Dear Friends,

 We pray you are safe and well.

As we celebrate The Birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today's Meditation presents two people who inspired his soul: Langston Hughes whose poem I Dream a World bore fruit in MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech and Howard Thurman who was a spiritual guide to MLK.

We are in solidarity with his mission that all people recognize our common humanity and treat every human being with respect and appreciation.

We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in healthcare, in the workplace, in the Church--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.

In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that in God’s economy of abundance, when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.

We hope and pray that you and your loved ones experience genuine peace of mind and heart, and remain in good health during this challenging time.

May this New Year beginning be a time of peace, of healing and hope, of the infusion of joy in your life!

With our love and care,

Jean & Ron

MEDITATION 256: NOURISHING THE HEART OF MLK: LANGSTON HUGHES AND HOWARD THURMAN

I Dream A World Langston Hughes

I dream a world where man

No other man will scorn,

Where love will bless the earth

And peace its paths adorn

I dream a world where all

Will know sweet freedom's way,

Where greed no longer saps the soul

Nor avarice blights our day.

A world I dream where black or white,

Whatever race you be,

Will share the bounties of the earth

And every man is free,

Where wretchedness will hang its head

And joy, like a pearl,

Attends the needs of all mankind-

Of such I dream, my world!

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“Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.” ― Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman