Two great quotes that I have purloined for personal use this week.
The first is a Franciscan benediction, purloined from the blog of some missionaries working in Haiti:
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships – so that we may live deep within our hearts. May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people – so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war – so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in the world – so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
And may our discomfort and anger be multiplied seven-fold when we see those half-truths and injustices disguised as strategies and dressed up in corporate jargon and being modelled by our churches and our Christian organisations. Amen.
And the second is a simple but profound one-liner purloined from the newsletter of some friends working in Bolivia:
“I haven’t the answers but I want to be changed by the questions.”
Lord give us courage, integrity, and chocolate fudge cake as we face the future together. Amen.