Browse Items (102 total)

In this recording, Thurman reflects on the ways in which our needs are so often met by people we do not know and how we are indebted to those unknown benefactors. In turn, we must try to be generous with others even when there is no possibility of merit or recognition.

In this presentation, Thurman discusses the integrity of human speech. Words embody meanings communities attribute to them and become the basis of the verbal articulation of thought. While words inadequately convey the vastness of all that a person is capable of feeling, human speech must strive for honesty so that what we say reveals rather than conceals who we are.

In this recording, Thurman explores the idea of order and logic in life through the lens of Psalm 139 and a prose poem based on the phrase, "Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thoughts afar off."

Thurman suggests that evidence of God having searched and known us is found in the details of our lives that demonstrate order and logic in our actions and experiences. Thurman concludes, "the whole context of my life has…

This recording has two parts.
In the first message, Howard Thurman describes human desire to "be relieved of the pressure of anxiety that comes from finding no escape from the things that make life hard." Quiet times of meditation can give us the space to take a long look at our own situation and "give wings to our longings." The peace we can experience during crisis is contained within the crisis itself, which means it must end, without us knowing whether the situation will be better or worse…

In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reads from a letter that his friend from Canada sends him. Within the letter, the listener hears of a young boy who makes the decision to participate in a blood transfusion for his sister. In agreeing to participate in the transfusion, the boy misunderstood, and assumed that he would have to die in order to save his younger sister's life. Thurman sees this boy's misunderstanding as a "moment of truth." The moment of truth speaks to one's…

In his third sermon regarding Jesus and the tempter, Thurman discusses the dilemma one faces when deciding whether personal ascent to power will compromise one's spiritual integrity. It is possible, Thurman says, that Jesus considered how ruling over the kingdoms of the world might position him to further the aims of God’s kingdom. Perhaps Jesus contemplated the potential of his teaching, healing, and miracle-working power backed by political authority. However, Thurman warns that “the nerve…

In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman uses his text, "The Inward Journey," to discern what it means to live a life of intentionality. He holds up the orderly life and the life of crisis as the two ways one may live their life. He continues that regardless of one's life orientation, that one must wrestle with the reality of failure being embedded into the human experience. Thurman notes that life is a pattern that is continually unfolding, revealing a wider pattern, and…

This sermon is the second of nine in a series of sermons given in Marsh Chapel that are titled "The Inward Journey." In this sermon, Thurman reflects upon Jacob Boehme's philosophical text "The Mystic Will." Thurman uses this text to make sense of the order that is embedded in the natural world. He notes that it is a natural inclination for humans to make sense of the order of their life by means of external resources; however, with the help of Boehme's writing, Thurman emphasizes that one must…

This sermon is the first of nine in a series of sermons given in Marsh Chapel that are titled "The Inward Journey." In this sermon, Thurman questions the ways in which one is seeking fullness, freedom, and responsibility. Though it is tempting to seek these ideals of the human spirit in the external world, Thurman notes that it is within the internal spirit, the voice of the genuine that is within all, that one may actualize one's potential for fullness, freedom, and responsibility. It is in…

In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon his writing within, "The Inward Journey," reflecting upon what it means to obtain perfection. He critiques narratives of linearity being the means of perfection, naming such notions as harmful and unhelpful. Thurman leans into the dynamic nature of life, naming perfection as an individual journey which unfolds on its own, personal terms.

In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon his…