Thursday, October 14, 2004

Terrific quote from A. Powell Davies

OMG I love this quotation. I used it this past Sunday as part of a homily during our "Revival"/canvass service.

"Why should any of us be confined within a single area of religious culture? When I read Amos and Jeremiah, I say 'Would to God I were a Jew.' When I read the Parable of the Good Samaritan, I say 'Would I were a Galilean.' When I read the 13th of 1st Corinthians, I wish with all my heart that I might be a Christian after the manner of the Apostle Paul. When I think of Buddha and his Eightfold Path, I say, 'I, too, would be a Buddhist.' And when I remember the trial of Socrates, I say in awe but with exalted spirit, 'Oh that I might be so brave a humanist.' And thus at the end, there is nothing I can say but that, like Emerson and Channing, I want to live with the privilege of the illimitable mind.”
-- A. Powell Davies

I'm memorizing it, I love it so much. Sounds even better being proclaimed from the pulpit. Sounds good said aloud, period. Try it, any reader. Read it out loud and feel the thrill ...

2 comments:

JLGT said...

A. Powell Davies was perhaps the greatest Unitarian minister who ever lived and this is one of his most famous quotes. Channing was another and Emerson is a great Unitarian writer. For more information about Unitarian Universalism, check out www.uua.org. Here is another of Davies' quotes: "Life is just a chance to grow a soul." And another, one of my favorites: The main thing is to find the main thing and then make it the main thing."

JLGT said...

Bless you - - I see you already know about UUism. I pray - - do you? I will for you and Little Warrior.