We should not be surprised or scandalized by the sinful and the tragic. Do what you can to be peace and to do justice, but never expect or demand perfection on this earth. It usually leads to a false moral outrage, a negative identity, intolerance, paranoia, and self-serving crusades against “the contaminating element,” instead of “becoming a new creation” ourselves (Gal. 6:15).
— Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs, p. 179
Photo: Mont Saint-Michel, France, June 20, 2026
We often see rest as a tool to help us be more efficient later or as a way to prevent burnout, as if burnout is the natural order of things. But here’s a truth I find pressing for our time: Never did Jesus say “rest now so you can work harder later.” Rest was never framed as something we do only to be more productive afterward. In a world obsessed with efficiency, where rest is seen as a way to recharge for more labor, Jesus shows us something else. He offers rest as an end in itself, as a way of being, a gift that is not earned but given freely. His rest is not about being more useful tomorrow; it’s about being fully human today.
— Kat Armas, Liturgies for Resisting Empire, p. 124
Photo: Tulips at Burnside Farms, Nokesville, Virginia, April 8, 2026
You might think lament is the opposite of praise. It isn’t. Instead, lament is a path to praise as we are led through our brokenness and disappointment. The space between brokenness and God’s mercy is where this song is sung. Think of lament as the transition between pain and promise.
It is the path from heartbreak to hope.
— Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, p. 28
Photo: South Riding, Virginia, August 9, 2025
If you feel any rising despair, repeat to yourself that love is stronger, love is stronger, love is stronger than any undoing. If you’re feeling any sense of despair, consider writing it on a sticky note and putting it on the mirror. Pain makes us forget that we are never alone.
–Kate Bowler, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day, p. 67
Photo: International Rose Test Garden, Portland, Oregon, June 18, 2025
Forgiveness can also be bittersweet. It contains the sweetness of the release of a story that has caused us pain, but also the poignant reminder that even our dearest relationships change over the course of a lifetime. Regardless of the decision we reach about whether or not to include someone in our present-day life, in the end, forgiveness is a path to peace and an essential element of love for ourselves and others.
— Sharon Salzberg, Real Love, p. 199
Photo: South Riding, Virginia, December 4, 2018
Verse for the day:
[Photo: Skerries harbor, Ireland, July 2001]
Feeling as though a relationship is required is never a peaceful place to be. Wanting one is a reasonable enough desire, but needing one keeps you from breathing deeply and peacefully during the individual moments as they pass by. And life is made up of individual moments. Nothing more, in fact.
— Karen Casey, Let Go Now, p. 201
To give up control is a peaceful decision. Everyone is blessed by it. But no one more than you.
— Karen Casey, Let Go Now
Prayer is the solution. Detachment is the tool. Peace of mind is the gift.
— Karen Casey, Let Go Now, p. 135
You cannot speed up your efforts to create a life that is slower paced any more than you can successfully fight for peace.
— Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Dance, p. 178