“We can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible. We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people.”

Greta Thunberg, who inspired children all over the world to take part in climate strikes on this day in 2019

“Tikkun Olam (repair of the world): Insofar as a progressive spirituality is committed to a politics that makes the world safe for itself, such a spirituality realizes itself in action. It strives in large and small ways to provide the fundamental preconditions for human dignity and planetary survival: food, shelter, a fair share of the Earth’s resources in the context of respect for the Earth; but also the right to name one’s own situation and desires, and to define and participate in the shaping and healing of history and creation. Such a struggle is not separate from awareness of God or the affirmation of human dignity, but is its complement and expression. Through politics, we become responsible members of a human community rooted in a far larger community and purpose. Through spirituality, we cultivate awareness of the sacred pervading the world, a presence that continually compels us to honor it through action.”

Judith Plaskow, feminist theologian and activist, born on this day in 1947

Finding Home #46 “Tikkun ha- Olam” by Siona Benjamin

“To me there is in happiness an element of self-forgetfulness. You lose yourself in something outside yourself when you are happy; just as when you are desperately miserable you are intensely conscious of yourself, are a solid little lump of ego weighing a ton.”

Joseph Priestley, scientist, liberal political theorist, and Unitarian minister, born on this day in 1733

“Sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.’
‘It’s a lot more complicated than that -’
‘No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”

Terry Pratchett, who died on this day in 2015

“Listening creates a holy silence. When you listen generously to people, they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time. And in the silence of listening, you can know yourself in everyone. Eventually you may be able to hear, in everyone and beyond everyone, the unseen singing softly to itself and to you.”

Rachel Naomi Remen

“When the life-force of the universe and the vigour that runs through our bodies are aligned with our spiritual core, then we experience our true power and live with it. The difference between living with power and simply behaving powerfully lies in one thing: those who inhabit their power by aligning with the universe freely let power pass through them, whereas those who behave powerfully hold onto power like a commodity. When the power of the cosmos is restrained, unable to come and go like a tidal current or a mighty wind, it merely inflates the holder, it does not empower her. And when it is hoarded to aggrandize the holder, she risks disease, want, misery, and a host of ills.

We all have times when we feel powerless and insignificant, but the theft of power from another person or place cannot ultimately assist us. We may have a temporary sense of strength, but it does not last. It is only when we relinquish our fearful grip that our own power comes back to our core, empowering us again. Learning how to live with our power involves living close to the truth that is within us and not deviating; it involves periodically checking out how we are behaving, how we are giving power away to things that do not need or deserve our intervention or assistance, how we are retaining or stealing power to create a cocoon of protection.

Power cannot be owned; it is only on loan to us all.”

Caitlin Matthews

“Self-knowledge is so important that I do not care how high you are raised up to the heavens, I never want you to cease cultivating it. As long as we are on this earth, there is nothing more essential than humility. Enter the room of self-knowledge first, instead of floating off to the other places. This is the path. Travelling along a safe and level road, who needs wings to fly? Let’s make the best possible use of our feet first and learn to know ourselves.”

Teresa of Avila

“When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.”

Audre Lorde

“The day of my spiritual awakening was the day I saw and knew I saw all things in God and God in all things.”

Mechthild of Magdeburg

“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.”

Louisa May Alcott, writer and Unitarian, who died on this day in 1888