Who built the ark to survive the flood?

Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Dude Abides

Home
Progressive Christian

Last updated on: January 1, 2010 at 7:05 pm by Cathleen Falsani

2010-01-01T19:05:00-07:00 Cathleen Falsani

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

GODSTUFF

2009: THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS AT THE YEAR’S END

Last year was a year of new beginnings, challenges and expectations. It was also a rich year for spiritual pondering.

As is my tradition in this space, here are some of the most intriguing spiritual thoughts, prayers and insights I discovered (or rediscovered) in the past year.

Perhaps there’s something in the words below that will be helpful or enlightening as we begin a new year and a new journey.

Happy New Year!

“She worked and lived without extravagance and without waste. Her nest was a neat small cup the size of herself asleep…When she went into it for her daytime sleep, she slept drawn into a ball, her eyes shut, her tail curved around so that its outer end lay under her nose. Her sleep was an act of faith and a giving of thanks.”

— Wendell Berry in his book Whitefoot

“Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady.”

— U2 in “Stand Up Comedy”

“It’s hypocrisy more than anything in our society that we consider unforgivable.”

— John Portmann, a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia and author of A History of Sin: Its Evolution to Today and Beyond

“Our selves, our destinies, are being created constantly through our thoughts and actions.”

— Barbara Ann Kipfer, in her book, 1,001 Ways to Live in the Moment

Bless the hands of the people of the earth,
The hands that plant the seed,
The hands that bind the harvest,
The hands that carry the burden of life.
Soften the hands of the oppressor and
Strengthen the hands of the oppressed.
Bless the hands of the workers,
Bless the hands of those in power above them
That the measure they deal will be tempered
With justice and compassion. Amen.

— The National Farm Worker Ministry’s prayer for Labor Sunday 2009

“I am thankful for my mom and dad. I am thankful I can hear people laughing. I am thankful for friends. I feel thankful for love.”

— My son, 10-year-old Vasco, in his Thanksgiving Day prayer

“We have a choice. We can either choose the aggressive and exclusive tendencies that have developed in practically all religious and secular traditions or we can cultivate those that speak of compassion, empathy, respect and an impartial ‘concern for everybody.’ “

— Historian Karen Armstrong and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who released the Charter for Compassion in November

“If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see God in it.”

— the Sufi poet Rumi

“God has always called us as Christians to be good stewards of His creation and we have the privilege of joining with Him in His plan for complete reconciliation and redemption of creation.”

— Rachel Lamb, a sophomore environmental studies major at Wheaton College

“We are wired to be present. We are built to honor the senses. We are creative to be attentive, or literally just to be. But somewhere along the way, life chokes the music and the poetry out of us. . . . I pause to be surprised, to let the cares of the day be carried away and to let my soul catch up with my body.”

— Author Terry Hershey in his book, The Power of Pause: Becoming More by Doing Less

“If we took a spiritual MRI of the American soul, we’d probably see an incredible yearning for being forgiven and granting forgiveness. . . . That’s expressing itself in this incredibly voyeuristic and confessional culture of ours.”

— Rabbi Irwin Kula

“Why does [God] make us feel the questions if He’s not going to give us the answers?”

— Larry Gopnik (portrayed by Michael Stuhlbarg) in the Coen Brothers’ 2009 film “A Serious Man”

“Don’t worry about getting the poses exactly right. All you really need to do is lean in the right direction.”

— Shakta Kaur, instructor at Kundalini in the Loop yoga center in Chicago

“We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. … Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America. . . . What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.”

— President Obama, in his inaugural address

“God of new beginnings, we are walking into mystery.
We face the future, not knowing what the days and months will bring us or how we will respond.
Be love in us as we journey.
May we welcome all who come our way.
Deepen our faith to see all life through your eyes.
Fill us with hope and an abiding trust that you dwell in us amidst all our joys and sorrows.
Thank you for the treasure of our faith life.
Thank you for the gift of being able to rise each day with the assurance of your walking through the day with us.
God of our past and future, we praise you.”

— “Prayer for New Beginnings” from the Web site of St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in Evansville, Ind.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 30, 2009

Next Post

January 8, 2010

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A little happy ARCHIVED COLUMNS BECOMING FAMILY BelieberNess BREAKING NEWS! Disquiet Time DJ JEFF'S SPINTASMS falsani FILM from OCRegister From Sojo.net God Nods GODSTUFF I Take Requests incubatespirit LURKING IN THE NARTHEX On My Nightstand ONEMOMS Polling the Room PONTIFEXCELLENT Thru My Eyes TWO CENTS Uncategorized Upcoming Events VASCO VASCO'S HEART

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 May 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 October 2003 March 2003 December 2002 October 2002 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who built the ark to survive the flood?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Noah Abraham Elijah