Ideals and Goals (1964-02-14)
In this recording within the We Believe series, Thurman draws upon the novel "The Choir Invisible" by James Lane Allen, to reflect upon God's relationship to humanity. Thurman deeply leans into the mystery that is associated with humanity's actualized potential. He notes that our arrival to our actualized potential is inevitable; however, we shall not know the time or place of this arrival. Rather than giving quick answers, Thurman encourages us to look to the horizon for the next goal, trusting that the same God who cares for the birds of the air is the same God that cares for humanity, and is moving humanity towards a shared goal.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1964-02-14
Description by Dustin Mailman
audio
394-814
The Meaning of Love (1958-03-07); A Sense of What is Vital (1959-01-30)
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.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1958-03-07
1959-01-30
Dustin Mailman
audio
394-784
Supportive Order Inherent in Life (1963-05-17); For Love's Sake (1958-05-30)
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reads from his text, "The Inward Journey." Thurman's reading speaks to the intricate ways in which human life and experience is ordered in a synchronistic fashion. It is in one's understanding of creation's interrelatedness, Thurman suggests, that one can come to understand that the entirety of one's existence belongs.
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon a poem from Eugene V. Debs, speaking to notions of solidarity and love. He notes that notions of love and disease both have a contagious characteristic, and that there is great responsibility in one's choosing of love or disease. To share one's heart, thus one's love, is to invite fellowship and community. To share one's disease, is to invite isolation and individualism.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1963-05-17
1958-05-30
Dustin Mailman
audio
394-783
Thanksgiving and the Nature of Life (1963-11-22); Waiting Creatively (1959-06-12)
In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reflects upon the Thanksgiving season. He lists a litany of feelings, emotions, materials, and states of being that he is thankful for: air to breath, food to eat, shelter, love, etc. He then discerns the way in which humanity may overlook many of the things that humanity should be grateful for, and suggests that Thanksgiving should be approached as a sacrament which points one towards humility and gratitude.
In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reflects upon the meaning of "waiting." He defines waiting as the "interval between moments, experience, events, that are filled with activity." Waiting is dynamic in nature, and requires a true decision from the one who is participating: creatively participating in one's own life as it is manifested today, or longing for the life they will never have.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1963-11-22
1959-06-12
Dustin Mailman
audio
394-780
Quality of Life (1960-10-07); Religion and Life (1964-04-03)
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Thurman reflects upon the way in which American culture makes sense of love. He notes that typically, the "flow of love is chocked beneath the deep recesses of the heart." This is the product of quantitative love rather than qualitative love. He reminds the listener, that qualitative love is more significant than any price tag or number of accoutrements one acquires. Qualitative love speaks to the depths of the human experience.
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Thurman reflects upon writing from Max Herman and Petrarch to ask the question: To what depth does one's religion have a bearing on one's life? He continues by probing the political and ecclesiological elements of the religious inner life intersecting with the secular outer life, and the ways in which religion impacts one's praxis and location in the world.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1960-10-07
1964-04-03
Dustin Mailman
audio
394-778
Psychology and Religion (1963-10-25); Qualitative Living (1960-10-07)
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Thurman reads from his text, "Meditations of the Heart," discerning the implications psychology has on the religious identity. He emphasizes that there is great danger in wishing one's life away. He emphasizes that it is in the responsibility that one finds in a religious identity that finds what it means to honor their own existence.
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Thurman reflects upon the way in which American culture makes sense of love. He notes that typically, the "flow of love is chocked beneath the deep recesses of the heart." This is the product of quantitative love rather than qualitative love. He reminds the listener, that qualitative love is more significant than any price tag or number of accoutrements one acquires. Qualitative love speaks to the depths of the human experience.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1963-10-25
1960-10-07
Dustin Mailman
audio
394-777
Jesus, His Contribution (1963-03-01); The Triumphant Entry (1964-03-20)
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon his writing within "The Inward Journey," to speak to the impact Jesus has upon one's experience of life. Thurman notes that it is in one's seeking of God that they find Jesus, and when one finds Jesus, one has the resources to find synthesis, wholeness, and unity.
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon his writing within "The Inward Journey." In this reflection, he gives a narration of the passage of scripture that is commonly referred to as "Jesus' Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem," and provides a series of questions and perspectives from the perspective of Jesus and those who were with Jesus in this narrative.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1963-03-01
1964-03-20
Dustin Mailman
audio
394-769
The Child and Religious Meaning (1964-01-24); Our Children Are Not Our Things (1963-11-01)
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman utilizes Frederick J. Moffitt's "Thus A Child Learns," as a point of departure for his liturgy for the devotion of a child. Thurman notes that it is the "birthright" of every child to be given the tools "define for them what it is that they are seeking and where they may find it."
In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects from his text, "Meditations of the Heart," to "think about children and our relationship to them." Throughout this meditation, Thurman explores the ways in which adults should listen to, teach, and learn from children.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1964-01-24
1963-11-01
Dustin Mailman
audio
394-767
St. Francis of Assisi (5); Plotinus (6), 1961 Nov 12, 26
This sermon is the fifth of nine in a series of sermons given in Marsh Chapel that are titled "The Inward Journey." In this sermon, Thurman moves through the entirety of St. Francis of Assisi's biography. Starting with Francis' conversion, to his deep connection to creation, then to his love ethic, then concluding with the implications of his experience with mysticism and contemplation. Here, Thurman is holding up the life of St. Francis of Assisi as an exemplar for the ideal religious life - a life of love, a life of service, a life of responsibility.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1961-11-12
Description by Dustin Mailman
audio
394-651_A
GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(POINT(-7915565.7490374 5213612.6443988))
Meister Eckhart (3); The Inner Light (4), 1961 Oct 15, 22
This sermon is the third of nine in a series of sermons given in Marsh Chapel that are titled "The Inward Journey." In this sermon, Thurman reflects upon Meister Eckhart's description of the Godhead. In his dissection of Eckhart's Godhead, Thurman wrestles with the tension between the external Godhead that exists in the world, and the internal Godhead that wrestles within the self, noting "The Godhead is trying to break through to the Godhead that is within me." Considering this sermon series' emphasis on mysticism and discovering the spirituality that is innate within human existence, Thurman uses the Godhead concept as a means to describe the indescribable nature of God, and God's relationship to the human experience.
Thurman, Howard
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
1961-10-15
Description by Dustin Mailman
audio
394-649_A
GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(POINT(-7915565.7490374 5213612.6443988))