Quotes and Readings of the Day

Acts 8:26-40

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Note: Today's Gospel reading is Luke 23:13-25

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

TAGS: Bible, Bible Reading, Christian, Acts

Numbers 20:22-21:20

Setting out from Kadesh, the Israelites arrived in a body at Mount Hor. At Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Let Aaron be gathered to his kin: he is not to enter the land that I have assigned to the Israelite people, because you disobeyed my command about the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up on Mount Hor. Strip Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar. There Aaron shall be gathered unto the dead."

Moses did as the Lord had commanded. They ascended Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar, and Aaron died there on the summit of the mountain. When Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, the whole community knew that Aaron had breathed his last. All the house of Israel bewailed Aaron thirty days.

When the Canaanite, king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, learned that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he engaged Israel in battle and took some of them captive. Then Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, "If You deliver this people into our hand, we will proscribe their towns." The Lord heeded Israel's plea and delivered up the Canaanites; and they and their cities were proscribed. So that place was named Hormah.

They set out from Mount Hor by way of the Sea of Reeds to skirt the land of Edom. But the people grew restive on the journey, and the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we have come to loathe this miserable food."

The Lord sent seraph serpents against the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord to take away the serpents from us!" And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a seraph figure and mount it on a standard. And if anyone who is bitten looks at it, he shall recover." Moses made a copper serpent and mounted it on a standard; and when anyone was bitten by a serpent, he would look at the copper serpent and recover.

The Israelites marched on and encamped at Oboth. They set out from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness bordering on Moab to the east. From there they set out and encamped at the wadi Zered. From there they set out and encamped beyond the Arnon, that is, in the wilderness that extends from the territory of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. Therefore the Book of the Wars of the Lord speaks of "... Waheb in Suphah, and the wadis: the Arnon with its tributary wadis, stretched along the settled country of Ar, hugging the territory of Moab ..."

And from there to Beer, which is the well where the Lord said to Moses, "Assemble the people that I may give them water." Then Israel sang this song:

Spring up, O well--sing to it--
The well which the chieftains dug,
Which the nobles of the people started
With maces, with their own staffs.

And from Midbar to Mattanah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, at the peak of Pisgah, overlooking the wasteland.

From Parshat Hukkat-Balak. 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

Springtime is one big angel experience... Raphaels healing influence is most noticeable on Earth through the beauty of nature.

-Terry Lynn Taylor,
“Angel Days”

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

TAGS: Angel Quote, Angels, Experience, Raphaels Healing Influence, Raphaels, Springtime, Angel, Healing, Nature, Terry Lynn TaylorbrAngel Days

If you want to know the past, to know what has caused you, look at yourself in the present, for that is the past’s effect. If you want to know your future, then look at yourself in the present, for that is the cause of the future.

-Majjhima Nikaya

From "The Pocket Buddha Reader," edited by Anne Bancroft, 2000. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com.

TAGS: The Pocket Buddha Reader, Buddhist Quote, Buddhism

I am proud of my religion.

-John Travolta

TAGS: Scientology, Entertainment Quote, Celebrities, Religion, Proud, Celebrity Spirituality, Entertainment, Scientologist

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father.

-John 10:17-18

TAGS: Bible, Christian Quote, Christianity

Sign up for electronic billing at your energy provider and electronic bank statements to reduce unnecessary paper waste.

TAGS: Eco Tips

Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me, and I'll understand.

-Chinese Proverb

TAGS: Inspiration Quote, Memory

The national anthem of hell is, ‘I Did It My Way.’

-Peter Kreeft

TAGS: Evangelical, Evangelical Quote, Christianity

Strokes are preventable and treatable. Prompt treatment of patients experiencing stroke saves lives and reduces disability.

-Charles W. Pickering

TAGS: Health Quote

Those without wealth may one day prosper, but those without Kindness are utterly destitute, and their fortunes never change. Practicing charity without compassion is as inconceivable As realizing Truth without clarity of mind. Before advancing against men weaker than yourself, Ponder when you stood before those more powerful.

Tirukkural 25:248-250

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

TAGS: Tirukkural, Hindu Quote, Hinduism, Tirukkal

Thought of the Day: See your body as a mandala. Through meditation, wind your way inside and discover the center.

-Barbara Ann Kipfer

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

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

Never change a winning game; always change a losing one.

-Bill Tilden

TAGS: Sports Quote, Motivational Quote, Inspirational Quote, Inspiration Quote, Game, Winning Game, Tennis, Win, Change

Prayer cannot bring water to parched field, nor mend a broken bridge, nor rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart and rebuilt a weakened well.

-"Gates of Prayer," the Reform prayer book

TAGS: Judaism, Jewish Quote

The servile earth and the lofty sky: without this opposite the sky would not be so high. The low and high of the earth are winter and spring. The low and high of time are night and day. The low and high of the body are sickness and health. By means of these opposites the world is kept alive; by means of these doubles souls feel fear and hope.

-Rumi

Rumi, "Mathnawi"

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

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.

-Philip Yancey

TAGS: Relationships, Relationships Quotes