It does not serve us to separate the spirituality of our hearts from the spirituality of our hands. Trees and flowers soothe the soul, but a garden untended soon clogs from leaves and draught, then withers and dies. To truly mean something, ultimate reverence and deepmost principle must transport us not just toward high sentiments but also profound actions.
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In the days of sailing ships, sails had to be set, ropes hauled, anchors weighed, all by straining human muscle. Through wind, rain, and tempest they girdled the globe: ships small and fragile by our standards, yet bearing the goods of humanity to the ends of the earth. They only needed a crew of sailors willing to work together.
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Let us walk out into the mystery of the day, with stout hearts and open minds.
Let us be whole with each gift we receive, and in love with each challenge.
Let courage, strength, and wonder fill us, and may we walk in light of our own making.
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May each of us remember that we possess divine gifts. We have eyes with which to peer into the darkest corners; we have ears with which to listen to the stories of our fellow beings; we have hands with which to work toward transformation. Together, surely, we are the answer that is “blowing in the wind.”
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May we engage life so as to see not just the wonder, but also the horror, for life’s whirling miracle engenders not just the one, but also the other. It is in the very face of the world’s heartbreaks that the heart beats most courageously: when we aspire toward what could and should be. The core of our religious challenge is to realize that hope.
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Let the horizon of our minds encompass those who came before us, all those with whom we now share our planet, and finally, those who will come after us. For the first left us their memories, the fruits of their plantings, and our very image of who we are. What we who live today shape–what we do, but also what we leave undone–will feed or blight the lives of all those who follow.
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