We punish the body and strip the earth. And we do it in pursuit of a so-called holiness that smacks of the bogus, that denies the gifts of God, that makes us marauders on the earth.

In our dreams lies our unfinished work for the world.

Compassion is not sympathy. Compassion is mercy. It is a commitment to take responsibility for the suffering of others.

When I get on the internet and hide behind a false identity, and then allow that hiding to free me from the standards of decency, to begin to use language I would never use in front of my mother, all of a sudden, there's nothing between me and you, but worse than that, there's nothing between me and my worst self.

Hope grows in us, despite our moments of darkness, regardless of our regular bouts of depression.

We must now surrender to the obligation to understand and to care. We must surrender ourselves to becoming conscious, thinking members of the human race. We must put down the temptation to powerlessness and surrender to the questions of the moment.

June is the time for being in the world in new ways, for throwing off the cold and dark spots of life.