Travis > Travis's Quotes

“we are flooded with the gifts of neighborliness—the economy of the rich devouring the poor is now inappropriate; we are now flooded with peaceable possibility—the old lust for war and violence is now out of sync; we are flooded with fruitfulness—the technological destruction that seeks to sustain our unsustainable standard of living is now passé.”
― Walter Brueggemann, A Way other than Our Own: Devotions for Lent

“But the pull of God’s largeness summons all of us, often through the words and presence of “the other.” The old teaching of exclusion cannot fully protect us from God’s pull to be a neighbor.”
― Walter Brueggemann, A Way other than Our Own: Devotions for Lent

“The search for truth takes you where the evidence leads you, even if, at first, you don't want to go there.”
― Bart D. Ehrman, Forged: Writing in the Name of God—Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are

“There is nowhere we can go to escape God. Whether in “heaven” or in “hell” or any location or state of consciousness we can conceptualize. There is no “separation”. Ever. No reality can exist in and of itself, or be self-sustained or void of God’s presence. To find one’s self within the realm of being is to find one’s self in the mystery of God, the actualizer and energizer of being. For out of and through and into him are all things. All things. Which includes all things. “God is not only the ultimate reality that the intellect and the will seek but is also the primordial reality with which all of us are always engaged in every moment of existence and consciousness, apart from which we have no experience of anything whatsoever. Or, to borrow the language of Augustine, God is not only ‘superior summon meo’—beyond my utmost heights— but also ‘interior intimo meo’—more inward to me than my inmost depths.”2”
― Keith Giles, Jesus Unforsaken: Substituting Divine Wrath With Unrelenting Love

“He became an obedient human person, and because of his passion for God’s will for him, he collided with the will and purpose of the Roman Empire and with the Jews who colluded with the empire. He is not crucified because of some theory of the atonement. He is crucified because the empire cannot tolerate such a transformative, subversive force set loose in the world.”
― Walter Brueggemann, A Way other than Our Own: Devotions for Lent

“You don’t have to be perfect. Not for God, not for your community, not for anyone. All you have to be is human. All you have to be is you. So lay down when you need to, and then, eventually, it will be time for you to get up, have something to eat, and try again.”
― Brian Murphy, Queers The Word: A 40 Day Devotional for LGBTQ+ Christians

“When our churches support or even organically formulate the idea that transgender people are morally, intellectually, or theologically inferior, we feed right into the hatred that leads to death for an already marginalized group.”
― Austen Hartke, Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians

“We have closed our ears to the cry of the parents who have lost their children because of toxic theology; we have turned away from the tears of the youth who ask if Jesus can love them just as they are. Too many of those questioning their gender identity have been made to feel that they must choose between God and an authentic and healthy life. Not all of the people forced into that decision make it out alive.”
― Austen Hartke, Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians

“Some people have culturally specific gender categories, such as the Two Spirit people in many Native American tribes, the fa’afafine of Samoa, the hijra of India, the sekrata of Madagascar, and the muxes of Mexico. These cultures recognize more than two genders, and often people in these additional gender categories were historically held in high esteem or considered spiritually powerful in some way.”
― Austen Hartke, Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians

“It’s really hard to be your best self when you’re in a cage.”
― Austen Hartke, Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians

“My trans-ness is only related to the image of God in me inasmuch as it allows me to naturally, politically, and morally be in right relationship with myself, with my community, and with creation as a whole. It has nothing to do with it and everything to do with it.”
― Austen Hartke, Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians

“To ignore the contributions from people with bodies different from our own is equivalent to saying some bodies are not as holy as others—that some members don’t belong in the body of Christ—despite scriptural witness to the contrary.”
― Austen Hartke, Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians

“When we ignore those in need and are complicit in others’ imprisonment, we cut ourselves off from our shared humanity. You may not notice it at first—or ever—but you are cut off from the source of life. The divine is found in each and every person. Each and every person! We must all be connected to each other in order to be connected to the source of life.”
― Brian Murphy, Queers The Word: A 40 Day Devotional for LGBTQ+ Christians

“Worship is accessible bathrooms. Worship is inclusive language. Worship is protest marches. Worship is food banks. Worship is letter-writing campaigns. Worship is hard conversations with friends, family, and neighbors. Worship is prison abolition.”
― Brian Murphy, Queers The Word: A 40 Day Devotional for LGBTQ+ Christians

“Buddhism is not a collection of views. It is a practice to help us eliminate wrong views.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

“To cultivate mindfulness in ourselves is to cultivate the Buddha within, to cultivate the Holy Spirit.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

“Understanding is the very foundation of love. When you understand someone, you cannot help but love him or her.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

“Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with the eyes of love.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

“I entrust myself to Earth, Earth entrusts herself to me. I entrust myself to Buddha, Buddha entrusts herself to me.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

“Buddha is the teacher showing the way, the perfectly awakened one, beautifully seated, peaceful and smiling, the living source of understanding and compassion. Dharma is the clear path leading us out of ignorance bringing us back to an awakened life. Sangha is the beautiful community that practices joy, realizing liberation, bringing peace and happiness to life. I take refuge in the Buddha, the one who shows me the way in this life. I take refuge in the Dharma, the way of understanding and of love. I take refuge in the Sangha, the community that lives in harmony and awareness. Dwelling in the refuge of Buddha, I see clearly the path of light and beauty in the world. Dwelling in the refuge of Dharma, I learn to open many doors on the path of transformation. Dwelling in the refuge of Sangha, I am supported by its shining light that keeps my practice free of obstacles. Taking refuge in the Buddha in myself, I aspire to help all people recognize their own awakened nature and realize the mind of love. Taking refuge in the Dharma in myself, I aspire to help all people grasp the way of practice and walk together on the path of liberation. Taking refuge in the Sangha in myself, I aspire to help all people build fourfold communities and encourage the transformation of all beings.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

“There is a plant, well-known in Asia — it is a member of the onion family, and it is delicious in soup, fried rice, and omelets — that grows back in less than twenty-four hours every time you cut it. And the more you cut it, the bigger and stronger it grows. This plant represents dana paramita. We don’t keep anything for ourselves. We only want to give. When we give, the other person might become happy, but it is certain that we become happy. In many stories of the Buddha’s former lives, he practices dana paramita.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

“Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to receive others’ viewpoints”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

“We drink and eat all the time, but we usually ingest only our ideas, projects, worries, and anxiety. We do not really eat our bread or drink our beverage. If we allow ourselves to touch our bread deeply, we become reborn, because our bread is life itself. Eating it deeply, we touch the sun, the clouds, the earth, and everything in the cosmos. We touch life, and we touch the Kingdom of God.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

“If you want to experience what the end of suffering will feel like, it is in the here and the now with this breath. If you want nirvana, it’s right here.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

“Autonomic listening is inextricably linked with the need for self-compassion.”
― Deb Dana, Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory

“The cycle of reciprocity, rupture, and repair is the nature of healthy relationships.”
― Deb Dana, Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory

“Yes. You’re both happy,” I answered, knowing nothing. “You’re both happy, Ma. Yes,” I said again. Because gunshots, lies, and oxtail—or whatever you want to call your god—should say Yes over and over, in cycles, in spirals, with no other reason but to hear itself exist. Because love, at its best, repeats itself. Shouldn’t it?”
― Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

“And so what? So what if all I ever made of my life was more of it?”
― Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

“You can’t grow positivity unless you plant it first”
― Jim Ross, Under the Black Hat: My Life in the WWE and Beyond