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Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
The World Is Created by Love
I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that, insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love.
– Wendell Berry
Wednesday of Hope – Hope Is with You
Hope
Hope is with you when you believe
The earth is not a dream but living flesh,
That sight, touch, and hearing do not lie,
That all things you have ever seen here
Are like a garden looked at from a gate.You cannot enter. But you’re sure it’s there.
Could we but look more clearly and wisely
We might discover somewhere in the garden
A strange new flower and an unnamed star.Some people say we should not trust our eyes,
That there is nothing, just a seeming,
These are the ones who have no hope.
They think that the moment we turn away,
The world, behind our backs, ceases to exist,
As if snatched up by the hands of thieves.– Czeslaw Milosz
Beauty’s Magic
When we come upon beautiful things, they act like small tears in the surface of the world that pull us through to some vaster space.
– Elaine Scarry
Wednesday of Hope – Love Brings Us to Hope
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
– Maya Angelou
Let Your Soul Be Alive!
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
– Eleanora Duse
Wednesday of Hope – Hopeful Eyes
Hopeful Eyes.
Hope looks at all things the way a mother looks at her child, with a passion for the possible. That way of looking is creative. It creates the space in which perfection can unfold. More than that, the eyes of hope look through all imperfections to the heart of all things and find it perfect. The eyes of hope are grateful eyes. Before our eyes learned to look gratefully at the world, we expected to find beauty in good looking things. But grateful eyes expect the surprise of finding beauty in all things.
– David Steindl-Rast
Not Shielded from the Wind
Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you would never see the true beauty of their carvings.
– Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Wednesday of Hope – Ash Wednesday
On this Ash Wednesday, what more can we hope to be than this?
Strive to be uncynical, to be a hope-giving force, to be a steward of substance.
– Maria Popova
In Harmony with Earth
First thing in the morning, before you meet or greet anyone, remember to greet all of nature, all visible and invisible creatures. Say to them: “I am grateful for your work, I love you and want to be in harmony with you!” At this very moment, in response to your greeting, all of nature will open to you and send you energy for the entire day.
– Omraam Mikhael Aivanho
Wednesday of Hope – Hope in the Dark
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and. work: you don’t give up.
– Anne Lamott
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