isaiah 58:1-9

"is not this the kind of fasting i have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter..."

open our eyes to the contradictions that are around and within us.

help us to see our own inconsistencies.

[teach us to live more simply so that we can share our resources with the unfortunate.

embolden us to give not just from our excess but from our substance.

remove the blinders that shield us from the hurt, need and loneliness all around us.

help us to see all your children as you see them, and to love them as you love them.]

thy kingdom come.

[Jesus taught us to ask the Father that his eternal, unshakable, heavenly kingdom be extended to our temporal, unstable, earthly lives.]

a beautiful morning.

making an effort to become more aware of the earthly things that enslave me.

resisting them.

letting go of the fear of the unknown.

realizing that anxiety doesn't have to be real.

desiring to be free.

the education system.

"the usual way that people are taught to think in amerika is that each subject is in a little compartment and has no relation to any other subject. for the most part, we receive fragments of unrelated knowledge, and our education follows no logical format or pattern. it is exactly this kind of education that produces people who don't have the ability to think for themselves and who are easily manipulated."

-assata shakur.

one day at a time.

[the more one thinks of his eternal destiny, the more he will realize that his earthly life is a journey toward something far grander than this world. he sees each day as a step toward Heaven, and he looks at himself to see whether he is on the right path. slowly he comes to value the events of his daily life according to God's Will and Heaven's eternal happiness.]

Lord, help me to be thankful for where You have me right now.
help me to find value in my daily obligations.

blessed are the poor.

[then Jesus said to his disciples, "i tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."] - matthew 19:23

i have food.
and water.
and shelter.

i am rich.

it is hard for me to enter the kingdom of heaven.

i have heard these words before.
i know these words.
and yet i rarely think
woe is me, for i am rich.

[looking at his disciples, he said:
"blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

rejoice in that day and leap for joy,
because great is your reward in Heaven.
for that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
but woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.] - luke 6:20-26

i will try this day.

"i will try this day to live a simple, sincere and serene life, repelling promptly every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity and self-seeking; cultivating cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity, and the habit of holy silence; exercising economy in expenditure, generosity in giving, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust, and a childlike faith in God."

-bishop vincent.

[as your desire for spiritual perfection grows, you will find yourself thinking more definitely of Heaven. your desire for Heaven will become stronger and stronger. you may even have to control a dislike for the needs and obligations of daily life.

the more one thinks of his eternal destiny, the more he will realize that his earthly life is a journey toward something far grander than this world. he sees each day as a step toward Heaven, and he looks at himself to see whether he is on the right path. slowly he comes to value the events of his daily life according to God's Will and Heaven's eternal happiness.]

difference.

[let us love not only our sameness

but our unsameness.

in our difference is our strength.

let us be not for ourselves alone

but also for that other

who is our deepest self.]

-leonard peltier.

forgiveness.

[let us forgive the worst among us

because the worst is in ourselves,

the worst lives in each of us,

along with the best.

let us forgive the worst

in each of us

and all of us

so that the best

in each of us

and all of us

may be free.]

-leonard peltier.