Quotes and Readings of the Day

Deuteronomy 11:1-12

Rewards for Obedience


You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always. Remember today that it was not your children (who have not known or seen the discipline of the Lord your God), but it is you who must acknowledge his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land; what he did to the Egyptian army, to their horses and chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, so that the Lord has destroyed them to this day; what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab son of Reuben, how in the midst of all Israel the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, their tents, and every living being in their company; for it is your own eyes that have seen every great deed that the Lord did.

Keep, then, this entire commandment that I am commanding you today, so that you may have strength to go in and occupy the land that you are crossing over to occupy, and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

Today's Gospel Reading: John 1:1-18

From the New Revised Standard Version. Reprinted with permission from HarperBibles.

TAGS: Bible, Bible Reading, Deuteronomy, Christianity

Numbers 15:17-15:26

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:

When you enter the land to which I am taking you and you eat of the bread of the land, you shall set some aside as a gift to the Lord: as the first yield of your baking, you shall set aside a loaf as a gift; you shall set it aside as a gift like the gift from the threshing floor. You shall make a gift to the Lord from the first yield of your baking, throughout the ages.

If you unwittingly fail to observe any one of the commandments that the Lord has declared to Moses--anything that the Lord has enjoined upon you through Moses--from the day that the Lord gave the commandment and on through the ages: If this was done unwittingly, through the inadvertence of the community, the whole community shall present one bull of the herd as a burnt offering of pleasing odor to the Lord, with its proper meal offering and libation, and one he-goat as a sin offering. The priest shall make expiation for the whole Israelite community and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and for their error they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord and their sin offering before the Lord. The whole Israelite community and the stranger residing among them shall be forgiven, for it happened to the entire people through error.

From Parshat Shelakh. From THE TANAKH: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. Used by permission.

TAGS: Torah, Torah Reading, Judaism, Numbers

A peaceful sorrow at home is best I'll ever be able to offer the world, in the end, and so I told my Desolation Angels goodbye. A new life for me.

-Jack Kerouac

TAGS: Angel Quote, Angels, Peaceful, Peaceful Sorrow, Sorrow, Jack Kerouac

[I]ndulge in lust a little, and like the child it grows apace. The wise man hates it therefore; who would take poison for food? Every sorrow is increased and cherished by the offices of lust. If there is no lustful desire, the risings of sorrow are not produced, the wise man seeing the bitterness of sorrow, stamps out and destroys the risings of desire;...

-Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King

From 365 Buddha: Daily Meditations, edited by Jeff Schmidt. Reprinted by arrangement with Tarcher/Putnam, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

TAGS: Buddhism, Buddhist Quote, Sorrow, Wise Man, Lust, Wise, Risings, Lustful Desire, Desire, Ndulge, Child, Poison

I don't hate somebody. I don't have feelings like that. I'm on a higher path.

-Heidi Montag

TAGS: Entertainment Quote, Celebrities, Spiritual, Hate, Celebrity Spirituality, Dont Hate, Entertainment, Dont, Feelings, Path, Faith

I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings.

-William Sloane Coffin

TAGS: Bible, Christian Quote, Christianity

Instead of opening your oven door to check on your dinner, use the oven timer to measure how much more cooking needs to be done. If you open the oven before time is up, it takes more heat and energy to cook it – and more time before you get to chow down.

TAGS: Eco Tips

In order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.

-Henry Christopher Bailey

TAGS: Inspiration Quote, Motivational Quote, Realist, Belief, Miracles, Henry Christopher Bailey

Our knowledge of God must lead to a more intimate relationship with Him or we run the risk of becoming Pharisees.

-Douglas Rumford

TAGS: Evangelical, Evangelical Quote, Christianity

We load up on oat bran in the morning so we'll live forever. Then we spend the rest of the day living like there's no tomorrow.

-Lee Iacocca

TAGS: Health Quote

Blame does not disturb him, Nor does praise delight him. He neither rejoices in life, Nor fears death. His mind is calm. Never seeking the solitude of the forest, Nor running from the crowd. Always and everywhere, He is one and the same.

Ashtavakra Gita 18:99-100

From "The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita," by Thomas Byrom, 1990. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston. www.shambhala.com.

TAGS: Ashtavakra Gita, Hindu Quote, Hinduism

Thought of the Day Remember that unpleasant feelings will pass. Notice rather than react.

-Barbara Ann Kipfer

From Self Meditation. Reprinted with permission from Workman Publishing Inc.

TAGS: Glow, Holistic Living Quote, Spirituality, Holistic Living

The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.

-G.K. Chesterton

TAGS: Inspiration Quote, Appreciation

The love of people is at the same time a love for God. For when we love one, we necessarily love one's handiwork.

-Judah Low

Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc.

TAGS: Judaism, Jewish Quote

When you worship, you are aware of your separateness from God; you are the subject and he is the object. The more you worship, the more you acquire this sense of separateness from God. Union with God comes when this sense of your separateness from God is stripped away.

-Qushayri, "Risalah"

From "366 Readings From Islam," translated by Robert Van der Weyer. Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. Used with permission of John Hunt Publishing, United Kingdom.

TAGS: Islam, Muslim Quote, Muslim

Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.

-Marianne Williamson

TAGS: Relationship Quotes, Relationships, Miracle