“In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God”, by Gene Robinson

Pg. 11

God calls us to the hard work of compassion for our enemies. Some people may quarrel with that characterization, but we do have enemies. It’s a word that Jesus used. The hard part is following Jesus’ own command to love our enemies. Not to like them, not to be paralyzed by their opposition, not to give in to their outrageous demands, but to love them nonetheless. To treat them with infinite respect, listen to what drives them, try our best to understand the fear that causes them to reject us, to believe them when they say they only want the best for us. That’s hard work, and we can’t do it without God’s own Spirit blowing through us like wind, breaking down our walls, causing our assumptions to “come loose,” and reminding us all that our enemies are children of God, for whom Christ died and through whom they will be saved.

“Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia”, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Pg. 143

Every religion in the world has had a subset of devotees who seek a direct, transcendent experience with God, excusing themselves from fundamentalist scriptural or dogmatic study in order to personally encounter the divine. The interesting thing about these mystics is that, when they describe their experiences, they all end up describing exactly the same occurrence. Generally, their union with God occurs in a meditative state, and is delivered through an energy source that fills the entire body with euphoric, electric light. The Japanese call this energy ki, the Chinese Buddhists call it chi, the Balinese call it taksu, the Christians call it The Holy Spirit, the Kalahari Bushmen call it n/um (their holy men describe it as a snakelike power that ascends the spine and blows a hole in the head through which the gods then enter). The Islamic Sufi poets called that God-energy “The Beloved,” and wrote devotional poems to it. The Australian aborigines describe a serpent in the sky that descends into the medicine man and gives him intense, other-worldly powers. In the Jewish tradition of Kabbalah this union with the divine is said to occur through stages of spiritual ascension, with energy that runs the spine along a series of invisible meridians.

“The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography”, by Sidney Poitier

Pg. 127

When you’re addressing power, don’t expect it to crumble willingly. If you’re going to say, “Hey now, look you guys, please look at what you did and look at yourselves and punish yourselves and at least try to square this thing, right?” — well, you’ll make even slower progress at that than you would expect. I mean, even the most modest expectations are going to be unfulfilled…

There are also people who say, “Hey, after thirty years of affirmative action, they’ve got it made. Black people — it’s their own fault if they can’t make it today.”

Yeah, well, of course they say that. And they say it not just about black people. They say it in every country. We did something for you people, whoever “you” are. And we think that’s quite enough now.

That’s the gist of it: we’ve done something, and we think it’s enough. It may not be perfect, but it damn sure comes close to being okay. Now let us hear you applaud that for a little while. And thank us. And you can take that hat off your head when you come in here thanking us.

That’s the way it is. But let’s not get stuck there. We have miles to go before we sleep. We have lots to do, and some things just aren’t going to get done, you know?

“Oneness: Great Principles Shared By All Religions”, be Jeffrey Moses

Pg. 31

Whenever there is tension or fighting between individuals, groups, or nations, it means that a time of mutual understanding has been lost, and channels of communication have not been used.

Love is a unifying force. It radiates outward to resolve differences between people and nations. It is not that these unique qualities dissolve and are lost, but that they are integrated into a greater whole in which they are made more useful and beautiful.

Love conquers before there is fighting. Even if channels of communication have broken down and fighting breaks out, the underlying attitude should still be one of love and unification by love.

“Listening to the Light”, by Jim Pym

Page 22:

I have discovered that we can all contact the Spirit within us. We do not need the external aid of special ministers or special rituals. Through this Spirit, ordinary people have the potential to become extraordinary. Through It, I have come to realize that ordinary people are extraordinary. Because, in the words of Tennyson, this Spirit is ‘Closer… than breathing, nearer than hands and feet.’ It is there whether we acknowledge it or not, but when we do recognize it, and in the silence provide a space for it to act within our consciousness, It can transform our lives , and the lives of all around us.