Living Faith
An Identity Rooted in Humanity
"We must first arrive at an understanding of what it means to be human in order to understand the significance of defining one's own identity and the identity of others as human.""Precisely what does it mean to experience oneself as a human being? He sees himself as a part of a continuing, breathing, living existence. To be a human being, then, is to be essentially alive in a living world... a naked human spirit that spills over into other human spirits as they spill over into [us]." - Howard Thurman
"When you teach a man to hate his lips, the lips that God gave him, the shape of the nose that God gave him, the texture of the hair that God gave him, the color of the skin that God gave him, you've committed the worst crime that a race of people can commit...Our color became a chain, a psychological chain. Our blood- African blood- became a psychological chain, a prison, because we were ashamed of it..." -Malcom X
"But in order to attain equity and justice- to improve the quality of life for those oppressed or poor- the lives of the privileged will be affected."
"To forgive, I think, basically means the ability to see the person apart from the deed and to recognize that although he has done that deed, it does not mean that he is irredeemable." -Aung San Suu Kyi
How Can I Help?
The Way of Social Action
“Daily you have come and told me it is your dharma to
prevent this disease with your needles. We have sent you away. Tonight you have
used force. You say you act in accordance with your duty. I have acted in
accordance with mine. It is over. God will decide.” This story/excerpt touched
me to the depths of my soul. If only the rest of the world could behave as such
I wonder what it would look like. We have something to learn from Mohan Singh.
“Our aim is to awaken together and see what follows, not to
manipulate one another into this action or that.”
“What’s been dealt with in solitude becomes the basis for
solidarity.” Something to ponder…
“If we are not rooted in compassion, how will our acts
contribute to a compassionate world? If we cannot move beyond inner discord, how
can we help find a way to social harmony? If we ourselves cannot know peace, be
peaceful, how will our acts disarm hatred and violence?”
“Whoever has the mind
to fight has broken his connection with the universe. If you try to dominate
people, you are already defeated.”
“We’re here to awaken from the illusion of separateness.” Is
this to be the purpose of our lives?
“The soul force is indestructible and it goes on gaining
power until it transforms everyone it touches.” Mohandas K. Gandhi
