Fascist movements kill off their critics, literally or metaphorically, while democratic movements value, invite and even welcome criticism.
Parker PalmerRead
Every religious tradition is rooted in mysteries I don't pretend to understand, including claims about what happens after we die. But this I know for sure: as long as we're alive, choosing resurrection is always worth the risk.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that while we may not understand all spiritual mysteries, embracing life and the concept of renewal is a valuable choice.
Parker Palmer reflects on the uncertainties inherent in religious traditions and the fundamental questions about life after death. He emphasizes that regardless of these mysteries, the choice to embrace renewal and live fully is a risk worth taking, suggesting that taking chances in life is essential for growth and transformation.
In practice
At a gathering discussing life's challenges, this quote can inspire participants to embrace change.
Fascist movements kill off their critics, literally or metaphorically, while democratic movements value, invite and even welcome criticism.
When I was depressed, nobody expected anything of me, nor did I expect anything of myself. I was exempt from life's demands and risks. But if I were to find new life, who knows what daunting tasks I might be required to take on?
There are a million 'oughts' in the world. There's a million ways in which I ought to be serving the world. But the ways I'm gifted to serve and the opportunities that come to me to serve are not a million.
Even when life challenges us, it's a gift beyond all measure.
We are a profoundly interconnected species, as the global economic and ecological crises reveal in vivid and frightening detail. We must embrace the simple fact that we are dependent on and accountable to one another.
Inner-life questions are the kind everyone asks, with or without benefit of God-talk: 'Does my life have meaning and purpose?' 'Do I have gifts that the world wants and needs?' 'Whom and what shall I serve?' 'Whom and what can I trust?' 'How can I rise above my fears?'
For as men in battle are continually in the way of shot, so we, in this world, are ever within the reach of Temptation.
Lack of awareness of the basic unity of organism and environment is a serious and dangerous hallucination.
Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.
Those who persevere in sin are those who are held in abhorrence by God, but those who abandon the ways of sin are loved by the Lord.
I've been practising Buddhism for forty years, and that's what has led me to this path of discovering my own humanity and recognizing the humanity in others.
Certainly Adam in Paradise had not more sweet and curious apprehensions of the world, than I when I was a child.
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