Friday, April 20, 2007
the loneliness
"In the conflicts between man and man, between group and group, between nation and nation, the loneliness of the seeker for community is sometimes unendurable. The radical tension between good and evil, as man sees it and feels it, does not have the last word about the meaning of life and the nature of existence. There is a spirit in man and in the world working always against the thing that destroys and lays waste. Always he must know that the contradictions of life are not final or ultimate; he must distinguish between failure and a many-sided awareness so that he will not mistake conformity for harmony, uniformity for synthesis. He will know that for all men to be alike is the death of life in man, and yet perceive harmony that transcends all diversities and in which diversity finds its richness and significance."
Howard Thurman
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2 comments:
Bethany,
Sounds like someone is very ill (last two posts). I have visited hospitals more during the past 6 months than probably all the previous 56 years. In June I will stay there for about a week after my artificial knee is installed.
Very nice quote, but I don't remember ever seeing the author's name. Guess I'll go google it! I especially like thought about discerning harmony from conformity. Very tough. We are the diverse members of a body, not the indistinguishable units of a set.
May God grant your family healing and peace.
Kent
better not tell you know who what Granny went in for.
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