For a printable version, Daily Reflections - October
October 1
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you." - Isaiah 43:2a
October 2
"Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise." - Alice Walker
How would I be different if I lived my life with no expectations?
October 3
"Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have." - Doris Mortman
Am I content with what I have?
October 4
"Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin."
- Dwight David Eisenhower
Do I agree?
October 5
"Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!" - Amanda Bradley
How do I celebrate "just living"?
October 6
"Throwing his cloak aside, he [Bartimaeus] jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
'What do you want me to do for you?' Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, 'Rabbi, I want to see.'
'Go,' said Jesus, 'your faith has healed you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road."
- Mark 10:50-53
October 7
"Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither, in my opinion, is safe." - Edmund Burke
How do I define "liberty" and "justice"?
October 8
"Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.'"
- Matthew 11:28-30
October 9
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
- Mahatma Gandhi
When have I last forgiven?
October 10
"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
What are some of the world's misunderstandings?
October 11
"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." - St. Francis de Sales
When am I most unhurried?
October 12
"Without justice, courage is weak." - Benjamin Franklin
Have I found this to be true in the circumstances of my life?
October 13
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
- Jeremiah 29:12-13
October 14
"We look forward to the time when the power to love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace."
- William Ellery Channing
How will our world be different when it knows "the blessings of peace"?
October 15
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139 13-14
October 16
"Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which is everything in this world." - Blaise Pascal
When am I most imaginative?
October 17
"Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which Nature herself is animated." - Auguste Rodin
How do I appreciate art?
October 18
"Something which we think is impossible now is not impossible in another decade." - Constance Baker Motley (First Black Woman in the U.S. to become a Federal Judge)
What do I think is impossible now?
October 19
"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist." - Indira Gandhi
To whom should I extend an open hand?
October 20
"Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." - Isaiah 55:2
October 21
"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." - Alice Walker
October 22
"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to [your] life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
- Luke 12:25-26
October 23
"If human beings are perceived as potentials rather than problems, as possessing strengths instead of weaknesses, as unlimited rather than dull and unresponsive, then they thrive and grow to their capabilities."
- Barbara Bush
How do I assist my colleagues in making the most of their strengths and capabilities?
October 24
"I do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness."
- Mother Teresa of Calcutta
What do I ask for?
October 25
"It is love alone that gives worth to all things." - St. Teresa of Avila
October 26
"Although I grew up in very modest and challenging circumstances, I consider my life to be immeasurably rich." - Sonia Sotomayor
What circumstances did I grow up in and how did they shape me?
October 27
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." - Philippians 2:3
October 28
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
What is my "first step"?
October 29
"Yet the Lord pleads with you still: Ask where the good road is,
The godly paths you used to walk in, in the days of long ago.
Travel there, and you will find rest for your souls." - Jeremiah 6:16
October 30
"We are all pencils in the hand of God." - Mother Teresa of Calcutta
What does God want to use me to create?
October 31
"The world is round so that friendship may encircle it."
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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