For me Christ was not to be bought for thirty pieces of silver but with my heart's blood. We buy not cheap in this market.
Dorothy DayRead
Maybe I was praying for him then, in my own way. Does God have a set way of prayer, a way that He expects each of us to follow? I doubt it. I believe some people-- lots of people-- pray through the witness of their lives, through the work they do, the friendships they have, the love they offer people and receive from people. Since when are words the only acceptable form of prayer?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Prayer can manifest in many forms beyond spoken words.
In this quote, Dorothy Day reflects on the nature of prayer, suggesting that it is not limited to spoken words or traditional rituals. Instead, she emphasizes that one's actions, relationships, and love for others can also serve as a form of prayer, highlighting the diverse ways individuals can connect with the divine and express their spirituality through their lives.
Themes
PrayerSpiritualityServiceLoveAction
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a discussion on spirituality in a community service meeting.
More from Dorothy Day
All quotes →The mystery of poverty is that by sharing in it, making ourselves poor in giving to others, we increase our knowledge of and belief in love.
Dorothy DayRead
As we come to know the seriousness of the situation, the war, the racism, the poverty in our world, we come to realize that things will not be changed simply by words or demonstrations. Rather, it's a question of living one's life in a drastically different way.
Dorothy DayRead
I do not know how to love God except by loving the poor. I do not know how to serve God except by serving the poor.... Here, within this great city of nine million people, we must, in this neighborhood, on this street, in this parish, regain a sense of community which is the basis for peace in the world.
Dorothy DayRead
The biggest mistake sometimes is to play things very safe in this life and end up being moral failures.
Dorothy DayRead
We're living in an age of genocide. ...And we do believe that there is not only the genocide of war, and the genocide that took place with the extermination of the Jews, but the whole program....of birth control and abortion is another form of genocide.... [T]hey claim the poor are bringing forth tremendous numbers of children and so the solution is to kill them off.
Dorothy DayRead
Similar quotes
The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ is formed in me.
Oswald ChambersRead
Man offers himself to God. He stands before Him like the canvas before the painter or the marble before the sculptor. At the same time he asks for His grace, expresses his needs and those of his brothers in suffering. Such a type of prayer demands complete renovation. The modest, the ignorant, and the poor are more capable of this self-denial than the rich and the intellectual.
Alexis CarrelRead
May we have communion with God in the secret of our hearts, and find Him to be to us as a little sanctuary.
Charles SpurgeonRead
To pray is to dream in league with God, to envision His holy visions.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.
Teresa Of AvilaRead
If we had strength and faith enough to trust ourselves entirely to God; and follow Him simply wherever He should lead us, we should have no need of any great effort of mind to reach perfection.
Francois FenelonRead