Let me give some background before I talk about this quote. For many years, I had a Sunday morning ritual. I would wake up hours before my family, make a cup or pot of tea and a light snack. I would put them on a tray and head out to my living room and watch an episode of Super Soul Sunday on OWN. I always brought my Kindle, a special journal for my notes and a pen. While sipping my hot tea, I would listen to the discussions about faith and spirituality. I would pause it to write notes and at the end I would reflect on the lessons I learned and tried to find ways to open to new concepts. I wanted to find ways to apply them in my life. I called it my spiritual time. I guess in a way it was my equivalent to going to church.
In 2017, Oprah made a beautiful book called “The Wisdom of Sundays”with lessons she picked up from her many discussions from her guests on Super Soul Sunday. It was a much prettier version of what I had been doing over the years. So I bought it and love looking through it for inspiration and guidance. I still have my journal which I call my spiritual journal and look at it often because the lessons remain relevant.
I opened it up today to look at one of my first entries in my journal. I wrote the notes on December 20, 2015. Oprah’s guest was Zainab Salbi, a women’s right activist and humanitarian. She is also written a couple of books and founded the Women for Women International. The quote I have above is from Oprah’s talk with Mrs. Salbi.
I will quote it here again:
“When we ignore acknowledging and seeing injustice, when we turn our face, then we legitimize it and allow for the corruption of our values.”
This quote is on the first page in my journal. And I couldn’t turn the page. It speaks to me when I think about the current turmoil our country is in the midst.
I take in the news differently for the past three years in hopes of some self-preservation. It can be overwhelming to take in the content of the news and the bombardment of social media. So I actively take in information in smaller doses and on different mediums.
This quote speaks to me because sometimes my acts of self-preservation are at the expense of my values. When I should be leaning in to help bring forth change, I lean back and grumble. Progress in our society will take place when we lean in to the chaos. Only when we acknowledge the truths can we begin the process towards healing.
What I like about quotes like this, is the universality of it. It can be applied to so many aspects in life. That is why I revisit my journal. It helps to ignite the fire in me. It helps me take off my blinders and participate in not only my growth but the growth of others.
I hope you liked this post. It is not meant to push religion or spirituality into your life but my hope is that it will help you to find reflection that leads to personal growth.
Namaste!