________

Quoted from "Lucille Clifton on What Poetry Is," Poetry Breaks Video Series, March 30, 2017

Lucille Clifton (1936-2010), American Poet, Writer, Educator