Reflection
If we harden our hearts against one another, our basic goodness cannot break through. “We all carry a spark of the divine within us; a seed of basic goodness . Our work is to grow this spark into a mighty flame. We can help ourselves and each other do this by choosing to acknowledge that basic goodness, even in the midst of conflict. We need to keep our hearts open. The physical heart keeps blood pumping; the human heart keeps love flowing.” We are meant to be channels of God’s goodness and love for one another and all creation.
Prayer
Help us to love others as you have loved us.
Action
Examine what it is in you that may keep the spark of God’s love from growingwithin you. What can set you free?
Suggested Reading
Don’t you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you. You don’t belong to yourselves.
1Corinthians 6:19
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
2 Cor 4:7-15
I can do everything through God who gives me strength.
Phil 4:13
The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all directions.
Chanakya
There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness, and truth.
Leo Tolstoy
Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.
Pablo Casals
Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.
Anne Frank
We are each made for goodness, love and compassion. Our lives are transformed as much as the world is when we live with these truths.
Desmond Tutu
I still believe in the nonviolent Jesus and the basic human goodness present in all of us.
Martin Sheen