Day 114d: The Light that needs no understanding … (August 21, 2019)
And then I was suddenly in Philadelphia itself, a city so rich in history – both known & unknown. I easily passed a number of local churches (including the one pictured) and smoothly made my way to the metropolis’ Art Museum Library, where the kind librarians on hand allowed me to spend a large portion of the remaining day writing in my pilgrimage journal and sending out a “Where I Am Now” email to friends and followers alike …
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was the essence of God. The Word was in the beginning within God. All things came into being through that Word, and without It not one thing came into being. What has come into being in the Word was life, and that life was the light within all beings. It is the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot hope to overtake it.” ~ John 1:1-5
“Misdefine the law of brotherly love by giving men any claim on their neighbors and you destroy freedom, justify despotism, and assume a master mind – the mind of God no less, within an ordinary human mind … Claims over others are ever soaked in fear; a fear which is the opposite of love – the enemy of love – the killer of love. And so it is that whenever you are confronted with an opponent. The only way to truly conquer him is with love … Neighbor to neighbor to neighbor. This is a mentality that has been fostered over centuries, since the earliest communities realized that the only way to thrive in this desolate but beautiful wilderness was to ever work together for the betterment of all therein.” ~ inspired by Frederick Nymyer, Mahatma Gandhi, & Jim DeFede
“For everyone who never smiled in school photos,
for all who’ve wandered city streets alone,
not knowing where they were or with whom they belong,
for them all I’ve packed along kindness.” ~ via Kelli Agodon
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