“So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left with Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west, we will rise from the windswept northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution We…

“We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice”. -Martin Luther King, Jr. I’m using this quote to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as the inauguration of our new president. These words were actually borrowed from the anti-slavery Unitarian minister Theodore…

“We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor,…

The Work of Christmas When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the…

For so the children come and so they have been coming. Always the same way they come, born of the seed of a man and a woman. No angels herald their beginnings. No prophets predict their future courses. No wise men see a star to show where to find the babe that will save humankind.…

“Christmas Gift Suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness.To an opponent, tolerance.To a friend, your heart.To a customer, service.To all, charity.To every child, a good example.To yourself, respect.”— Oren Arnold, author Are you holiday shopping this year? Are you finished? Ours was blessedly easy. Food was at the top of Christmas lists, followed by gift cards for shopping on the…

“The Guest House” by Jalaluddin Rumi This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes As an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still treat…

“There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind.” – Hannah Senesh, poet I’ve been rising early in…