Quotes and Readings of the Day

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Psalm 46

God's Defense of His City and People
To the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song.
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Come, behold the works of the LORD;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
"Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth."
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Note: Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 12:14-21. Find a Bible translation.

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

TAGS: Bible, Bible Reading, Christian, Psalm

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Genesis 48:17-48:22

When Joseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on Ephraim's head, he thought it wrong; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's. "Not so, Father," Joseph said to his father, "for the other is the first-born; place your right hand on his head." But his father objected, saying, "I know, my son, I know. He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great. Yet his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall be plentiful enough for nations." So he blessed them that day, saving, "By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh." Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die; but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. And now, I assign to you one portion more than to your brothers, which I wrested from the Amorites with my sword and bow."

From Parshat Vayekhi. 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, Genesis

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Angel-like protection [is] offered to everyone, even those who don’t want us looking after them.

-Curtis Sliwa

From "Angels Around Us." Compiled by Karen Maguire. Reprinted by arrangement with Andrews McMeel Publishing.

TAGS: Angel Quote, Angels, Angel Like, Protection, Curtis Sliwa

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"I, without grasping, will pass beyond sorrow, And I will attain nirvana," one says. Whoever grasps like this Has great grasping.

-Nagarjuna; Mulamadhyamaka-Karika

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

TAGS: 365 Buddha, Buddhist Quote, Buddhism, Buddha, Grasping, Sorrow

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Who you are has not much to do with what you are becoming, because the qualities you bring to any faith--whether it's honed by family, religion, or lack of religion whatever it is--you bring it to wherever you're going. The idea of faith itself, that you believe or you don't believe in certain things, will continue no matter what faith you are in. You will learn to question all.

-Goldie Hawn

TAGS: Entertainment Quote, Youre, Celebrities, Family, Religion, Spiritual, Celebrity Spirituality, Entertainment, Faith

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If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.

-John 14:7 (Revised Standard Version)

TAGS: Bible, Christian Quote, Christianity

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Ensure that your wall ceilings are properly insulated, trapping heat and saving you money on your energy bill.

TAGS: Eco Tips

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Trust in Allah, but tie your camel.

-Islamic saying

TAGS: Inspiration Quote, Allah, Camel, Faith, Taking Action, Religion

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Sin is like quicksand: Your own efforts only make you sink deeper. Only an outside hand can pull you out.

-Unknown?

TAGS: Evangelical, Evangelical Quote, Christianity

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Running, walking, eventually inching down that path to old age is a welcome goal for any woman, especially one who has had breast cancer.

-Marisa Weiss, M.D.

TAGS: Health Quote

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Justice may be called good when it acts impartially toward enemies, strangers and friends. The wealth of those who possess justice will not perish; rather it will be their posterity's soothing security.

Tirukkural 12: 111-112

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

TAGS: Tirukkural, Hindu Quote, Hinduism, Tirukkal

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Intimacy means that we're safe enough to reveal the truth about ourselves in all its creative chaos. If a space is created in which two people are totally free to reveal their walls, then those walls, in time, will come down.

-Marianne Williamson

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

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Believe those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it.

-Andre Gide

TAGS: Inspiration Quote, Belief, Andre Gide, Truth, Doubt

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You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly. Aaron and his sons shall set them up in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain which is over [the Ark of] the Pact, [to burn] from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a due from the Israelites for all time, throughout the ages. You shall bring forward your brother Aaron, with his sons, from among the Israelites, to serve Me as priests: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron. Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment. Next you shall instruct all who are skillful, whom I have endowed with the gift of skill, to make Aaron's vestments, for consecrating him to serve Me as priest. These are the vestments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a fringed tunic, a headdress, and a sash. They shall make those sacral vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons, for priestly service to Me; they, therefore, shall receive the gold, the blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and the fine linen. They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, worked into designs. It shall have two shoulder-pieces attached; they shall be attached at its two ends. And the decorated band that is upon it shall be made like it, of one piece with it: of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen. Then take two lazuli stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. On the two stones you shall make seal engravings--the work of a lapidary--of the names of the sons of Israel. Having bordered them with frames of gold, attach the two stones to the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, as stones for remembrance of the Israelite people, whose names Aaron shall carry upon his two shoulder-pieces for remembrance before the Lord.

-Exodus 27:20-28:12

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

TAGS: Judaism, Jewish Quote

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During sleep the spirit is set free. Behold how it rejoices in the place [of freedom]. The wicked is delivered from his wickedness; the prisoner escapes the sorrow of his confinement. The world appears wide, but in truth is very narrow. Its laughter lamentation, its glory shame.

-Rumi

Rumi, "Mathnawi"

From "The Bounty of Allah," translated by Aneela Khalid Arshed. Copyright 1999. All rights reserved. Used with permission of The Crossroad Publishing Company, New York.

TAGS: Rumi, Islam Quote, Islam, Spirituality

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In your hectic life, during your impossibly busy day, it's important to see the beauty in life. Take a second to look at and appreciate something beautiful: flowers, birds, trees, art, music, poetry, people. Seeing beauty is free and easy. There's always something or someone beautiful around you. All creations of God. Just like you! Seeing beauty, however, takes learning to look a little deeper. You have to really "look" to see the hidden beauty sometimes. Beauty isn’t always obvious. This is where your spiritual practice can really help. Tapping into your spiritual senses brings beautiful realizations and revelations, through God's grace.

-Norris Chumley

TAGS: Weight Loss

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There is no need to go searching for a remedy for the evils of the time. The remedy already exists--it is the gift of one's self to those who have fallen so low that even hope fails them. Open wide your heart.

-Rene Bazin

TAGS: Relationships Quotes, Relationships, Bitterness, Time, Heart