Words to Move the Spirit There is in every person an inward sea, and in that sea there is an island and on that island there is an altar and standing guard before that altar is the “angel with the flaming sword.” Nothing can get by that angel to be placed upon that altar unless it has the mark of your inner authority. Nothing passes “the angel with the flaming sword” to be placed upon your altar unless it be apart of “the fluid area of your consent.” This is your crucial link with the eternal. Howard Thurman Inward Sea Every moment and every event of every man’s (sic) life on earth plants something in his soul. Thomas Merton New Seeds of Contemplation Harmony, friendliness, community are great goods. Social harmony is for us the summum bonum – the great good. Anything that subverts, that undermines this sought-after good, is to be avoided like the plague. Anger, resentment, lust for revenge, even success through aggressive competi- tiveness, are corrosive of this good. To forgive is not just to be altruistic. It is the best form of self-interest. What dehumanizes you inexorably dehumanizes me. It gives people re- silience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them. Desmond Tutu No Future Without Forgiveness