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PDF Text
Text
Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
394-181_A.mp3
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord,
my strength and my redeemer.
I'm continuing our thinking together about the meaning of love. And today, I want to read a few
verses from Moffatt's translation of the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians.
Love is very patient, very kind. Love knows no jealousy. Love makes no parade, gives itself no
airs, is never rude, never selfish, never irritated, never resentful. Love is never glad when others
go wrong. Love is gladdened by goodness, always slow to expose, always eager to believe the
best, always hopeful, always patient.
The working definition that we are using is this-- love is the experience of being dealt with at a
point in oneself that is beyond all the good and beyond all the evil. To love is to deal with
another person at a point in him that is beyond all the good and beyond all the evil.
There is something in the experience which has with it always a note of security, of emotional
security. And security in its simplest terms means the experience of having one's needs satisfied.
And whoever is able to satisfy one's needs, simple needs or complex needs, the response,
because of this sense of satisfaction, is in terms of not only dependence but in terms of trust, in
terms of confidence, in terms of affection, in terms of love.
It is for this reason that religion insists that God loves man and that it is man's experience of the
love of God which in the first instance enables him to be able to love anyone. I wonder if you
take for granted the fact that so many of your own basic needs are satisfied by life. And if you
take this for granted, then your attitude towards life may not be one of responsibility, of
responsiveness, of reverence, of gratitude. It may be an attitude that is simply callous.
You may decide, for instance, that you elate the fresh air that you breathe and the cool water that
you drink and all of the other simple creature ways by which your needs are satisfied. But if you
reflect upon your total experience of life in this regard, then your attitude towards life will be one
of reverence and towards the creator of life one of trust and confidence.
Now, with this background, let us deal more specifically with the question before us. Love
means in simple, experiential turns, the ability to let one's life be filled with many simple deeds
of gratuitous extras, gratuitous kindnesses, as manifested towards people by whom you are
surrounded.
When I was a boy, I could hardly wait for Thanksgiving, because Thanksgiving meant that
Christmas was in the offing. And from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve midnight, I was a
model boy. I would respond almost instinctively to my mother's needs during that whole period.
For instance, she did not ever see the bottom of the wood box, because I kept it full of wood all
the time. I had a sense of what was vital for her. I can anticipate her needs, all of this because I
1
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
knew that Thanksgiving meant that Christmas was around the corner and when Christmas came,
that I would be rewarded for all of these simple gratuitous extras, by which I had filled my
relationship with mu mother.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Now, this mood that I manifested during that time is an indication. It's a sampling of what
happens all the time in your relationships with people for whom you have this kind of love and
affection. You can sense their needs. You can anticipate their needs. And at the heart of this
anticipation, at the heart of this awareness, there is a kind of clear-cut and definitive
understanding, so that your response to the need is an intelligent response as contrasted merely
with a sentimental or emotional response.
At the center of the dynamics of the feeling, there must be an understanding mind. If I were to
put it in a rather caustic phrase, it would be something like this, that in love, the mind must be as
hard as ice, the heart as warm as a kitchen stove. This is what I mean.
Now, there's a second dimension here. There is the tendency to feel ownership towards the
person that you love and to demand that you will be loved in kind and in quality as the proof that
your love has been received. We want to be loved back.
Now, this is perfectly normal, very natural. But it is my thought that the necessity to be loved
back in exchange for or in return for loving is an extraneous and irrelevant necessity, if I may put
it that way. Love does not-- at its best, love does not demand that love be given back to one in
return.
This is illustrated in a rather melodramatic story written many years ago by Olive Schreiner. She
calls it "The Story of Towser." Towser was a little dog. He sat with his tail in a puddle of mud. It
wasn't raining, except out of his eyes, for he was very sad. Presently, a fine-looking aristocratic
mastiff who lived next door came out of his yard and passed Towser's house, and he saw Towser
weeping. And he stopped.
Towser was a little terrier. He said to Towser, what's the trouble with you, little fellow? Do other
dogs bite you? No, I manage to take care of myself pretty well. Do you get enough to eat? Yes, I
have bones, and occasionally, there's meat on them. Do you have a place to sleep? Yes, I have a
box with some rags in it.
Well, what's the trouble with you? And Towser said, I want to love people. And I want to feel
that people love me. And the mastiff said, love? What is that? Have you ever seen it? No, said
Towser. Have you ever smelled it? No, said Towser. Have you ever tasted it? No. I haven't ever
tasted it. Well, what good is it anyway? And thus applying the pragmatic test to that kind of
reality, the mastiff went on down the street.
Towser got up, shook the water off his tail and the water out of his eyes and went in the opposite
direction. Presently, he saw a ragged newsboy coming, a newsboy who had a very sad face. And
he went running up to the newsboy, literally in a ball of excitement. He didn't know whether to
lick the boy's hands first or his feet. He just wanted him so.
2
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Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
And the boy called him. Doggie? Doggie? And when Towser came very close to him, he kicked
him in the nose. But the lonely boy laughed. There was a singing in Towser's ear now as he went
down the other side of the street. He wasn't so sure about how he felt.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
He came to the outskirts of the village. And there he saw a cottage. The gate was open. He went
through the gate, up the steps, at the door. He looked in. He saw an invalid stretched out on a
bed. He made a noise at the door, which being interpreted was, if you ask me, I'll come in. So the
invalid asked him in.
And Towser found that she was a very lonely person. She had had a dog once upon a time, but he
had gone away somewhere. Towser tried to amuse her during the daytime by catching his tail
with his teeth so as to take her mind off her suffering. And then in the nighttime when he would
hear her cough, he would get up from his pad and walk over by her bed and rub his head against
her hands and lick her fingers to let her know that even though it was nighttime, he knew that she
was suffering, and he cared.
And then one day, the dog that belonged home, came back. And Towser heard the invalid say, I
don't want to give Towser away, but what shall I do with him? Well, Towser didn't want to be
given away. So he went out of the back yard and disappeared. But as he went along, he had the
feeling that the invalid, for the first time in her life, had had an experience with someone to
whom her invalidism was not a burden, because he saw a boy just ahead of him, a boy with a
large piece of meat under his arm.
And a man jumped from behind a tree, accosted the boy, threw him to the ground, and was trying
to take the meat from the boy. And then Towser barked at him furiously. And presently, the man
got up and ran away, because he thought somebody was coming. The boy looked at Towser's
face, purple with rage, and he said, do you try to do that to me after all that your master has done
to me? So he attacked Towser. Well, Towser was thrown into the bushes. The last time I saw
him, says the story, he was stretched out in the road.
Now, what does this mean? That love at its best does not demand requitement. It gives, and in its
giving, it finds its strength and its security and its ability to give more and more and more. This
is our privilege. And this is our opportunity.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in they sight, oh, Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.
3
�
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Title
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We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
Description
An account of the resource
<em>We Believe</em> was a color television program that aired on WHDH-TV, Channel 5, in Boston on weekday mornings at 11:15. From 1958 to 1965, while Howard Thurman was Dean of the Chapel at Boston University, he was the host of the Friday morning show. Each message has a brief introductory section with bells and music before Thurman delivers his short meditation. Some recordings have been edited to remove the intro. In some cases, the Howard Thurman Educational Trust produced tapes with two messages on one recording.<br /><br />"These meditations are no longer than 15 minutes, but highly representative of his style, influence, and search for common ground." - <a href="http://archives.bu.edu/web/howard-thurman">the Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman Collections at Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.</a><br /><br />
<p style="text-align: right;"><em>We Believe</em> program listing in the TV Guide, March 29, 1958</p>
<img src="http://pittsviva.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/webelieve-whdh-boston.png" style="float: right;" alt="webelieve-whdh-boston.png" />
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Descriptions by Dustin Mailman
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Audio with Transcription
<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-181_A.html" ></iframe>
Original Title
Title as transcribed from tape cassette
The Meaning of Love, 1958 Mar 7
Time Period
The decade in which the recording was produced.
1950s
Location
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WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts
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394-181_A
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Thurman, Howard
Title
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The Meaning of Love (1958-03-07)
Date
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1958-03-07
Source
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<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
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audio
Publisher
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<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img style="border-width:0;" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" alt="80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>. 2019.
Description
An account of the resource
In this recording within the We Believe series, Howard Thurman reflects upon a passage from 1 Corinthians to elaborate on his understanding of love. He defines love as "the experience of being dealt with at a point in oneself that is beyond all the good and beyond all the evil. He notes that the love of God functions as the exemplary love to which humanity should strive towards. Thurman's conception of love is not possessive nor transactional, rather, it is interdependent and comes from the heart.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Dustin Mailman
1 Corinthians
affection
community
confidence
dog
experience
interconnectivity
love
Moffatt
Olive Schreiner
ownership
requitment
satisfaction
security
trust
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PDF Text
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Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
394-784.mp3
This is tape number ET37 from the library of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust. Two
meditations by Howard Thurman-- this is side one, entitled, "The Meaning of Love."
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh, Lord,
my Strength and my Redeemer.
May I remind you that if you are interested in receiving transcriptions of my talks, you may get
them by addressing me either here at the channel five or at Marsh Chapel, Boston University. I'm
continuing our thinking together about the meaning of love. And today, I want to read a few
verses from Moffitt's translation of the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians.
Love is very patient, very kind. Love knows no jealousy. Love makes no parade, gives itself no
airs, is never rude, never selfish, never irritated, never resentful. Love is never glad when others
go wrong. Love is gladdened by goodness-- always slow to expose, always eager to believe the
best, always hopeful, always patient.
The working definition that we are using is this-- that love is the experience of being dealt with
at a point in one's self that is beyond all the good and beyond all the evil. To love is to deal with
another person at a point in him that is beyond all the good and beyond all the evil.
There is something in the experience which has with it always a note of security-- of emotional
security. And security in its simplest terms means the experience of having one's needs satisfied.
And whoever is able to satisfy one's needs-- simple needs or complex needs-- the response,
because of this sense of satisfaction, is in terms of not only dependence, but in terms of trust, in
terms of confidence, in terms of affection, in terms of love.
It is for this reason that religion insists that God loves man and that it is man's experience of the
love of God which, in the first instance, enables him to be able to love anyone. I wonder if you
take for granted the fact that so many of your own basic needs are satisfied by life. And, if you
take this for granted, then your attitude towards life may not be one of responsibility,
responsiveness, of reverence, of gratitude. It may be an attitude that is simply callous.
You may decide, for instance, that you reap the fresh air that you breathe and the cool water that
you drink and all of the other simple creature ways by which your needs are satisfied. But, if you
reflect upon your total experience of life in this regard, then your attitude towards life will be one
of reverence and towards the creator of life, one of trust and confidence.
Now, with this background, let us deal more specifically with the question before us. Love
means in simple experiential terms the ability to let one's life be filled with many simple deeds of
gratuitous extras, gratuitous kindnesses as manifested towards people by whom you are
surrounded.
When I was a boy, I could hardly wait for Thanksgiving, because Thanksgiving meant that
Christmas was in the offing. And, from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve midnight, I was a
1
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
model boy. I would respond almost instinctively to my mother's needs during that whole period.
For instance, she did not ever see the bottom of the wood box because I kept it full of wood all
the time. I had a sense of what was vital for her, I can anticipate her needs. All of this because I
knew that Thanksgiving meant that Christmas was around the corner and when Christmas came,
that I would be rewarded for all of these simple gratuitous extras by which I had filled my
relationship with my mother.
Now, this mood that I manifested during that time is an indication-- it's a sampling of what
happens all the time in your relationships with people for whom you have this kind of love and
affection. You can sense their needs. You can anticipate their needs. And, at the heart of this
anticipation, at the heart of this awareness, there is a kind of clear-cut and definitive
understanding so that your response to the need is an intelligent response, as contrasted merely
with the sentimental or emotional response.
At the center of the dynamics of the feeling, there must be an understanding mind. If I were to
put it in a rather caustic phrase, it would be something like this-- that, in love, the mind must be
as hard as ice, the heart as warm as a kitchen stove. This is what I mean. Now, there is a second
dimension here.
There is the tendency to feel ownership towards the person that you love and to demand that you
will be loved in kind and in quality as the proof that your love has been received. We want to be
loved back. Now, this is perfectly normal, very natural, but it is my thought that the necessity to
be loved back in exchange for, or in return for loving, is an extraneous and irrelevant necessity, if
I may put it that way.
Love does not-- at its best, love does not demand that love be given back to one in return. This is
illustrated in a rather melodramatic story written many years ago by Olive Schreiner. She calls it
the story of Tausa. Tausa was a little dog. He sat with his tail in a puddle of mud. It wasn't
raining except out of his eyes, for he was very sad.
Presently, a fine looking aristocratic mastiff who lived next door came out of his yard and passed
Tausa's house and he saw Tausa weeping and he stopped-- Tausa was a little terrier. He said to
Tausa-- what's the trouble with you, little fellow? Do other dogs bite you? No, I manage to take
care of myself pretty well.
Do you get enough to eat? Yes, I have bones and occasionally there's meat on them. Do you have
a place to sleep? Yes, I have a box with some rags in it. Well, what's the trouble with you? Tausa
said-- I want to love people and I want to feel that people love me. And the mastiff said, love,
what is that? Have you ever seen it? No, said Tausa. Have you ever smelled it? No, said Tausa.
Have you ever tasted it? No, I haven't ever tasted it. Well, what good is it anyway?
And thus applying the pragmatic test to that kind of reality, the mastiff went on down the street.
Tausa got up, shook the water off his tail and the water out of his eyes and went in the opposite
direction. Presently, he saw a ragged newsboy coming-- a newsboy who had a very sad face.
And he went running up to the newsboy literally in a ball of excitement. He didn't know whether
to lick the boy's hands first or his feet. He just wanted him so.
2
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
And the boy called him-- doggy, doggy. And when Tausa came very close to him, he kicked him
in the nose. But the lonely boy laughed. There was a singing in Tausa's ear now as he went down
the other side of the street. He wasn't so sure about how he felt. He came to the outskirts of the
village and there, he saw a cottage. The gate was open. He went through the gate, up the steps, at
the door, he looked in, he saw an invalid stretched out on a bed.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
He made a noise at the door, which being interpreted was, if you ask me, I'll come in. So the
invalid asked him in, and Tausa found that she was a very lonely person. She had had a dog once
upon a time, but he'd gone away somewhere. Tausa tried to amuse her during the daytime by
catching his tail with his teeth so as to take her mind off of suffering. And then in the nighttime
when he would hear her cough, he would get up from his pad and walk over by her bed and rub
his head against her hands and lick her fingers to let her know that even though it were
nighttime, he knew that she was suffering and he cared.
And then one day, the dog that belonged home came back. And Tausa heard the invalid say, I
don't want to give Tausa away, but what shall I do with him? Tausa didn't want to be given away,
so he went out in the backyard and disappeared. But, as he went along, he had the feeling that the
invalid for the first time in her life had had an experience with someone to whom her invalidism
was not a burden.
Tausa saw a boy just ahead of him-- a boy with a large piece of meat under his arm. And a man
jumped from behind a tree, accosted the boy, threw him to the ground, and was trying to take the
meat from the boy. And Tausa barked at him furiously and, presently, the man got up and ran
away because he thought somebody was coming. The boy looked at Tausa's face peppered with
rage and he said, do you try to do that to me after all that your master has done to me?
So, he attacked Tausa. Tausa was thrown into the bushes. The last time I saw him, says the story,
he was stretched out in the road, now, what does this mean? That love at its best does not
demand requitement. It gives, and in its giving, it finds its strength and its security and its ability
to give more and more and more. This is our privilege and this is our opportunity.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh, Lord,
my Rock and my Redeemer.
This is tape number ET37 from the library of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust. This is
side two, entitled, "A Sense of What is Vital."
Let the words out of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh,
Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.
It is a pleasure to announce to you that beginning next Friday and for the two succeeding
Fridays, our guest on this program will be Dr. Edwin P. Booth of the graduate school of theology
of Boston University. Today, I am thinking with you about a phrase taken from the letters of the
apostle Paul. The phrase is this-- a sense of what is vital.
3
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
It suggests the necessity which we all feel, for the honoring of overtones, of meaning, and
understanding, and wisdom which may not be a part of the ordinary garden variety insight. We
note this, particularly, on the personal level. For instance, when you consider the difference
between a kind act and merely an act of graciousness, there is an element that is unmeditated, an
element that is unreflective, and an element that is spontaneous and creative about kindness.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
It is for this reason that men do not ever quite manage to deserve the kind act. It is true that there
are many men who deserve honor, because of the nature of the contribution which they have
made to their generation or to other generations. All men according to the most creative kind of
ethic deserve respect as human beings-- or, in the language of religion, as children of God.
There are men who deserve varying degrees of recognition because of the way by which they
have identified themselves with a particular movement in time and space or in human history.
But no one ever quite deserves the kind act. There is an element of gratuity, of something extra
in the kind act. Have you been on the receiving end of a kind act? And, because of this kind act,
you have tried to repay the person for the kind act, only to discover that it cannot quite be done?
You can't quite balance it out, because what the kind act did for you was something so intimate
and so searching and so utterly without merit that it isn't possible for you to measure it in kind.
This is why the kind act seems somehow always to be identified with what religion recognizes as
the grace of God-- the manifestation of a dimension of life which is our experience even though
we do not quite merit it. The psalmist says he has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities.
Wherever there is the element of something extra-- something that goes beyond the balance-something that spills over-- that has no necessity inherent in its operation except the out-flowing
quality of the deed itself. This is the kind act. And this is to have a sense for what is vital.
Very often, this sense of what is vital is manifested in various kinds of human relations. I have a
friend in San Francisco, for instance, who works at a mortuary. He is a sculptor. His professional
job is to sculpt the faces of the corpses so that they may be lifelike and be characteristic of the
person when the person was alive. Whenever he comes home from his day's work and when his
wife greets him and his handkerchief is hanging way out of his pocket, she knows that this is not
his good day. And whatever she has in mind to discuss that requires some measure of emotional
tension or something else, she knows that this is not the time to talk about it.
They agreed on a symbol like this so that the symbol will communicate to the other person what
is vital and what is not vital for that particular time. Whenever he greets her, as she has on a
beautiful, handmade embroidered apron that he brought to her from Czechoslovakia many years
ago, he knows that this is not her day. And whatever he has on his mind that the discussion of
which may involve a certain amount of emotional tension, he knows that this is not the evening
to talk about it.
This symbol suggests to each that whatever is vital in terms of the need of the other person, this
is the time to honor it. Now, there's a third aspect here-- we are all concerned, finally, about
having experiences in which we ourselves have a sense of being understood. So much of that
4
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
which upsets the emotions, so much of that which depresses and casts down in human experience
has to do with a private feeling of not being understood.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Haven't you said it to yourself many times-- in this deed, I am not understood. One of the most
dramatic illustrations of it that comes to my mind is something that I read many years ago
written by a national news reporter who had attended the burial services of Dillinger the famous- or infamous-- gangster, as the case may be.
He said that the only person present at the burial moment, other than a minister, was the mother
of Dillinger and this particular newspaper reporter. As the mother turned away from the grave of
her son, she said to herself over and over in the presence of the newscaster-- they didn't
understand my boy. They didn't understand my boy. If they had understood him, he would not be
where he is today.
This is a rather extreme expression of the thing that's on my mind. There is deep within all of us
a great need for understanding, a need for the feeling that, with reference to our lives, with
reference to the things that we do, which, to us, are important-- we are not required to be on the
defensive. To experience the integrity of the act without being under the necessity for being
apologetic for the act-- to feel that not only are my acts interpreted and somehow understood,
but, more importantly, that I am understood.
I remember talking with a little child once who always insisted on getting headaches or footaches
or back aches. And I remarked to her-- I'm sure you're doing this because you think that your
mother and your father do not love you, do not understand you, so that you are trying to attract
attention to yourself by getting a headache or getting a backache or getting a toothache. But why
don't you be smart? I said.
You should know now that when you use this device in order to be sure that you are being cared
for, that the thing that gets the attention is the headache or the backache or the toeache. And,
after all, you do not get the attention. And if you are trying to have a sense of being understood
and being cared for, this is not the way to go at it.
If I knew you and you knew me and each of us could clearly see by the inner light divine the
meaning of your heart and mind, I am sure that we would differ less and clasp our hands in
friendliness if I knew you and you knew me. This need for understanding is so important in
human life that it is the insistence of religion that, in the supreme act of worship in the human
spirit-- when the human spirit is before its god, when it is laid bare before god, that it has a sense
of being totally dealt with and being completely understood so that there is a moment when I can
act with utter freedom and with utter enthusiasm and with utter involvement, because I know that
not only my deed, but that which is deepest in me-- my intent, my purpose, the creative
movement of my desiring-- all of this is gathered up in the understanding of the individual.
A sense of what is vital-- this is one of the great necessities of our spirits.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh, Lord,
my Strength and my Redeemer.
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
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<em>We Believe</em> was a color television program that aired on WHDH-TV, Channel 5, in Boston on weekday mornings at 11:15. From 1958 to 1965, while Howard Thurman was Dean of the Chapel at Boston University, he was the host of the Friday morning show. Each message has a brief introductory section with bells and music before Thurman delivers his short meditation. Some recordings have been edited to remove the intro. In some cases, the Howard Thurman Educational Trust produced tapes with two messages on one recording.<br /><br />"These meditations are no longer than 15 minutes, but highly representative of his style, influence, and search for common ground." - <a href="http://archives.bu.edu/web/howard-thurman">the Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman Collections at Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.</a><br /><br />
<p style="text-align: right;"><em>We Believe</em> program listing in the TV Guide, March 29, 1958</p>
<img src="http://pittsviva.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/webelieve-whdh-boston.png" style="float: right;" alt="webelieve-whdh-boston.png" />
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Descriptions by Dustin Mailman
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<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-784.html" ></iframe>
Original Title
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The Meaning of Love; A Sense of What is Vital (ET-37; GC 11-26-71), 1971 Nov 26
Time Period
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1950s
Location
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WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts
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Identifier
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394-784
Creator
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Thurman, Howard
Title
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The Meaning of Love (1958-03-07); A Sense of What is Vital (1959-01-30)
Source
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<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
Format
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audio
Publisher
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<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
Date
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1958-03-07
1959-01-30
Description
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In this recording within the We Believe series, Howard Thurman reflects upon a passage from 1 Corinthians to elaborate on his understanding of love. He defines love as "the experience of being dealt with at a point in oneself that is beyond all the good and beyond all the evil. He notes that the love of God functions as the exemplary love to which humanity should strive towards. Thurman's conception of love is not possessive nor transactional, rather, it is interdependent and comes from the heart.
In this recording within the We Believe series, Howard Thurman reflects upon the Apostle Paul's phrase, "a sense of what is vital." Thurman continues by developing his understanding of wisdom, and how wisdom points one towards awareness of vitality. Because you can only know of vitality by means of signs, Thurman suggests that it takes wisdom to discern which symbols actually point towards vitality.
Contributor
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Dustin Mailman
1 Corinthians
A sense of what is vital
affection
community
confidence
Dillinger
discernment
dog
experience
interconnectivity
love
meaning
Moffatt
mortician
mortuary
Olive Schreiner
ownership
Paul
requitment
San Francisco
satisfaction
security
symbolism
trust
understanding
vitality
wisdom