“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” …
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama .. little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day…
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Martin Luther King Jr., from his speech delivered at the Lincoln memorial in Washington D.C. on this day in 1963

“even on back roads
I find I have velocity
and direction

where
I have come from
I’m not quite sure
where I am going
I don’t much care

the sign says Nirvana
I’m not there though
I only know
I am somewhere south of there
filled with this feeling
and aware of it

strange
how I keep leaving behind
the very thing
I am looking for
but then life is for living
time is a spiral
and every road
the road home”

Ric Masten (1929 – 2008), Unitarian Universalist minister and poet

“Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired…

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910 – 1997), born on this day

“Stillness is our most intense mode of action. It is in our moments of deep quiet that is born every idea, emotion, and drive which we eventually honor with the name of action. We reach highest in meditation, and farthest in prayer. In stillness every human being is great.”

Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990), composer and conductor, born on this day

“O God, may we join the human race in daring to live in the prophetic spirit: seeking inspiration like the seers and sages of this and other lands, judging the past as they, acting on the present like them, envisioning a new and nobler era of the spirit.
May our doctrines and forms fit the soul as the limbs fit the body: growing out of it, growing with it.
May we have communities for the whole person: truth for the mind, good works for the hands, love for the heart; and for the soul that aspiring after perfection, that unfaltering faith in life, which like lightning in the clouds, shines brightest when elsewhere it is most dark.”

Theodore Parker (1810 – 1860), Unitarian minister, transcendentalist, abolitionist and social reformer, born on this day

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

“It is time to abolish human exploitation once and for all, and to recognize the equal and unconditional dignity of each and every individual. Today, let us remember the victims and freedom fighters of the past so that they may inspire future generations to build just societies.”

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO

International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief

“At the center of religion is love. I love you and I forgive you. I am like you and you are like me. I love all people. I love the world. I love creating. Everything in our life should be based on love…

We must move into the universe. Mankind must save itself. We must escape the danger of war and politics. We must become astronauts and go out into the universe and discover the God in ourselves.”

Ray Bradbury (1920 – 2012), science fiction writer, born on this day

International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism

“We have to wake up to the fact that everything is connected to everything else. Safety and well-being cannot be individual matters anymore. If another group isn’t safe, there is no way that we can be safe. Taking care of their safety is at the same time taking care of our own safety. Taking care of their well-being is taking care of our own well-being. It’s the mind of discrimination and separation that is at the foundation of all hate and violence.”

From Peace Is This Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh

“We swear by peace and love to stand
Heart to heart and hand in hand
Mark O Spirit and hear us now
Confirming this our Sacred Vow

Druid prayer of unity

The “Sacred Vow” of unity in this prayer is sworn “by peace and love” – the two requisites without which any spiritual communion is invalidated. In every assembly of human beings, there is a wide variety of different opinions, beliefs, and perspectives; each unique viewpoint is essential to prevent abnormal homogenization, wherein people suppress their personal views and maintain a phony unity. A communion of hearts is focalized by an act of intention that includes each unique opinion but goes beyond personal boundaries, entering the circle of Spirit.

The mantle of unity is conferred – can only be conferred – by Spirit, which manifests in many different forms to those who are gathered together. Even to those with a formal religious upbringing, Spirit will be present to each person in the most immediate metaphors and appearances. Like a mountain, Spirit may be approached by many routes, and each route will influence the ways we see the mountain. Spirit offers each of us a vision of unity if we accept what we are uniquely show: that the circle of life in which we stand encircles and includes everything and everyone we have ever known.”

From The Celtic Spirit: Meditations for the Turning Year by Caitlin Matthews

“It is said that if you would have peace of mind, busy yourself with little. But wouldn’t a better saying be do what you must and as required as a rational being created for public life? For this brings not only the peace of mind of doing few things, but the greater peace of doing them well. Since the vast majority of our words and actions are unnecessary, corralling them will create an abundance of leisure and tranquillity. As a result, we shouldn’t forget at each moment to ask, is this one of the unnecessary things? But we must corral not only unnecessary actions but unnecessary thoughts, too, so needless acts don’t tag along after them.”

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.24