Browse Items (290 total)

In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reflects upon the Thanksgiving season, asking the question: "What is the nature of your own gratitude?" He calls the listener to discern whether or not they have paused to look at their life in the present moment and identifies the present moment as a gift. When considering the task of understanding the present moment as a gift, mercy and gratitude function as the means to allow oneself to be present in the moment. Thurman claims that our…

In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman places the Negro Spiritual "Deep is the River, My Home is Over Jordan," and Langston Hughes' "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" in conversation with one another. He likens the life of a river to the movement of human existence: the river begins as a mere stream, then becomes a river wearing down the riverbanks, then disperses itself into a wider ocean. As the river shifts and bends, Thurman claims, the human life also bends and shifts,…

This message was broadcast as part of the "We Believe" television series on March 24, 1961. In the meditation, Thurman discusses the analogy of life as a river, as it flows, and floods, and returns to calm.

Thurman addresses the manifestations of the principle of alternation in life, ranging from the experiences of the individual to changes that affect the world. This alternation requires a “fallow period” from man, as life wanes, and a period of quiet restoration before it prepares to wax again. Thurman explains that this anxiety-inducing ebb is part of a natural, contradictory cycle, and that when man understands that the flow will come again, they can be at peace knowing that the contradictions…

Thurman references colorful allegories and metaphors in this recording to remind us that focusing on the past can prevent one’s self from achieving fulfillment and helping those yet-to-come. His most powerful reference is to the “new and old wood” of an apple tree. He states clearly that fruit is only born on the new wood, and that the function of old wood is to bear that new wood. He connects this metaphor to the book of Hebrew to explain that without the past, the present has no meaning, and…

In this recording within the We Believe series, Howard Thurman unpacks his understanding of love, the experience of love, and the nature of love. Thurman describes love at its best to be an involvement with the "innermost center of the beloved." Thurman describes the experience of love as being "totally dealt with," noting that trust, responsibility, and consent all point to the creative moment that composes one's understanding of "love." Love is shared, love is transcendent, and love speaks to…

In this recording, Thurman discusses the experiences of suffering and joy in human life. He explores an interpretation of the phrase "love suffereth long" in which our love is expressed through actions that make us vulnerable in our desperate attempt to care for another person.

In this recording, Thurman explores the value of learning the patience of unanswered prayer. He suggests that this patience can lead away from a focus on the hunger for something that has not come to pass. Instead, we can focus on what it can mean to deal with that hunger and how it can help us understand ourselves.

He then offers a number of ways in which we can help answer the question, "What do you do with the frustrations of your own life?"

In "Prayers," Thurman reads two prayers. The first is about responsibilities, needs, and our desire to help others without knowing how. The second is Psalm 139.

In this recording, Thurman first cautions us to think twice before we move our neighbor's landmarks. This means to be aware that we are never able to fully understand another person's perspective and path through life. "To know a man is to know concerning his landmarks, for these are his points of referral that stand out beyond and above all the traffic of his life, advising and tutoring him in his journey through life and beyond."

Thurman then explores the difficult yet important task of…