OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
Extending Our Concept of God
The world must have a God, but our concept of God must be extended as the dimensions of our world are extended.
– Teilhard de Chardin
Wednesday of Hope – Letting Go of Anticipation
Before, I always lived in anticipation . . . that it was all a preparation for something else, something “greater,” more “genuine.” But that feeling has dropped away from me completely. I live here and now, this minute, this day, to the full, and the life is worth living.
– Etty Hillesum, Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum,
May I Be a Lamp
May I become an island for those seeking dry land
A lamp for those needing light,
A place of rest for those who desire one,
And a servant for those needing service.
– Shantideva
You Are Held
A great silent space holds all of nature in its embrace. It also holds you.
– Eckhart Tolle
Wednesday of Hope – Waiting Patienty
Waiting patiently in hope and expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.
– Simone Weil
Arousing Wonder
My religion is nature. That’s what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.
– Oliver Sacks
Wakening to Oneness with a Psalm
Unnamable God, I feel you
With me at every moment.
You are my food, my drink,
My sunlight, and the air I breathe
You are the ground I have built on
And the beauty that rejoices my heart.
– Stephen Mitchel, excerpt from “Psalm 16”, A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew, pg. 8
Wednesday of Hope – Which Doesn’t Require Optimism
Since Active Hope doesn’t require our optimism, we can apply it even in areas where we feel hopeless. The guiding impetus is intention; we choose what we aim to bring about, act for, or express. Rather than weighing our chances and proceeding only when we feel hopeful, we focus on our intention and let it be our guide.
– Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy, p. 3.
To Climb to the Heights
“Those who would climb to a lofty height must go by steps, not leaps.”
– St. Gregory the Great
Wakening to Oneness – The Deep Truth
The deep truth about matter, which neither Descartes nor Newton realized, is that, over the course of four billion years, molten rocks transformed themselves into monarch butterflies, blue herons, and the exalted music of Mozart. Ignorant of this stupendous process, we fell into the fantasy that our role here was to reengineer inert matter.
– Brian Swimme, Journey of the Universe
