שבת

וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת־יֹום הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתֹו כִּי בֹו שָׁבַת מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתֹּו אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשֹׂות׃ ף

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.

--Elie Wiesel

Yes, September 11 troubles me. But there are other troubling days on the calendar — not just the ones that make the evening news, but also the ones that end up in my journal. Thumbing through the pages of my private reflections, I come across entries written in the middle of sleepless nights, when anxiety took over and robbed me of rest. When my personal world is falling apart and something or someone precious is at stake, it is frightening when God doesn’t show up to hold things together, especially when I’m begging him to come. No voice calls out from heaven to calm the troubled waters. There’s no miraculous healing or change of heart. No unseen army of angels shields me from disaster. Instead of getting better, things are only getting worse. My mother used to tell me, “Things always look worse at night.” For the most part, I believe her. But some of the troubles that keep me from sleeping look just as bad in the morning.

--Carolyn Custis James

I cannot be any more specific about the methodology of love than to quote these words of an old priest who spent many years in battle: “There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood in a sponge or a spear in one’s heart, it loses its power and goes no further.”

The healing of evil—scientifically or otherwise—can be accomplished only by the love of individuals. A willing sacrifice is required….I do not know how this occurs. But I know that it does…Whenever this happens there is a slight shift in the balance of power in the world.

--M. Scott Peck

God’s unilateral disarmament.

--Dorothee Sölle

δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν ἐστιν

--יְהוֹשֻׁעַ

זָכֹור אֶת־יֹום הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשֹׁו׃