Friday, August 26, 2005

Show Kindness:

With the breath of your spirit emboldening us, O God, we believe that we can learn to show kindness for your people even when we do not feel kind. Send us with strength. Free us from fear of hurt and let the spirit’s breath touch all with hope. Nourish us with foods to walk the path of kindness. Amen.

Impractical, Immoral:

Violence as a way of achieving justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert.

Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.

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The way to Heaven is straight and narrow: they who wish to arrive at that place of bliss by walking in the paths of pleasure shall be disappointed; and therefore few reach it, because few are willing to use violence to themselves in resisting temptations.

- St Alphonsus de Liguori

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