Shows
The Howard Thurman PodcastReadings from the Inward Journey - 1 Corinthians 13, 1970 Jan 10In this first installment of Readings From Deep is the Hunger, Howard Thurman uses Matthew 5 as a framework to discuss the sufficiency of God as we wrestle with the concepts of kindness, mercy, and humility. Thurman goes on to discuss the need for God as we navigate challenges internally and externally with the world around us.Part of the Collection, Featured Thurman RecordingsTags:Description by UnknownRecorded in NACitation: Thurman, Howard, “Readings fr...
2024-10-3026 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastA Salutation to Christmas (1961-12-22)In this recording within the We Believe Series, Howard Thurman reads two reflections on the Christmas season. The first is from "McCall's Magazine," and reflects upon the implications Christmas day has in relation to the Christian life. Though Christmas day is filled with generosity and affection, Thurman asks the question if those celebrating Christmas could take five minutes to protect the weak, feed the hungry, love thy neighbor, etc. The second excerpt is written by Thurman, himself. In it, Thurman works with the tension between gratitude and critique during the Christmas season. He asks the question of how one...
2024-10-3012 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastSing Your Own Song (1964-03-06); The Right Thing This Day (1958-05-23)In this recording within the We Believe Series, Howard Thurman speaks to what it means to live a life that is truly one's own. Drawing from Catherine Coblentz' "Blue Cat of Castle Town," and a story of a dog who has lost its bark, Thurman challenges the listener to discern what their true voice is, how one comes to singing their own song. Thurman agrees that the process of finding one's own song is difficult; however, Thurman maintains that finding your own song is one of the most integrous journeys that one can take. In this recording within the...
2024-10-3027 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Moment of Truth (1963-04-19); Pearl without Price (1971-12-4)In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reads from a letter that his friend from Canada sends him. Within the letter, the listener hears of a young boy who makes the decision to participate in a blood transfusion for his sister. In agreeing to participate in the transfusion, the boy misunderstood, and assumed that he would have to die in order to save his younger sister's life. Thurman sees this boy's misunderstanding as a "moment of truth." The moment of truth speaks to one's sense of courage, responsibility, creativity, and sacrifice. Embedded into this moment of truth...
2024-10-3026 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Blind Man (1958-10-03); Heaven, Heaven (1958-11-21)In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reflects upon the spiritual, "The Blind Man Sat By the Way," which he calls a "sorrow song." When holding this song in tension with the biblical narrative of Jesus healing the blind man, Thurman comes to the conclusion that the blind man in the sorrow song was never healed. Drawing from the experience of people who were enslaved in America, Thurman reveals that there is no mentioning of the blind man being healed in the song because there was no healing upon the horizon for those who were singing the...
2024-10-3027 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastBalm in Gilead, Part 1 (1958-10-10); Balm in Gilead, Part 2 (1958-10-17)In this recording within the We Believe series, Howard Thurman reflects upon the negro spiritual, "There is a Balm in Gilead." Rather than echoing the moan of the prophet Jeremiah, this song provides an answer to the prophet's cries. Rather than asking," Is there a balm in Gilead," Thurman notes that the early singers of this spiritual are affirming that there is indeed a balm in Gilead. From Thurman's perspective, this balm is the moral law which rests within all of humanity. Moral law is the restraint one has in themselves to take the raw material of pessimism and...
2024-10-3028 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Light In One's Path: Parts 1 and 2 (1971-12-3),In this recording within the We Believe series, Howard Thurman draws from a quotation written by Kabir, who is a Hindu Mystic. The line Thurman repeats from the Kabir quotation throughout this reading is, "I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty," which is utilized as a way of speaking to our deepest longings resting within ourselves. Thurman notes that if one is seeking truth destructively, it will disintegrate one's inner life, and eventually, collapse one's outer life. While seeking the truth, Thurman challenges the listener to seek their own truth within themselves, as...
2024-10-3026 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Integrity of the Word (1964-01-31); Man's Equity in Life (1971-12-3)In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads from his text, Meditations of the Heart, which reflects on Matthew 21:29 and asks: "What does it mean to be a person of your word?" He responds to this question by discerning the function of language, and how language creates meaning. This deep reflection on the nature of linguistics makes the listener ask, what is it about our words that dictate whether or not one is integrous? In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reflects upon what it means when those on the journey of life...
2024-10-3025 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastBoundaries of the Self (1961-11-24); Confidence in God (1958-06-13)In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads from James Cane Allen's "The Choir Invisible," in order to reflect upon the ways in which one can come to understand community. He notes that in one's own quest for identity, that relationships can become utilitarian, only being aware of community "at points of relevancy to our purposes." What Thurman is insisting in this recording, is that when one pushes past the superficial boundaries of separateness, that one can find the "deep, hidden springs of magic" which informs one's understanding of the divine. In this recording within the...
2024-10-3026 minThe Howard Thurman Podcast"How Precious Are Thy Thoughts..." (1961-01-13); Try Me and Know My Thoughts (1961-03-17)In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reflects upon the line "How precious are thy thoughts, O God," found within Psalm 139. Thurman uses this verse in order to poetically wax the miracle that is having a mind. In this recording, Thurman suggests that because the mind orders the body, that it is significant to discern what the mind of God consists of. It is in the discerning of God's mind that one finds the content of devotional posturing: wisdom, tenderness, and love. In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads from a Gaelic...
2024-10-3029 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastResistance to the Social Order (1962-04-20); Self Realization and Acceptance (1963-11-08)In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reflects upon Olive Schreiner's "From Man to Man," and his time spent with Gandhi. Each of these reflections speak to Thurman's conception of truth, namely, what happens when one is forced to reject truth. For Thurman, justice, resistance, prosperity, etc. all find themselves hubbed in a longing for the truth to be manifested. In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads and reflects from his work, "The Inward Journey." He notes that all of humanity is on a journey towards God, and that on this journey...
2024-10-3027 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Idiom of Brotherhood (1963-11-15); The Big Dream, the Little Act (1959-05-29)In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads from his text Meditations of the Heart. He tells a story of a 69-year-old woman who had come to realize that she did not know much about the black community and decided to go to the library to educate herself on black history. After her time in the library, she was committed to telling the "facts" about black people while she was on the bus and around town. Thurman reflects upon the role that responsibility plays in relation to one's citizenship to humanity. In this recording within the...
2024-10-3027 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe 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...
2024-10-3029 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastSupportive 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...
2024-10-3028 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastLife Under the Scrutiny of God (1963-01-04); Order in the Totality of Life (1962-05-25)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reads from his text, "Meditations of the Heart," to speak about wisdom and the ways in which one becomes wise. In his reading, Thurman notes that when contemplating what it means to age, one discovers that in the span of a single year one grows tremendously: relationally, in one's awareness of self, sensitivity, etc. He continues, it is when one makes meaning of an event, rather than merely objectively describing an event, that one can begin to make sense of life. In this recording within the We Believe Series...
2024-10-3029 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastCreative Order in Life (1963-09-27); The Great Exposure (1963-02-15)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reads from Jane Steger's "Leaves from a Secret Journal." He attempts makes sense of the makeup of one's own life through the lens of ecology and biology. Using examples such as trees and DNA, Thurman explores the depths of the "order" of human existence. In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reads from his text "Meditations of the Heart." His reading reflects upon the impact of trauma, and how it effects the development of the individual. He develops his ideas based off of personal experience and...
2024-10-3025 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOur Little Lives, Our Big Problems (1963-01-25); Periodic Rest (1963-03-22)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reads from his text, "Meditations of the Heart," working with the tension between factuality and intention. In this tension, one must accept their "self-fact" in order to navigate a faithful deed or image. In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reads from his text, "The Inward Journey," reflecting upon the significance of rest and restoration. He uses philosophical and ecological imagery to portray the significance of daydreaming, making sense of the cosmos, and finding integration in one's own life.Part of...
2024-10-3027 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Intentional Life (1962-05-18); Life is a River (1961-03-24)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman uses his text, "The Inward Journey," to discern what it means to live a life of intentionality. He holds up the orderly life and the life of crisis as the two ways one may live their life. He continues that regardless of one's life orientation, that one must wrestle with the reality of failure being embedded into the human experience. Thurman notes that life is a pattern that is continually unfolding, revealing a wider pattern, and that one's recognition of this pattern comes from an intentionally lived life. In...
2024-10-3029 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Image of Perfection (1963-04-26); Angelos of God (1961-09-29)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon his writing within, "The Inward Journey," reflecting upon what it means to obtain perfection. He critiques narratives of linearity being the means of perfection, naming such notions as harmful and unhelpful. Thurman leans into the dynamic nature of life, naming perfection as an individual journey which unfolds on its own, personal terms. In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon his writing within, "The Inward Journey," reflecting upon the ways in which imagination influences the spiritual life.Part...
2024-10-3026 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastGrowing Apprehension in Life (1963-09-13); Human Life in Perspective (1964-05-22)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon Jane Steger's "Leaves From A Secret Journal," to reflect upon the significance of personal experience. He reflects upon a dog, from Jane Steger's writing, who is blind but slowly is able to see light, to which Thurman asks the question, "Did you ever dream that this universe of light was waiting for you?" From this question, Thurman dives into the significance of human experience, revering relationship as the driver for shifting one's own perspective which allows a new light to shine upon one's understanding of life. In...
2024-10-3026 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastGrace of Man and God (1964-04-24); The Great Moment (1962-12-07)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reads from his text, "The Growing Edge." In his reading, he relates human life to a seed that is in the wind. He notes that a person "without God is a seed in the wind," which suggests that God is the source of grounding and life. He then speaks to the dynamic nature in life, and how though life is filled with both devastation and joy, that one should rejoice in the gift that is life. In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon Matthew 22:11...
2024-10-3028 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Country of the Heart (1963-09-20); Death - A Part of Life (1961-05-12)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reads from Jane Steger's "Leaves from a Secret Journal." He attempts makes sense of the makeup of one's own life through the lens of ecology and biology. Using examples such as trees and DNA, Thurman explores the depths of the "order" of human existence. In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman draws upon a parable of two leaves at the end of the Fall season. The two leaves are in conversation with one another, pondering questions of why they must die and who will take their...
2024-10-3027 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastJesus, 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...
2024-10-3026 minThe Howard Thurman Podcast"The Crucifixion" (1959-03-27); Good Friday (1964-03-27)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman uses Oswald W.S. McCall's "Hand of God" to reflect upon Good Friday. Thurman utilizes a historical interpretation to makes sense of the life and death of Jesus, stating that "the event of his death cannot be separated from the logic of his life." In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman uses Oscar Wilde's "De Profundis" to make sense of Good Friday. He again dwells upon the historical Jesus, the implications that following Jesus would have upon one who was living in the first century, and...
2024-10-3028 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Child and Religious Meaning (1964-01-24); Our Children Are Not Our Things (1963-11-01)n 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...
2024-10-3026 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastSalute to the New Year (1962-01-05); The Strength to be Free (1960-07-01)In this recording within the We Believe Series; Thurman draws from his work "Meditations of the Heart" to reflect upon the meaning of a new year. He suggests that each passing year is a "year that has fulfilled itself and passed on," and is filled with change, fresh starts, grace, and hard lessons. In the passing of the previous year, Thurman suggests, there is an "opportunity to love life more wisely," noting that both the past and the future are "Golden Ages." In this recording within the We Believe Series; Thurman draws from his work "Meditations of the Heart,"...
2024-10-3028 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastDisciples of Christ Retreat, Lecture 4, 1971 July 25In this fourth lecture from the Disciples of Christ Retreat, Thurman focuses in on two themes of the inner life. Firstly, one must keep open the door of thy heart, even if other people close their hearts to you. Thurman says that this is our ultimate responsibility, for love can bypass all hate and resistance, and it is impossible to prevent another from loving you. The experience of love is energizing and transformative. Lastly, Thurman loops back to the theme of this collection, "All that a [person] has is [their] life." Thurman says that life is all that a...
2024-10-3035 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastMysticism and Social Action, Part 2 (Panel discussion with Howard Thurman, continued), 1978 October 14In this final installment of Mysticism and Social Change, Thurman gives a final word to the relationship between the inner life and social action in response to a questioner who wonders if mysticism is a luxury for the comfortable and the elite. Thurman begins by saying that he has little hope for institutions to change the social order of things, rather each person must choose where they stand and live out their dream for the world they want to live in. Thurman says that he chose the church to be the place where he decided to live out his...
2024-10-3018 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastMysticism and Social Action, Part 1 (Panel discussion with Howard Thurman, continued), 1978 October 14This recording is a continuation of the Q&A discussion on Mysticism and Social Action. Thurman begins by fielding a question about the relationship between innocence and knowledge, and the tension that one feels between inner reality and outer reality. Thurman also gives his thoughts on death as an experience of life, saying that death is not the final extinguishment of life, but rather an event that is a part of life. Thurman insists that there is a life-continuity rhythm just as there is a life-death rhythm. Lastly, Thurman speaks to the experience of religion, and the experience of...
2024-10-3044 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastMysticism and Social Action, Part 1 (Panel discussion with Howard Thurman), 1978 October 14This section of the Mysticism and Social Action collection contains a brief talk by Thurman followed by Q&A discussion. Thurman grounds the discussion in the paradox of religion: How does one keep their inner life uncluttered whilst not using the inner life as an escape from involvement in the world? Thurman insists that these two rhythms are actually part of one pulse beat. One questioner asks Thurman about the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and how this might reflect the dynamics of withdrawal and return in religious life. Another questioner asks about the discipline of centering, in...
2024-10-3044 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Chance to Be New, 1978 October 8Everyone should be given the chance to be born again, Thurman says. We live in a dynamic universe that is not standing still, nor anything in it. Life is always bursting forth from life, renewing itself again and again. And yet, human beings crave stability and certainty, for this is where we find our security. Thurman briefly meditates on the Book of Revelation, and the image of a new Heaven and a new Earth: "Heaven is a place where God dwells. And this daring, lonely dreamer on the island said, there shall come a time when the old Heaven...
2024-10-3041 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastAlbert Schweitzer (9), 1962 Jan 14This sermon is the ninth of nine in a series of sermons given in Marsh Chapel that are titled "The Inward Journey." In this sermon, it appears that Howard Thurman intended to speak of Albert Schweitzer's work in relation to mysticism and religious experience; however, what we find in this sermon is Thurman reflecting upon the call of the religious leader in a time of societal unrest. He notes that there are two major events happening at this time: smallpox infesting Pakistan, and the murder of numerous Muslim men and children. He uses Albert Schweitzer and Olive Schreiner to...
2024-10-3036 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastCommunity and Prophet's Dream II, 1961 May 21In this final sermon on "Community and the Will of God," Thurman finishes with the prophet's dream of lion and lamb lying down together. Thurman says that those who dream of utopia and community often make them on the basis of discrimination – there are insiders and there are outsiders who stand as threat to community. For this reason, Thurman says that the dream of community must extend to all living things, a dream in which no manifestation of life will be a threat. In this sermon, Thurman offers one of his main theses: meaningful experiences of unity are more co...
2024-10-3028 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastCommunity and Prophet's Dream I, 1961 May 14In this sixth sermon on "Community and the Will of God," Thurman explores the ideas that influence our search for community. There is the idea that the meaning of human life is to be found beyond humanity, in the God that both moves in history and transcends history. Thurman says that this idea inspires our belief in universal order and the infinite worth of human beings. This is the foundation of democracy and our dreams of utopia, but Thurman says that this belief is disintegrating in society. Thurman says that without this fundamental belief, there can be no sense...
2024-10-3035 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastFreedom and Suffering, Part 4, 1959 November 29In the fourth and final sermon of the Freedom and Suffering series, Thurman takes his exploration of suffering a step further. Thurman suggests that we must learn to be worthy of our suffering. We should not seek out suffering, but when it comes to us, we must search for the meaning and dignity in it. Thurman also considers that human beings can only suffer because we are capable of loving. To love is to identify with another's suffering, to enter into it and yet remain as ourselves. Religion, he says, is our wrestling with the pain and helplessness of...
2024-10-2731 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastFreedom and Suffering, Part 3, 1959 November 22In this third sermon in the Freedom and Suffering series, Thurman focuses in on the suffering aspect. Suffering is the common experience of human beings, and perhaps all living beings. Thurman says that the Christian tradition itself was born out of pain and suffering, and represents the human project of squeezing optimism from pessimism. Thurman adds that we are always trying to deduce the logic of our suffering, but even still there are times when the balance of reaping and sowing does not add up. In these moments we may feel like a victim in the world, but Thurman...
2024-10-2740 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThurman on Thurman (continued), 1959In Part Two of the "Thurman on Thurman" recording, Howard Thurman speaks about the story of the Syrophoenician woman in the Gospels. Thurman says that this story means a great deal to him because, for him, it is a clue into the inclusiveness of the faith. For Thurman, seeking out God's inclusivity is a responsibility to his own religious experience. Thurman says that the Syrophoenician woman's ultimate message to Jesus and to us is that the world is one, and that Jesus could not do for Israel without doing for others. Thurman finishes saying that this i the only...
2024-10-1412 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThurman on Thurman, 1959In Part One of this two part recording, Howard Thurman shares a series of readings and stories that have been significant to him throughout his life. Put alongside one another, one can get a sense of Thurman's concerns and interests, ranging from God's mysterious hand in the working of history, the dynamics of life and death, to the insistent search for truth against all other temptations. Ultimately, this recording offers us a window into Thurman's thought and reflection by way of those things that Thurman himself claims to be in conversation with.Part of...
2024-10-1446 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastYour Life's Working Paper, 1954 October 10In this 1954 sermon, Thurman takes on the topic of commitment. Every expression of life is ordered around some structure or design, and Thurman reasons that human life is no different. To be committed is to put the demands of one purpose above all else, which in turns put all the resources of the universe at the disposal of the individual. Thurman says that the universe is in fact so life-giving and dynamic that even evil commitments are nourished, but they are not ultimately sustained. Thurman ends saying that we must organize our lives around some hard core of purpose...
2024-10-1433 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastMen Who've Walked With God: Plotinus, 1953 May 10In this fifth lecture on "The Men Who've Walked with God," Thurman speaks on the Greek philosopher Plotinus. For Thurman, Plotinus's insight is the "double search" of mystical experience – the idea that as we seek out God, God also searches for us. Through this journey, one comes to share in the divine mind, or as Thurman says, "thinking God's thoughts after Him." However, Thurman is describing a thinking process, but rather an experience of ecstasy that expands beyond our sense of personality. This is the result of God spilling over into the mind and finally communing with the soul Go...
2024-10-1432 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Divine Encounter, Part 2, 1953 March 16In Part 2 of this series on the Divine Encounter, Thurman continues to claim that all of life is supported by God's order, including life's crises. Thurman asserts that it is better to experience crisis than to have no crisis at all, for it is crisis that summons up the depth of the human spirit. For Thurman, all the universe shares the rationality of God with the human mind, and thus the mind is capable of finding revelation and understanding in any circumstance. By this connection, Thurman says that we should expect "highest revelation," even in our "littlest places."
2024-10-1427 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Divine Encounter, Part 1, 1953 March 9In the first lecture of this series, Thurman discusses the Divine Encounter in the context of crisis. All living beings experience crisis in some form. These crises force us out of familiarity and comfort. Thurman suggests that, in the face of crisis, we have the option to retreat or move towards this challenge. Using examples ranging from biblical Jacob to Beethoven, Thurman offers that, even in seeming chaos and disorder, there is an "orderliness of rationality of God." Ultimately, Thurman invites us to demand revelation from crisis, as there is no crisis that is outside of God.
2024-10-1429 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastDeclaration of Independence: Pursuit of Happiness, 1951 August 26"Thurman examines the pursuit of happiness. Life is both existence as well as the outreach of our human spirit and values and meanings. This outreach is so important that, in some cases, we may sacrifice our own existence to protect others. Happiness is something everybody wants. Thurman examines the wording of "pursuit of happiness." Note: the recording ends abruptly. " Description from Expanding Common Ground, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston UniversityPart of the Collection, Declaration of Independence (1951, Fellowship Church, San Francisco, CA)Tags:
2024-10-1440 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Meaning of Commitment: Sons of God, 1951 February 4Thurman focuses on one of the central affirmations of Fellowship Church: "I affirm my need of a growing understanding of all men as sons of God." A growing understanding is one in which there is no total answer, but rather it is a response that is creative and in process. It is a present state that contains the potential of the future. Thurman says that the "sons of God" contains two meanings. On one hand, we are children of life deeply involved in our own self-preservation, which leads us into conflict, competition, and the destruction of other lives. But...
2024-10-1431 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastParables of Jesus, Part 3: Prodigal Son, 1951 September 23In Part 3 on the Parables of Jesus, Thurman explores the Parable of the Prodigal Son. For Thurman, God is like the story's father, and the brothers represent the ways in which we can fall out of relationship with God. In his interpretation of the younger brother, Thurman comes to two insights. Firstly, there is a relationship between the internal and external: the outside famine that the son suffered through was also an internal famine. Secondly, the son's story shows that the door to God must be opened deep within ourselves. For Thurman, when we come to ourselves, we come...
2024-10-1439 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastParables of Jesus, Part 1: Growth and the Kingdom of God, 1951 September 2Howard Thurman uses the parables of the sower (Matt. 13:1-23) and the fig tree in the vineyard (Luke 13:6-9) to explore the growth of the kingdom of God. He claims these parables illustrate that “the kingdom of God comes independent of human effort aside from the initial act.” This initial act is the choosing and planting of the seed and after that, “there isn’t any more than can be done.” Then, once the time to reap the crop has come, we must be able to discern between the wheat and the tares. Thurman likens tares to the presence of evil an...
2024-10-1445 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastDeep Calls Unto Deep, Part 1: The Meaning of Religious Experience, 1980 January 23In this first lecture of the Deep Calls Unto Deep series, Howard Thurman is lecturing on the meaning of the religious experience. The greatest possible experience that can be had is an encounter with the living God as man-made ideologies and will eventually pass away. However, it is through God the creator that all particular expressions of life arise. Therefore, the meaning of the religious experience is an expression, a manifestation, of the givenness of God in His creation. Thurman goes on to talk about the fluidity of religious experience and its inability to be controlled by doctrine or...
2024-10-1443 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Sound of the Genuine (Baccalaureate ceremony) (Spelman College), 1980 May 4Thurman delves into the profound understanding of the human soul’s intrinsic value. Drawing on biblical passages, Thurman emphasizes the omnipresence of God and the importance of recognizing the "sound of the genuine" within oneself. He recounts the story of a man possessed by demons, highlighting the man's inability to identify his true self. Thurman urges us to find our unique identity and the genuine sound within, warning that without this self-awareness, one may live life as if controlled by external forces. This internal discovery, he asserts, is vital for personal fulfillment and authentic living....
2024-10-1438 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastMen Who've Walked With God: St. Augustine, 1953 May 24In this sixth lecture on "The Men Who've Walked with God," Thurman examines St. Augustine as a source of mystical insight. Thurman describes Augustine's search for God through the senses, the mind, the feelings, until finally finding "that which is" inside the soul. Thurman says that this is a union with God that is beyond thought, analysis, and spelled-out feelings. This mystical experience releases energy for the undertakings of life in which we might deal with our various difficulties and burdens. Thurman ends with a quote from Augustine: "Our souls are restless until they find their rest in thee."
2024-10-1433 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastA Faith to Live By, Part 7: Democracy (continued), 1952 October 26In this final sermon of the series, Thurman binds together faith and the dream of democratic living. Drawing upon the language of covenant, Thurman says that we are morally bound to God as God is morally bound to us. Furthermore, this covenant relationship brings us into unique relationship with others who share the same covenant, the same religion, the same culture, etc. But this binding-together risks exclusion and conflict with others outside those bounds. Thurman says that the true challenge of democracy is the constant expansion of boundaries, to include more and more diversity and difference. Without this, democratic...
2024-09-2634 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Meaning of Loyalty, Part 3: The State, 1951 May 20In this third lecture on loyalty, Thurman discusses the conflict between the individual and the state. For Thurman, loyalty to something supremely worthy is the ultimate basis for self-respect and significance. Thurman's word for this ultimate cause is God. Thurman posits that the state can either make itself a vehicle of this human striving, or it can become a competitor to it; the state can attempt to move into the space that only God should occupy. At best, political expression is a vehicle for proving one's loyalty to God, the ultimate basis of personhood....
2024-09-2634 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastInner Life, Part 1, 1951 January 18On this first sermon on the Inner Life, Thurman speaks to the varying levels of the inner life. Thurman walks us through the thinking mind and our ability to nourish it. Next, he examines the "vast continuum" of the unconscious, and how we might relate to it. And finally, Thurman says that there is an even deeper level, "the group soul," that Thurman refers to as God. Thurman urges that we must tunnel all the way down to this "eternal residue," like the great Sahara trees that bathe their roots in deep waters to survive the pressures of the...
2024-09-2634 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 9 and 10, Side BThis recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." In this recording, Thurman explores what it means to participate on a spiritual journey in a pluralistic world, noting that "religious experience is a carbon copy of the way by...
2024-09-2645 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 7 and 8, Side BThis recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." In this recording, Thurman explores what it means to live one's life with a robust sense of responsibility and freedom. He notes that there is a crucial decision to be...
2024-09-2644 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 5 and 6, Side BThis recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." In this recording, Thurman warns those learning with him of the dangers of setting a distinction between the outer life and the inner life, the profane and the sacred. Drawing...
2024-09-2644 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 5 and 6, Side AThis recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." This recording opens with one student's reflection on the inner life, which is followed by a discussion on dualism, in relation to the inner life, from Thurman. Thurman explores the...
2024-09-2644 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 3 and 4, Side BThis recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." In this recording, Thurman reflects upon the significance of a robust inner life, noting, "The deeper I go into me, the more I come in a primary, naked, raw exposure...
2024-09-2644 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 1 and 2, Side BThis recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." In this recording, Howard Thurman reflects with the participants what it means to live into one's calling as an offering of Thanksgiving to God. At the center of navigating his...
2024-09-2644 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 1 and 2, Side AThis recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." Thurman's introductory remarks in this recording mention the tension that rests between isolation and solitude, noting that the "spiritual root" of breaking out of isolation is the "great built-in desire...
2024-09-2645 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastMcCall's Hand of God, Part 5 (1964-10-02)In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reflects upon Oswald W.S. McCall's "Hand of God." Here, Thurman ponders the centrality of hope in the life of faith, and the ways in which hope is grounded in a myriad of contradictions. He continues by defining hope, noting that hope is deeply experiential and the central marker of making sense of the Hand of God.Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)Tags: experience, fear, Hand of God, hope, interconnectivity, journey, liminality, mind, Nature of...
2024-09-2109 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastIf I Ascend up into Heaven (1961-01-06)In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reflects upon the implications that Psalm 139 has upon one's understanding of God. His understanding of God is relational and is directly tied to one's own experience. For Thurman, heaven reflects God's goodness, being filled with ecstasy and delight. For Thurman, the opposite of this ecstasy and delight is the product of sin, selfishness, and "stupidity."Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)Tags: eschatology, heart, Isolation, Psalm 139, responsibility, salvation, solitudeDustin Mailman
2024-09-2112 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, Part 2, 1980This recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." The majority of this recording is a group of young people working through the nature of temptation, and Jesus' understanding of his sense of self as it pertains to Luke 4:1...
2024-09-2119 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastConversations with Howard Thurman, Part 1, 1980This recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." This recording consists of preliminary introductions from various participants in the conversation, responding to questions such as where one is studying, what has led one to a life of ministry...
2024-09-2122 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastDeath a Part of Life (1961-05-12)In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman draws upon a parable of two leaves at the end of the Fall season. The two leaves are in conversation with one another, pondering questions of why they must die and who will take their place when they die. After reading this parable, Thurman reflects upon the ways in which all of creation's lived experience participates in death; rendering death as an event that happens in one's life, not something that happens to oneself.Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
2024-09-2114 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Meaning of Love (1958-03-07)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.Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
2024-09-2114 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastLove and Self-Confidence (1959-11-06)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 the most profound truth that one can find at the center of one's existence....
2024-09-2112 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastJohn Brown's Body (1960-02-09)In this recording within the We Believe Series, Howard Thurman reads an excerpt from Stephen Vincent Benet's book, "John Brown's Body." According to Thurman, he reads this text every year the Friday before Abraham Lincoln's birthday. The quotation that is read comes from the perspective of Abraham Lincoln. In it, Lincoln ponders God's will for black bodies in America, pledges his allegiance to the union, and likens himself to an old hunting dog when reflecting upon his tenacity while fighting in the Civil War.Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
2024-09-2113 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastJohn Brown's Body (1960-02-05)In this recording within the We Believe Series, Howard Thurman reads an excerpt from Stephen Vincent Benet's book, "John Brown's Body." According to Thurman, he reads this text every year the Friday before Abraham Lincoln's birthday. The quotation that is read comes from the perspective of Abraham Lincoln. In it, Lincoln ponders God's will for America, likens himself to an old hunting dog when reflecting upon his tenacity while fighting in the Civil War, and attempts to find spiritual grounding in the midst of unrest and war.Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television...
2024-09-2112 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastLincoln's Birthday; Reading from Stephen Benet's "John Brown's Body" (1964-02-07)In this recording within the We Believe Series, Howard Thurman reads an excerpt from Stephen Vincent Benet's book, "John Brown's Body." According to Thurman, he reads this text every year the Friday before Abraham Lincoln's birthday. The quotation that is read comes from the perspective of Abraham Lincoln. In it, Lincoln ponders God's will for black bodies in America, pledges his allegiance to the union, and likens himself to an old hunting dog when reflecting upon his tenacity while fighting in the Civil War.Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
2024-09-2112 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastReligion of the Prophets: The Message of Micah, 1952 August 17"To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with that God." In this ninth sermon on the prophets, Thurman explores the notions of justice, mercy, and humility as they are recounted in Micah. We often think of justice as a balance sheet, the "eye for an eye" logic. But Thurman invokes Jesus who teaches that mercy is more important than justice. Mercy and kindness is an act that cannot be paid back, and in fact continues to multiply itself in the recipient. This, Thurman says, is what it means to do justly, "releasing people from prison in...
2024-09-1334 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastParables of Jesus, Part 7: Rich Young Fool, 1951 October 28In this final entry on the Parables of Jesus, Thurman examines the Parable of the Rich Fool. The overarching question for Thurman is this: How do we relate to the money and resources that we have? We aspire to protect ourselves and make flourishing lives with our resources, but we also find ourselves measuring our value by these things. Thurman suggests that we measure our lives by our commitment – not by how much we have, but rather if we use our goods for things in which we truly believe. Thurman invites us to ponder whether our possessions are more va...
2024-09-0843 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastReligion of the Prophets: The Message of Ezekiel, 1952 August 11In this eighth sermon on the prophets, Thurman gives a thorough exploration of Ezekiel. First, Thurman returns to the topic of responsibility through the lens of holiness. In Ezekiel, though environment affects our choices, we each must reckon with ourselves and our own actions. The action is ultimate in determining our holiness, and our good acts might save us from the weight of our bad acts. Thurman also suggests that we might bear responsibility, not through some profession, but simply as ourselves taking ownership of our own living. This includes when our lives are under great threat and consequence...
2024-09-0844 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastReligion of the Prophets: The Message of Hosea, 1952 June 1In this second sermon on the prophets, Thurman talks about God's unwavering faithfulness to human beings even in the midst of hardship. Through Hosea's writings, Thurman illustrates the ways in which crisis tempts us into abandoning our faith in God, the true source of our security. Thurman suggests that God's punishment and redemption is carried out through the logic of cause and effect. The world is not full of war because God is evil, but because our social processes lead to war. Nevertheless, Thurman insists that we must hold the faith that "the ultimate destiny of man is a...
2024-09-0836 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThurman on the Howard Thurman Educational Trust, 1975 February 7In this audio recording, Howard Thurman shares the background and the intentions of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust. Thurman traces his own educational journey through the hardships of segregation and financial struggles, which were only overcome by the support of friends, family, and strangers. After a fateful encounter with a man that helps pay his ticket to high school, Thurman makes a promise to God: for every year of his life, he will try to do for some student that that man had done for him. The Howard Thurman Educational Trust is the manifestation of that promise. The Trust...
2024-09-0837 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastMartin Luther King Service (Santa Cruz), April 8, 1968In this recording, Howard Thurman honors the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. , giving perspective to his "life and martyrdom." Thurman describes King's greatest contribution to be his ability to speak ethical insight from the center of his religious experience. Thurman says that this was a new development: to denounce racism, not just as un-American and undemocratic, but as a moral sin against God. Thurman assures us that King's work is unfinished, and that it is us who determine the meaning and significance of his life by how we respond. Thurman sees King as one who lived out his...
2024-09-0246 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 16 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the tenth lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. In this recording, Howard Thurman is asking the question, "What do I have?" He poses this question in relation to the mystical traditions that strive to empty themselves of the material world for the sake of transcendental relationship with God. Engaging this question, Thurman struggles with the...
2024-09-0245 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 13 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the ninth lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. In this recording, Thurman responds to the question: "Can I work out, in my private journey, the implications of my moment of vision?" In classic Thurman form, he gives no clear answer to this question; however, he points to Jesus' ministry, and Greek philosophical conceptions of the...
2024-09-0245 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 12 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the eighth lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. In this recording, Thurman reflects upon the life of Jesus, and an encounter he had with the author Margaret Rhodes, in order to make sense of what it means to heal. Here, Thurman indicates that the primary function of healing rests in the healing of one's "identity...
2024-09-0245 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 11 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the seventh lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. In this recording, Thurman explores the question "How must I relate to the natural order in which I must work out my life?" This question is met with the significance of the Temptation of Jesus in relation to Jesus' baptism. Thurman suggests that Jesus' transcendental experience in...
2024-09-0245 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 9 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the sixth lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. In this recording, Thurman reflects upon what it means to make sense of one's own transcendent "center." The center to which Thurman is referencing is held in relation to the placement of Jesus' baptism in the context of the arc of scripture; heralding this event as the...
2024-09-0245 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 6 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the fifth lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. He revolves the content of this lecture around the question: "How may I act so that in my action there will be a corresponding manifestation of an increase within me of a sense of the presence of God?" To which, Thurman responds with dialogue with students in...
2024-09-0245 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 4 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the fourth lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. Drawing from Olive Schreiner, Elmer O'Brian, and his own encounters, Thurman reflects upon God's (or The Ultimate's) sovereign providence. Thurman communicates this idea via the designation of "God's giveness." He notes that it is in personal "spiritual exercises" that one has the potential to be opened to...
2024-09-0246 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 3 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the third lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. Building upon Thurman conception of being a "time binder," he notes that utopian conceptions of harmony are not unobtainable. Drawing from his wider work of "racial memory," Thurman indicates in this recording that humanity's restorative relationship with the animal kingdom provides an inkling for God's participation with...
2024-08-2146 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 2 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the second lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. In this recording, Thurman notes that innate within the human identity are the categorizations of "Space Binder" and "Time Binder." Space Binder speaks to meaning making in reference to the external world. Time Binder speaks to the transcendent reality of existence that both observes and reacts. Each...
2024-08-2145 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastOn Mysticism, Part 1 (University of Redlands Course), 1973This recording is the first lecture in our collection of ten that Howard Thurman gave at the University of Redlands in 1973 on the topic of mysticism. Thurman indicates that this lecture functions as a means to point the listener towards practical approaches to mysticism through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and religious experience. Thurman's emphasis in this recording is the centrality of one's identity, and conception of self in relation to the world and creation. He does this by drawing upon stories of and experience he has with a Sioux tribe in Canada, and his interpretation of a Robinson Jeffers...
2024-08-2146 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastJesus and the Disinherited, Part 1 (Seminar Discussion) [Side A], 1975 Jan 22-23This recording is a part of a seminar that took place in 1975 on the topic of Howard Thurman's inimitable text, Jesus and the Disinherited. In these recordings, you hear the voices of numerous students in conversation with Thurman. In this recording, Thurman opens with his reflections upon the tension between the temporal body of Jesus Christ, and one makes of Jesus' lived experience. Collectively, the classroom explores questions of the historicity of Jesus, the limitations of personal experience, the impact of Jesus' teachings on the Civil Rights Movement, hope, and the habitus of nonviolent strategy.
2024-08-2143 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastA Sense of Presence, Sense of Self, 1974 July 18This is a recording of Howard Thurman reading from his text "Deep Is The Hunger" (1951). Thurman explores a parable of a poor laborer who invests in expensive glass from a high end antique store. From this parable, Thurman discusses what it means to live with only that which is best and beautiful, that which is one's treasure. He continues by juxtaposing this idea of treasures by lifting up the nature of tragedy, which lures one from that which makes their life most beautiful.Part of the Collection, Readings from Deep is the Hunger (1951)
2024-08-2116 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastHear Us and Help, Psalms in Today's English Version (American Bible Society), 1971 NovA recording of Howard Thurman reading a selection of Psalms for recordings by the American Bible Society devotionals entitled, "Hear Us and Help" in November 1971. On this side of the recording, Thurman read Psalms 71, 77, 86, 90, 103, 139.Part of the Collection, NATags: American Bible Society, Here Us and Help, PsalmsDescription by Erik MattsonRecorded in NACitation: Thurman, Howard, “Hear Us and Help, Psalms in Today's English Version (American Bible Society), 1971 Nov,” The Howard Thurman Digi...
2024-08-2125 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastHear Us and Help, Psalms in Today's English Version (American Bible Society), 1971 NovA recording of Howard Thurman reading a selection of Psalms for recordings by the American Bible Society devotionals entitled, "Hear Us and Help" in November 1971. On this side of the recording, Thurman read Psalms 4, 5, 6, 13, 16, 25, 31, 33, 42, 61, 70.Part of the Collection, NATags: American Bible Society, Here Us and Help, PsalmsDescription by Erik MattsonRecorded in NACitation: Thurman, Howard, “Hear Us and Help, Psalms in Today's English Version (American Bible Society), 1971 Nov,” The Howard Thurman Digi...
2024-08-2124 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastFriends Five-Year Meeting, Part 3: Jesus and the Natural Order (continued), 1969 July 22In this brief add-on to Thurman's sermon on Jesus and the Natural order, Thurman discusses the paradox that human beings are at once a part of the natural order, and yet also seem to be over and against nature. Human beings always feel themselves to be threatened by the impersonal forces of nature, which ultimately feeds the fear that perhaps we are alone, cut off, isolated in this world. If only the world could acknowledge us, to know our private world of hopes, dreams, and aspirations, perhaps we would feel comforted and assured. For this reason, Thurman says we...
2024-08-0212 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastFriends Five-Year Meeting, Part 3: Jesus and the Natural Order, 1969 July 22In this second sermon from the Friends Five-Year Meeting, Thurman returns to the temptations of Jesus. The tempter urges Jesus to jump off a tower. Thurman says that the logic behind the tempter's dare is that there is no order or structure to existence; the tempter tries to convince Jesus that he is above the natural order. However, the truth is that if we do not act in accordance with the order, the order itself will destroy us. "Thou shalt not tempt God." Thurman relates this to America and the empires of history that have deemed themselves favored and...
2024-08-0240 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastFriends Five-Year Meeting, Part 2: Jesus and the Gothic Principle, 1969 July 21In this second sermon from the Friends Five-Year Meeting, Thurman parallels the insights of Jesus with the principles of Gothic architecture. In the iconic Gothic arch, Thurman sees pillars that are grounded in the earth, and yet stretch up into infinity. This, he says, reflects human beings in both our earth-bound creatureliness and the reality of the human spirit which seeks trust, understanding, and love. Thurman ties this insight to the temptation story in which the tempter urges Jesus to turn stone to bread, to which Jesus responds that man does not live by bread alone. Here, Thurman says...
2024-08-0242 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastFriends Five-Year Meeting, Part 1: Jesus and the Religious Experience, 1969 July 20In this sermon given at a Quaker conference, Howard Thurman gives words to religious experience as an encounter with the living God. For Thurman, religious experience is a moment in which one becomes personally and privately aware of God as a fact. This is an experience that cannot be controlled or willed, but rather it is given by grace, by God's own autonomy. Our responsibility is not about holding tightly to religious experience of the past, but rather to be open and prepared to encounter God in our lives, and to be transformed by divine presence.
2024-08-0237 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastIn the Garden, 1962 September 16In the final sermon of this series, Thurman affirms that Jesus does not struggle with the fact of death but the fact of finality swallowing all future possibilities. When Jesus asked God whether the cup before him might pass, what he possibly considered, Thurman notes, is whether more time living might be better than dying. The test of faith, Thurman says, comes when life’s agony is not relieved. In Jesus’ yielding expression, “Thy will be done,” Thurman interprets God’s ability to intervene “in the midst of the breaking heart and the anguishing spirit” and inspire peace and resolve.
2024-07-1832 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastDisciplines of the Spirit, Part 8: Faust, 1960 December 4In this eighth installment of the Discipline of the Spirit, Howard Thurman uses Goethe's Faust to set the tone as he discusses the principles of dualism and redemption. Thurman goes on to discuss whether our contradictions in life are final considering the righteousness of God. The movement of the creator through the experience of man is also discussed.Part of the Collection, Disciplines of the Spirit (1960, Marsh Chapel, Boston University, Boston, MA)Tags: contradiction, dualism, experience, Goethe, redemptionDescription by ShaCarolyn Halyard
2024-07-1540 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastDisciplines of the Spirit, Part 6: The Good and the Evil, 1960 November 20In this sixth installment of Disciplines of the Spirit, Howard Thurman talks about commitment in the framework of good and evil. Commitment is a level of dedication that gives us structure, order, and provides a basis for integrated action in life. Commitment rises against whatever comes seeks to come between self and that which self is committed to. In this lecture, Thurman poses the question of whether there is any difference in the dynamics of the experience of commitment when the commitment is to evil as well as good.Part of the Collection, Disciplines...
2024-07-1534 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastJesus and the Disinherited, Part 1, January 11, 1959Part 1 of Jesus and the Disinherited. Begins by referring to Jesus' "working paper." Thurman's book was written about ten years prior, and he wants to take another look at these issues with consideration of all that has happened. He tells the story of his father's death and funeral when he was seven. As he grew he found he had a very intimate relationship with Jesus, even verbally discussing things with Jesus at night in the sand dunes. Jesus was a real personality to Thurman. However, he couldn't square this intimate, real "personality" Thurman had come to know with the...
2024-07-1041 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Search for Meaning in the Experience of Love (IV) (continued), 1975 November 5In this second part of Howard Thurman’s lecture on the Experience of Love, Thurman continues his discussion on the acceptance of others in their totality. John 8:1-11 is used to highlight the importance of meeting others where they are while treating them as though they are where they should be. We do not find Refuge in material possessions; we find refuge in the heart of those who love us.Part of the Collection, The Search for Meaning (1975, Second Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN)Tags: experience, love, refuge
2024-07-1010 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Search for Meaning in the Experience of Love (IV), 1975 November 5This fourth lecture in The Search for Meaning series is the first part of Howard Thurman’s talk on the experience of love. Here Thurman defines love as the ability to deal with another person at a point in that person that is beyond all of his faults and all of his virtues. To be loved is to have a sense of being totally dealt with, totally held, so that you can dare to be free enough in your spirit just to run the risk of being you. Howard Thurman also uses several anecdotes to demonstrate love as a fu...
2024-07-1044 minThe Howard Thurman PodcastThe Search for Meaning in the Experience of Freedom (III), 1975 November 4In this third lecture in the Search for Meaning, Howard Thurman discusses freedom as it relates to personal accountability. Thurman defines freedom as the ability to stand in the present that ultimately determines the future. Freedom is also defined as having a sense of option and alternative. It is the freedom of choice that keeps our soul alive. Additionally, it is our desire and ability to take responsibility for our deeds despite extenuating circumstances that give us true liberation.Collection: The Search for Meaning (1975, Second Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN)Tags: choice, freedom, liberty, meaning, option
2024-07-1041 min