Spiritual Quote of the Day (Karen Armstrong, on Being ‘Twinned With an Enemy’)

“Remember that we can become twinned with an enemy and come to resemble him. Our hatred may become an alter ego, a part of our identity.” — British religion scholar Karen Armstrong, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life (2010)

Quote of the Day (Susan Sontag, on Compassion, ‘An Unstable Emotion’)

“Compassion is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action, or it withers. The question of what to do with the feelings that have been aroused, the knowledge that has been communicated. If one feels that there is nothing 'we' can do—but who is that 'we'?—and nothing 'they' can do either—and who are 'they'—then one starts to get bored, cynical, apathetic.” — American critic, novelist, filmmaker, philosopher, teacher, and political activist Susan Sontag (1933-2004), Regarding the Pain of Others (2002)

Quote of the Day (Steven Yeun, on ‘Compassion and Grace’)

“Judgment and shame is a lonely place, but compassion and grace is where we can all meet.”—American actor Steven Yeun quoted by Jonathan Abrams, “Steven Yeun Wins His First Emmy,” The New York Times, Jan. 15, 2024

The image accompanying this post, of Steven Yeun speaking on The Walking Dead, at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con International in that city’s convention center, was taken July 10, 2015, by Gage Skidmore of Peoria, AZ.

Song Lyric of the Day (Gordon Lightfoot, on the Necessity of “Rainy Day People’)

“Rainy day people always seem to know when you're feeling blue
High-stepping strutters who land in the gutters sometimes need one, too.”—Canadian folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023), “Rainy Day People,” from his Cold on the Shoulder LP (1975)
 
I came to Gordon Lightfoot secondhand, through relatives who couldn’t stop playing him. The repetition of all those songs on the turntable got a bit too much for me in my teenage years.
 
Nearly five decades later, I see these tunes differently—shining with craft and, as seen in the lyrics above, understated melancholy, sympathy, and compassion. (In a different vein, I am deeply fond of his epic “Canadian Railroad Trilogy.”) So I join now with the many music fans worldwide who mourn “Gord’s” passing.

(For a concise but extremely thoughtful consideration of how Lightfoot maintained his religious belief—despite multiple problems with his health and relationships over the years—I urge you to read Paul Asay’s post, “What Gordon Lightfoot Taught Me About Faith,” on the blog “Plugged In.”)

Quote of the Day (Poet Patrick Kavanagh, on Being ‘Lost in Compassion's Ecstasy’)

“And you must go inland and be
Lost in compassion's ecstasy
Where suffering soars in summer air 
the millstone has become a star."—Irish poet and novelist Patrick Kavanagh (1904-1967), “Prelude,” in Irish Poems, edited by Matthew McGuire (2011)

Quote of the Day (Kate Otto, on ‘Making a Positive Difference in the World’)

“Unlike ever before in history, you and I can make a positive difference in the world, whether that world is overseas or our own backyard. Our compassion and thoughtfulness are no longer geographically constrained to the people immediately in our daily interactions.”— Kate Otto, Everyday Ambassador: Make a Difference by Connecting in a Disconnected World (2015)

Quote of the Day (Pope Francis, on When We ‘Touch the Flesh of Christ’)

“We touch the flesh of Christ in he who's outcast, hungry, thirsty, naked, jailed, ill, unemployed, persecuted, looking for refuge.”—Pope Francis, The Name of God Is Mercy (2015)

Quote of the Day (Psalm 112, on How ‘Light Dawns for the Upright’)

“Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,

    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.” —Psalm 112: 4 (New International Version)

I took this photo a year ago last month, when I was down on vacation in Hilton Head, S.C.