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In this lecture, Thurman considers the challenges facing those who must simultaneously be religious experts and persons involved in the experience of leading a religious life. The dilemma of incessantly performing priestly duties, he shows, demands that public demonstrations of spiritual competence be exhibited in the service of “needy humanity” even as the professional works out one’s private formation. Thurman emphasizes, however, that intimacy with communities must not come at the expense of…

The third installment of Thurman’s lectures concerns the religious professional’s prayer life. Thurman emphasizes that the act of praying must be more than a demonstration of professional skill, it is a practice, rather, of “cultivating the soul.” Thurman illuminates the dangers of limiting devotion to oratorical instrumentation or reducing the related practice of love to a technique. He encourages the religious professional to devote time to the private life and to employ meditation as a method…

The third installment of Thurman’s lectures concerns the religious professional’s prayer life. Thurman emphasizes that the act of praying must be more than a demonstration of professional skill, it is a practice, rather, of “cultivating the soul.” Thurman illuminates the dangers of limiting devotion to oratorical instrumentation or reducing the related practice of love to a technique. He encourages the religious professional to devote time to the private life and to employ meditation as a method…

In this recording, Thurman discusses techniques used for surviving seemingly unsurvivable situations. He then tells an anecdote about a time he had his back against the wall, and how he got out of it. Thurman states that if one can’t differentiate between their organization and their self, then they’ll become lost. Thurman also advises on ways to solve one's problems. He says to take one’s problem, and to put it in the widest context possible to be able to fully understand it and find a…

Thurman starts this recording by telling multiple anecdotes that focus on the idea of sense of self, and the idea that people are victims to low expectations. He then proceeds to talk about how he wants to question how people in power got there, and the idea of mutual communication between people. He not only talks about relationships between people, but also how to escape one's own self destruction. Thurman also gives his opinions on the world that humans have created and how society is set up.…

Thurman discusses the idea of brotherhood. He talks about the exclusiveness that is associated with brotherhood and the difference in how Jesus and Paul view it. Paul says that you have to be a follower of Christ to be part of the brotherhood, and Jesus says you just have to be born to be a brother. The basis of the Jesus doctrine of brotherhood is that God is the creator, so everyone is a part of God, and therefore all are brothers because of that virtue. God never discriminated, so neither…

In this commentary and conversation on Jesus and the Disinherited, Thurman states that to be part of the brotherhood of man one has to be a believer of Christ, which a person becomes once they believe. Christians have a way to clean themselves of impurities, or in other words, have a permanently saved soul. Thurman speaks to Jesus’ definition of brotherhood and the fact that it will destroy civilizations because it’s different from the natural brotherhood that human societies have created…

In this sermon, Thurman explores the temptations of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. He urges listeners to think about the responsibility they have over their individual lives. Thurman says that Jesus went into the wilderness to wrestle the question: "What shall I do with my life?" How shall we live true to our conscience, even as we are caught in the demands of forces we cannot control? What is worthy of our ultimate commitment? It is our decisive choices, for and against, that make up the meaning…

This recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." Thurman's introductory remarks in this recording mention the tension that rests between isolation and…

This recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." In this recording, Howard Thurman reflects with the participants what it means to live into one's calling as…