Living a Good Life
October and November Series
Living Through Love
November 14, 2021 • Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell
“It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know. We all know people who are so much afraid of pain that they shut themselves up like clams in a shell and, giving out nothing, receive nothing and therefore shrink until life is a mere living death.” Eleanor Roosevelt “Love is our only reason for living and the only purpose of life. We live for the sake of love, and we live seeking love… it is not surprising that we keep looking for love. All of us are nothing but vibrations of love. We are sustained by love, and in the end, we merge back into love…” Swami Muktananda “I live my life with love. I live my life with compassion. I live my life hoping for the best for absolutely everyone, no matter how they feel about me. And when you live that way, it’s amazing how beautiful every day can be.” Anne Hathaway “I do assert that one prepares for eternity not by being religious and keeping the rules, but by living fully, loving wastefully, and daring to be all that each of us has the capacity to be.” John Shelby Spong “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” Mother Teresa
The Anticipation of New Beginnings
November 7, 2021 • Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell
“Every moment is a fresh beginning.” T.S. Eliot “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” Seneca “New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” Lao Tzu “Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over.” Guy Finley “Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction.” Germany Kent “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” Oprah Winfrey “Oh, my friend, it’s not what they take away from you that counts. It’s what you do with what you have left.” Hubert Humphrey “There’s a difference between giving up and starting over.” Unknown
Living in Trust
October 31, 2021 • Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell
“To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark, that is faith.” Charles H. Spurgeon “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Corrie Ten Boom “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “Happy moments, praise God. Difficult moments, seek God. Quiet moments, worship God. Painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God.” Rick Warren “Fear is the glue that keeps you stuck. Faith is the solvent that sets you free.” Shannon L. Alder “Faith is like wi-fi. It’s invisible but it has the power to connect you to what you need.” Unknown “Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” Unknown
Living in Right Relationship
October 24, 2021 • Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell
“In justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “Justice is the virtue we’d rather have done unto others than practiced on ourselves.” Jonathan V. Last “The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.” Aristotle “In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” Albert Einstein “Justice is at the heart of other-related morality; it is the foundation for the virtue of treating others with respect and dignity.” Paul TP Wong “There is no true peace without fairness, truth, justice, and solidarity.” Pope John Paul II “Fairness is what justice really is.” Potter Stewart “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King Jr.
Betcha Can't Eat Just One
October 17, 2021 • Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell
“Moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have an alternative.” Henry Kissinger “We lost our way and allowed greed and excess to become the twin pillars of too much of the financial culture. We became a society utterly absorbed in consumption and dismissive of moderation.” Tom Brokaw “Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.” Saint Augustine “If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.” Epictetus “My motto is: Live every day to the fullest….in moderation.” Lindsay Lohan “Moderation is the secret of survival.” Manly Hal “Joy, temperance, and repose, slam the door on the doctor’s nose.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Courage, Strength, and Resilience
October 10, 2021 • Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell
“Patience and fortitude conquer all things.” Ralph Waldo Emerson “Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues.” John Locke “Courage is not a virtue or value among other personal values like love or fidelity. It is the foundation that underlies and gives reality to all other future and personal values.” Rollo May “Courage is the most important of the all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” Maya Angelou “Resilience is our ability to bounce back from life’s challenges and unforeseen difficulties, providing mental protection from emotional and mental disorders.” Michael Rutter “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” Bob Marley
Living Deliberately
October 3, 2021 • Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell
“One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.” Henry David Thoreau “It’s not about ‘what can I accomplish?’ But ‘what do I want to accomplish?’ Paradigm shift.” Brene Brown “The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t.” Joshua Becker “Simplicity of living, if deliberately chosen, implies a compassionate approach to life. It means that we are choosing to live our daily lives with some degree of conscious appreciation of the condition of the rest of the world.” Duane Elgin “When the basis for your actions is inner alignment with the present moment, your actions become empowered by the intelligence of life itself.” Eckhart Tolle “When your intention is clear, so is the way.” Alan Cohen