Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
“Through me course wide rivers and in me rise tall mountains. And beyond the thickets of my agitation and confusion there stretch the wide plains of my peace and surrender. All landscapes are within me. And there is room for everything.” – Etty Hillesum… Continue Reading “All Landscapes Are within Me”
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… Continue Reading “Wednesday of Hope – Letting Go of Anticipation”
Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning. – Etty Hillesum, Letters from Westerbork If Etty Hillesum could write this with all she endured, we too can be women and men of hope, like this sparrow hanging upside down from tender branch in… Continue Reading “Wednesday of Hope – Despite Everything . . . Live in Hope”
Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes. – Etty Hillesum
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… Continue Reading “Wednesday of Hope – Life Worth Living”
Etty Hillesum is such example of courage, compassion and hope in the face of the most horrific times in our recent history. As life becomes harder and more threatening, it also becomes richer, because the fewer expectations we have, the more good things of… Continue Reading “Wednesday of Hope – Gratitude and Hope in the Face of Terror”
There are moments when I feel like giving up or giving in, but I soon rally again and do my duty as I see it: to keep the spark of life inside me ablaze. – Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life
Even if I should be locked up in a narrow cell and a cloud should drift past my small barred window, then I shall bring you that cloud, Oh God, while there is still the strength in me to do so. – Etty Hillesum… Continue Reading “Wise Advice from Etty Hillesum”
There is a really deep well inside me. And in it dwells God. Sometimes I am there too. But more often stones and grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then God must be dug out again. – Etty Hillesum, from The… Continue Reading “The Well is Deep”
As life becomes harder and more threatening, it also becomes richer, because the fewer expectations we have, the more the good things of life become unexpected gifts that we accept with gratitude. – Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life