IF YOU are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
THERE COMES a time when we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.
IF YOU are asked to take up arms, reject that call. By putting down your arms you will demonstrate the character that God gave to each of you.
IF YOU want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.
WHEN WE see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others.
DIFFERENCES ARE not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.
FORGIVING IS not forgetting; it’s actually remembering – remembering and not using your right to hit back. It’s a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you don’t want to repeat what happened.
WE LEARN from history that we don’t learn from history!
FORGIVING AND being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not about patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring only superficial healing.
REPAIRING INJUSTICES without creating justice always ends up making reality worse.
WE ARE made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family.
IN THE end what matters is not how good we are but how good God is. Not how much we love Him but how much He loves us. And God loves us whoever we are, whatever we’ve done or failed to do, whatever we believe or can’t.
(Quotations gathered from various sources in the internet — Editor)
