Thought for the Day

[. . .] Prayer is a sweeping of forgetfulness, because it

is an honoring of remembrance. It is an affirmation,

and an affirmation is more powerful than negation.[. . .]

~ Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

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Quoted from "Memory, Praise, and Spirit: A Talk by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee" (Keynote at Conference on Spiritual Ecology and Peace-Building, St. Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, London), Emergence Magazine, August 29, 2024; Online (The talk is available at the link as both podcast and transcript.)

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Sufi Teacher and Filmmaker; Founder and Executive Editor, Emergence Magazine

Thought for the Day

The betrayal of a belief is not the same thing

as ceasing to believe.

~ James Baldwin

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Quoted from James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son (Beacon Press,  2012)

James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 - December 1, 1987), American Writer, Novelist, Essayist, Playwright, Poet; Civil Rights Activist

James Baldwin Profiles at Library of America, National Museum of African American History and Culture, New York Public Library, PBS, The Poetry Foundation

Thought for the Day

Getting old is the second-biggest surprise of my life,

but the first, by a mile, is our unceasing need for deep

attachment and intimate love.

~ Roger Angell

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Quoted from "This Old Man" in The New Yorker, February 9, 2014; Online 

Roger Angell (September 19, 1920 - May 20, 2022), American Sports Essayist Specializing in Baseball; Senior Fiction Editor, The New Yorker

 

Roger Angell Obituary at The New York Times

Guide to the Roger Angell Papers, National Baseball Hall of Fame

Thought for the Day

We don't need anniversaries for things

we can never forget.

~ Diane Foley

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Quoted from Diane Foley, "Jim Foley's Legacy Helped Change Hostage Policy," Guest Essay/Opinion, The New York Times, August 18, 2024; online

Diane Foley, Mother of American Journalist James Foley; Founder, James Foley Foundation; Co-Author (with Colum McCann) of American Mother

James Foley (October 18, 1973 - August 19, 2014)

Thought for the Day

Receptivity without confrontation leads to a bland neutrality

that serves nobody. Confrontation without receptivity leads

to an oppressive aggression which hurts everybody.

~ Henri J. M. Nouwen

 

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Quoted from Henri J.M. Nouwen, Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (Image Books, 1966), p. 99  (This quote also appears in David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen (Random House, 2023), p. 259.)

David Brooks, Writer, Author, Political and Cultural Commentator

Henri J.M. Nouwen, Catholic Priest, Spiritual Writer

Henri Nouwen Society