Quotes and Readings of the Day

Deuteronomy 12:11-12:28

Then you must bring everything that I command you to the site where the Lord your God will choose to establish His name: your burnt offerings and other sacrifices, your tithes and contributions, and all the choice votive offerings that you vow to the Lord. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God with your sons and daughters and with your male and female slaves, along with the Levite in your settlements, for he has no territorial allotment among you.

Take care not to sacrifice your burnt offerings in any place you like, but only in the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribal territories. There you shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and there you shall observe all that I enjoin upon you. But whenever you desire, you may slaughter and eat meat in any of your settlements, according to the blessing that the Lord your God has granted you. The unclean and the clean alike may partake of it, as of the gazelle and the deer. But you must not partake of the blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

You may not partake in your settlements of the tithes of your new grain or wine or oil, or of the firstlings of your herds and flocks, or of any of the votive offerings that you vow, or of your freewill offerings, or of your contributions. These you must consume before the Lord your God in the place that the Lord your God will choose--you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite in your settlements--happy before the Lord your God in all your undertakings. Be sure not to neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.

When the Lord enlarges your territory, as He has promised you, and you say, "I shall eat some meat," for you have the urge to eat meat, you may eat meat whenever you wish. If the place where the Lord has chosen to establish His name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of the cattle or sheep that the Lord gives you, as I have instructed you; and you may eat to your heart's content in your settlements. Eat it, however, as the gazelle and the deer are eaten: the unclean may eat it together with the clean. But make sure that you do not partake of the blood; for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the life with the flesh. You must not partake of it; you must pour it out on the ground like water: you must not partake of it, in order that it may go well with you and with your descendants to come, for you will be doing what is right in the sight of the Lord.

But such sacred and votive donations as you may have shall be taken by you to the site that the Lord will choose. You shall offer your burnt offerings, both the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and of your other sacrifices, the blood shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and you shall eat the flesh.

Be careful to heed all these commandments that I enjoin upon you; thus it will go well with you and with your descendants after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

From Parshat Re'eh. 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, Deuteronomy

The more aware you become of each and every moment, the more aware you will be of angelic presence.

-Margaret Neylon

From the book, An Angel a Day by Margaret Neylon. © Margaret Neylon 2003. Published by arrangement with Thorsons / Element.

TAGS: Angel Quote, Angels, Aware, Angelic Presence, Margaret Neylon

The man who has no evil cannot be hurt by evil.

-Buddha

From Sayings of the Buddha: Reflections for Every Day, by William Wray, 2004. Reprinted by arrangement with Arcturus Publishing, London. Book available in the U.S. through Barnes & Noble, www.bn.com

TAGS: Buddhism, Buddhist Quote, Evil

I was always told I was special. And I was also assured that I had a gift and a purpose.

-Ashley Judd

TAGS: Entertainment Quote, Celebrities, Special, Celebrity Spirituality, Purpose, Entertainment, Motivation

Let God's promises shine on your problems.

-Corrie ten Boom

TAGS: Bible, Christian Quote, Christianity, Problems

He who has realized by himself his souls' Self Will be worshiped by all other souls. So potent is the power acquired through austerity That those who attain it may even stay the moment of death.

Tirukkural 27: 268-269

Excerpted from the Tirukkural, translated by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Copyright Himalayan Academy Publications, www.himalayanacademy.com.

TAGS: Tirukkural, Hindu Quote, Hinduism, Tirukkal

Any time that is not spent on love is wasted.

-Tasso

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

Happiness is the delicate balance between what one is and what one has.

-F. H. Denison

TAGS: Inspiration Quote, Happiness, Delicate Balance, Delicate, Character, Appreciation

A person should be more concerned with spiritual than with material matters, but another person's material welfare is his own spiritual concern.

-Rabbi Israel Salanter

As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin.

TAGS: Judaism, Jewish Quote

I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one’s inner life. And that too is a deed.

-Etty Hillesum

TAGS: Inspiration Quote, Picture, Inner Life, Creativity, Growth, Etty Hillesum