the Web Editors

"[Jesus] sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, 'Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.' Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in

"With the people, for the people, by the people. I crack up when I hear it; I say, with the handful, for the handful, by the handful 'cause that's what really happens."

"Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

"Be thankful and repay / Growth with good work and care. / Work done in gratitude, / Kindly, and well, is prayer. / You did not make yourself, / Yet you must keep yourself / By use of other lives.

"The church can only be a counter-community. If it is anything other than that, it has already compromised itself."

- Jacques Ellul

Today we pray for our nation, that we will increase our investment in effective development assistance that helps our brothers and sisters in poor countries lift themselves out of poverty.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

- Mary Oliver, from her poem "The Summer Day"

"To celebrate is to share in a greater joy, to participate in an eternal drama.

God, we thank you for the abundance of food, clean water, and the natural beauty of the earth. We petition on behalf of those who live with the daily realities of hunger, pollution, and poverty.