THURMAN’S CORNER
Howard Washington Thurman (1899-1981) was a towering spiritual giant on the social and religious scene of the twentieth century. Theologian, Mystic, Philosopher and Spiritual Director, he led the movement for engendering social change from a deeply spiritual and affirming place. He was nurtured in an empowering, protective, inspiring social and family milieu. Through his inherited parental values and Christian faith, he received a sense of personal somebodiness that prepared him for the work of social transformation. This solid foundation empowered him to rise above the limiting racial divide to speak truth to a generation and to work for community formation across the decades of extraordinary social upheavals in America. Many of the Civil Rights movement’s leaders were advised, encouraged and inspired by this generous human spirit. His voice speaks loudly to issues of the twenty first century and the challenges of our day.
THURMAN’S CORNER – 4/12/21
A Sense of Self
Every person stands in need of forgiveness. No one escapes however blameless his life may seem to him to be … forgiveness is possible between two persons only when the offender is able to stand inside of the harm he has done and look out at himself as if he were the other person.
From his book “Deep Is The Hunger”
Archived Quotes
THURMAN’S CORNER – 4/5/21
A Sense of Self
Our Father, may our lives fulfill in themselves the hopes and unfulfilled yearnings of all whose stirrings for wholeness and completion are dim and inarticulate because of the burden of hate, weariness and misery under which their days are cast. May we achieve the freedom of sons of God, for whom every day is a Day of Judgment and every act a sacrament of thy Presence and every purpose a fresh channel through which thy Love pours forth its healing to the children of men. Amen.
From his book “Deep Is The Hunger”
THURMAN’S CORNER – 3/21/21
A Sense of Self
It is a truth recognized over and over again in various guises that the key to the meaning of life is found deep within each one of us. When Jesus insists that the Kingdom of God is within, he is affirming that which is a part of the common experience of the race. Incidentally, this is one of the unique things about Jesus: he calls attention again and again to that which is so utterly a part of the deep commonplace experience of life.
From his book “Deep Is The Hunger”
THURMAN’S CORNER – 3/14/21
A Sense of Self
After theology has done its work, after the reflective judgment of men from the heights or lonely retreats of privilege and security has wrought its most perfect pattern, the birth of Jesus remains the symbol of the dignity and inherent worthfulness of the common man.
From his book “Deep Is The Hunger”
THURMAN’S CORNER – 2/28/21
A Sense of Self
There must be always remaining in every man’s life some place for the singing of the angels, some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful and, by an inherent prerogative, throws all the rest of life into a new and creative relatedness, something that gathers up in itself all the freshets of experience from drab and commonplace areas of living and glows in one bright white light of penetrating beauty and meaning – then passes … despite all the crassness of life, despite all the hardness of life, despite all the harsh discords of life, life is saved by the singing of angels.
From his book “Deep Is The Hunger”
THURMAN’S CORNER – 2/28/21
A Sense of Self
There is a fallow time for the spirit … Whatever may be the reasons, one has to deal with the fact. Face it! Then resolutely dig out dead roots, clear the ground, but don’t forget to make a human pit against the time when some young or feeble plants will need stimulation from past flowerings in your garden. Work out new designs by dreaming daring dreams and great and creative planning. The time is not wasted. The time of fallowness is a time of rest and restoration, of filling up and replenishing. It is the moment when the meaning of all things can be searched out, tracked down and made to yield the secret of living. Thank God for the fallow time!
From his book “Deep Is The Hunger”
THURMAN’S CORNER – 2/22/21
“We are all artists in the sense that we are all engaged in some kind of activity by which we are realizing our ideals. What kind of ideals are you realizing? There is no neutrality here. Everybody is engaged in this activity. Is what you are realizing worthy of you, or are you engaged in the realization of ideals of which you are ashamed, and before which you stand condemned in your own sight? Long, long ago, it was said by a very wise and understanding friend, “By their fruits ye shall know them”, not by their roots.”
From his book “Deep Is The Hunger”
THURMAN’S CORNER – 2/14/2021
A Sense of Self
An idea held steadily on point of focus in the mind tends to express itself in action … Wise words – Where your treasure is, there is your heart also. Obviously, if we are to escape becoming evil in our behavior, we must bring our minds to bear upon the good and hold them there on dead center until our lives are organized on that basis.
Deep Is The Hunger
THURMAN’S CORNER – 2/08/2021
A Sense of Self
You are faced with the opportunity to do a really significant job involving heavy responsibility. You cower in the presence of it. “I can’t do that. I am not equal to it.” Or, “I really am not interested in it to that extent.” But there it is, and you have no available alternative but to tackle it. “God make me big,” you cry out with all the power of your spirit. And then a strange thing happens. Strength come from somewhere. The job does not seem as hard as it did before you tackled it. Deep within the task, something is released that eases the load; and the quality of your performance pervades your spirit with the assurance that God has answered, SO!
Deep Is The Hunger
THURMAN’S CORNER – 1/31/2021
A Sense of Self
There is much that has been written and even more that has been said about “the will to live,” in life in general, in human life in particular. It is described as a quality inherent in life, an instinct with uncanny power to seek that which feeds and sustains it, however precariously … The will to live says life is, and it is not predicated upon any other factors. While life cannot be thought of as pure existence, yet it seems always to be more than that through which it expresses itself. Thank God for the will to live; it is His signature in the midst of the changing scene of experience and fact.
Deep Is The Hunger
THURMAN’S CORNER – 1/24/2021
A Sense of Self
When our minds are sick with frustration and division;
When fear eats away the foundation of our peace –
Be present, O, Our Father, to heal, to bless
And make whole.
When our hearts are heavy with sorrow and misery;
When only heaviness is our daily portion –
Be present, O, Our Father, to heal, to bless
and relieve.
When our friends are difficult because of misunderstanding
And loss;
When the beauty of comradeship has wasted like the noon
day –
Be present, O, Our Father, to restore, to
bless and renew.
When the thread of our years unwinds near the end of the
spool;
When the failing powers of mind and body accent the passing
days –
Be Present, O, Our Father, to reassure, to make
steady and confirm.
When our well ordered plans fall apart in our hands;
When hopes give up, having run their course –
Be present, O, Our Father, to replenish, to
create and redeem.
When faith in our fellows wallows in the mud;
When through disappointment, through failure, through
flattery, all seems lost –
Be present, O, Our Father, to revise, to renew and
reassure.
Deep Is The Hunger