Explore every episode of the podcast The Howard Thurman Podcast

In this first sermon, Thurman sets out to explore the meaning of religious experience, and the religious experience of Jesus specifically. For Thurman, religious experience is a private and intimate experience, and yet it also seems to involve everything that is. Religious experience is not static, but rather a dynamic experiencing that our minds cannot capture totally. Nevertheless, the mind tries to freeze it into doctrine, dogma, and theology – the language of rationality. But Thurman says religious experience cannot be reduced to the practical and empirical. Ultimately, religious experience is our awareness of the presence of God, and nothing we do gives us control over that presence. For it is God that gives of Godself freely and lovingly.

Part of the Collection, The Meaning of the Religious Experience (1976, [Disciples of Christ Retreat], Santa Barbara, CA)

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Description by Rodell Jefferson III.

Recorded in Santa Barbara, CA

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Meaning of the Religious Experience, Part 1, 1976 July 23,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1283.

In 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 Recordings

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Description by Unknown

Recorded in NA

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Readings from the Inward Journey - 1 Corinthians 13, 1970 Jan 10,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1276.

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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.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: actualized potential, gate, goal, horizon, love, tension, youth

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Ideals and Goals (1964-02-14),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1272.

In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reads a poem sent to him from a friend. This poem speaks from the perspective of Phillip, one of Jesus' disciples. The content of this poem wrestles with the demands of the people upon Jesus, and Jesus' willingness to pour himself out to benefit those who are in need. In the author's engagement with Jesus' life, work, death, and resurrection, we are asked to ponder the human quest of making sense of God's open, relational, and creative nature.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: christology, communion, disciples, Feeding of the Five Thousand, healing, Incarnation, Jesus, kenosis, Last Supper, miracles, Phillip, poem, Spirit of Love

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Always the Open Hand (1964-02-21),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1271.

In a message reflecting on his visit to Quaker meetings, Thurman reads from Quaker poetry about the emphasis on silence, inner reflection, meditation, and seeing God's presence in the world around us. He also reads an excerpt about practicing faith for oneself instead of as a demonstration to others.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: meditation, quiet, silence

Description by Spencer Roberts

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Readings from Quaker Poetry (1963-11-29),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1270.

In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reads three poems written by various authors speaking to subjects of war, conscientious objection, aggression, and violence. Each of these poems are read as a reflection upon the Memorial Day holiday. The first poem, by John Drinkwater, deals with aggression as it is related to war. The second poem, by Badget Clark, deals with a young man's decision to fight in the Civil War. The third, and final poem, by Edna St. Vincent Millay, speaks to conscientious objection while hiding a black child from people of power. Each of these poems emphasize Thurman's commitment to an anti-war ethic, pacifism, and the religion of Jesus.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, aggression, America, anti-violence, anti-war, Badger Clark, citizenship, civil war, consciousness, death, Edna St. Vincent Millay, evil, Herman Hagedorn, holidays, John Drinkwater, poem, prayer, soul, war

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Selections for Memorial Day (1964-05-29),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1269.

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 can both show gratitude while also resisting materialism and hyper-industrialism.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: angels, Christmas, contagion, creativity, crown, ethics, gifts, Golden Rule, holidays, Jesus ethic, materialism, potential, Relatedness, values

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “A Salutation to Christmas (1961-12-22),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1268.

In this recording, Thurman discusses the different types of joy and its nature. He also suggests where we can find joy in life, how we can give it to others, and how it can be found even in moments of suffering and pain. Thurman uses some examples to illustrate his points. In one example, Moses and elders return from the presence of God to take on regular tasks like eating with additional joy. In another example, a friend of Thurman's uses the loss of his legs to demonstrate that "there is a creative power that enables him to not only to endure what he has gone through, but to find how to use this thing as an updraft." [Note: this recording was originally broadcast on March 15, 1963 and then re-aired on April 12]

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

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Description by Spencer Roberts

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Joy is of Many Kinds (1963-04-12),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1267.

Thurman explains the mood, quality, and symbol of Christmas. This contrasts with viewing Christmas as merely a day on the calendar, or a commemoration of an event. He uses sharp imagery to describe each of these features. For example, the mood of Christmas is “an iridescent of sheer delight that bathed one's whole being with something more wonderful than words can ever tell.” The quality is “the calm purple of grapes.” The symbol is “the promise of tomorrow at the close of every day” and “that good is more permanent than evil.”

Part of the Collection, Religious & National Holidays

Tags: Christmas, mood, quality, symbol

Description by Erik Mattson

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Christmas Meditation, 1975 February 13,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1266.

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)

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, civil war, God residue, God's will, John Brown's Body, slavery, Stephen Benet

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Readings from Stephen Vincent Benet's John Brown's Body (1964-02-07),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1265.

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 Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, God's will, John Brown's Body, slavery, Stephen Benet

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Readings from Stephen Vincent Benet's John Brown's Body (1960-02-05),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1262.

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 isolation and civil unrest.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, civil war, discernment, God's will, Isolation, John Brown's Body, slavery, Stephen Benet

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Readings from Stephen Vincent Benet's John Brown's Body (1963-02-08),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1261.

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)

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, civil war, God residue, God's will, John Brown's Body, slavery, Stephen Benet

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Readings from Stephen Vincent Benet's John Brown's Body (1962-02-09),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1260.

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 We Believe Series, Howard Thurman reflects upon an excerpt from his own writing, Deep is the Hunger. He reads a story of sailors and a chaplain stumbling upon the dead body of an enemy, and collectively discerning what they are to do with the said body. Drawing from this story, Thurman invites the listener to discern what is at stake when considering what it means to live a good life, which is followed by the discovery of what Thurman calls a "basis for action." Thurman explains that this form of discernment is something that is at the center of our being, and is worth deep exploration.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: actualized potential, blue kitten, circle of meaning, core, deep is the hunger, discernment, dog, identity, individualism, integrity, purpose, river, song, voice

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Sing Your Own Song (1964-03-06); The Right Thing This Day (1958-05-23),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1259.

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 is a reaction that comes from the tension between one's personal and public life. Thurman invites the listener to discern what their "moment of truth" is and challenges the listen to what their "moment of truth" is calling them to do. In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reads from his book, "Meditations of the Heart." In this reflection, Thurman reflects upon what it means to look at life critically. When things are going well, the difficult and the not-difficult aspects of life blend together; however, when one is in desperation, one is able to critique and names the parts of life that are difficult. This conversation speaks to Thurman's wider work concerning the tension goodness and innocence.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: commitment, decision, dichotomy, encounter, experience, goodness, innocence, Lloyd George, meditations of the heart, moment of truth, pearl, responsibility, sacrifice, solitary, spiral, St. Francis, test, truth

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Moment of Truth (1963-04-19); Pearl without Price (1971-12-4),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1258.

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 song. He continues by reflecting upon numerous stories from his life in order to further ask the question, "What do we do with frustrations when there is no freedom in sight?" In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reflects upon and attempts to reclaim the old spiritual song, "Heaven, Heaven." Thurman critiques popular conceptions of the song, stating that it overlooks the reality that every person has to navigate societal expectations with a level of compromise. The question he asks in light of compromise, however, is "At what point is the line drawn?" Here, Thurman considers the deeper question of compromise being a means of deception, and that the ethical dimension of compromise is housed in the tension between deception as a means of survival and deception as a means of ethics.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: aspirations, compromise, cuttlefish, deception, desire, discovery, healing, Hounds of Hell, Huckleberry Bush, hypocrisy, New Testament, Old Testament, preparing, rattlesnake, Rock Street Cemetery, self-respect, shedding, sight, sorrow songs, spirituals, St Gauden

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Blind Man (1958-10-03); Heaven, Heaven (1958-11-21),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1257.

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 transform it into optimism. In this recording within the We Believe series, Howard Thurman builds upon his previous reflection upon the negro spiritual, "There is a Balm in Gilead." Here, he echoes the words from his professor and mentor, George Cross, when he remarks, "The contradictions in life are not final and ultimate." Here, Thurman is asserting that when one conceptualizes life as static, one is imprisoning oneself; however, when one conceptualizes life as dynamic, one is pursuing a life of freedom and fullness. Thurman explains to the listener that in this dynamistic perspective, one finds the energy and strength that is associated with optimism; thus, one is able to find tools to heal.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, actualization, contradictions, dynamic, energy, experience, fluidity, George Cross, healing, Jeremiah, moral law, optimism, pessimism, Pope Pius XII, privilege, Psalm 23, raw material, restraint, Satan, spirituals, strength, There is a Balm in Gilead

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Balm in Gilead, Part 1 (1958-10-10); Balm in Gilead, Part 2 (1958-10-17),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1256.

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 there is no other source of truth. In this recording within the We Believe series, Howard Thurman reads from his text, Meditations of the Heart. In this recording, he reflects upon the ways in which humanity makes meaning of existence and evil. He problematizes notions of one singular account of evil, noting that when the "evilness of evil is removed, then the total character is totally altered." He continues, that it is only in the following of one's own truth, that one can distinguish the raw materials to which the Kingdom of God can be built.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: Acts of the Apostles, Ahab, disintegrate, evil, evilness, Herman Melville, inner life, Kabil, light, Macbeth, meditations of the heart, Moby Dick, musk deer, My Brother's Face, painting, Paradise Lost, personality, Peter, religious man, search, seeking, thirsty, transcendence, truth

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Light In One's Path: Parts 1 and 2 (1971-12-3),,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1254.

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 believe that they "did it." He continues, noting that any sense of achieving knowledge is false, as knowledge is dynamic in nature, rendering language as a mere symbol to make sense of knowledge. Rather than framing the pursuit of life as the pursuit of knowledge, Thurman suggests that equity is the actual pursuit that humanity should participate in.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: body, denial, identity, inner-being, integrity, Jesus, journey, linguistics, Matthew 21:29-31, meditations of the heart, money, origin, Parables, pedantic, pilgrim's progress, residue, self, symbol, womb

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Integrity of the Word (1964-01-31); Man's Equity in Life (1971-12-3),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1253.

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 We Believe series: Howard Thurman reflects upon a passage from the prophet Jeremiah. From the reading, Thurman ponders what it means to have complete confidence in God. He notes that there are longings of the heart that are much deeper than any desire for material possessions. For Thurman, it is in the places of "the deepest needs of the spirit," that one discovers what it can mean for one to understand these needs of the spirit.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: community, curse, ecology, ego, existentialism, experience, heart, interconnectivity, James Cane Allen, Jeremiah, magic, materiality, National Geographic, oasis, parthenon, permanence, redemption, responsibility, Sahara Desert, sphinx, temporality, The Choir Invisible

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Boundaries of the Self (1961-11-24); Confidence in God (1958-06-13),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1252.

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 Blessing, and the concluding stanza in Psalm 139, attempting to make sense of the content of a faithful human existence. He uses these reflections in order to emphasize his understanding of the interrelatedness of life, and the ways in which action and reaction are essential to both human flourishing and human suffering. Here, Thurman places great emphasis on responsibility, indicating that to live a life is to participate in a responsible act.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: action, birth, Conrad, ecology, egg, experience, fact of life, Faust, freedom, germ, imagination, interconnectivity, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, judgement, memory, mind, myth, new life, Psalm 139, psychiatrist, reaction, responsibility, salvation, Tennyson, Ulysses, wind

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “"How Precious Are Thy Thoughts..." (1961-01-13); Try Me and Know My Thoughts (1961-03-17),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1251.

This recording has two parts. In "Prayers," Thurman reads two prayers. The first is about responsibilities, needs, and our desire to help others without knowing how. The second is Psalm 139. In "When I Awake," he discusses the relatedness of all humans to other humans, past and present. He suggests that we are never alone because of these connections and because we are all part of God.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags:

Description by Spencer Roberts

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Prayers (1962-06-01); When I Awake (1961-03-03),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1250.

This recording has two parts. In "If I Ascend Up to Heaven," Thurman explores the idea that God is present in the joys of life and the darkest of times. He also dwells on the idea that we often feel isolated from others, but that no one is isolated from God. In "The Patience of Unanswered Prayer," Thurman explores the value of learning the patience of unanswered prayer. He suggests that this patience can lead away from a focus on the hunger for something that has not come to pass. Instead, we can focus on what it can mean to deal with that hunger and how it can help us understand ourselves. He then offers a number of ways in which we can help answer the question, “What do you do with the frustrations of your own life?”

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags:

Description by Spencer Roberts

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “If I Ascend Up to Heaven (1961-01-06); The Patience of Unanswered Prayer (1958-04-11),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1249.

This recording has two parts. In "The Function of Stillness", Thurman describes the importance of rest, of taking time for renewal and restoration, in whatever form that takes. In "Miracle of Prayer", he suggests that prayer takes many forms and purposes, but its true value is in the ability for the human spirit to be in the presence of God.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags:

Description by Spencer Roberts

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Function of Stillness (1962-12-14); Miracle of Prayer (1964-01-10),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1248.

This recording has two parts. In the first message, Howard Thurman describes human desire to "be relieved of the pressure of anxiety that comes from finding no escape from the things that make life hard." Quiet times of meditation can give us the space to take a long look at our own situation and "give wings to our longings." The peace we can experience during crisis is contained within the crisis itself, which means it must end, without us knowing whether the situation will be better or worse than before. But we leave that worry in the peace of God, the peace that "invades the spirit." In the second message, Thurman discusses a strange section of Psalm 139 in which the author talks about hating with "perfect hate." Thurman suggests that hate is sometimes used positively, to shield our tender selves from the world or to offer a foundation upon which to stand. Yet hatred is always destructive and vengeance destroys both hated and hater.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags:

Descriptions by Liz Miller and Spencer Roberts

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Varieties of Peace (1962-01-12); "I Hate Them With Perfect Hate " (1961-03-10),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1247.

This recording has two parts. In "Joy Beyond Pain," Thurman discusses the physical experience of feeling unable to continue but then feeling a surge of unexplained energy. He suggests that there is a parallel experience in the spirit, in which we can access additional spiritual resources that allow us to continue in moments of weariness or exhaustion. In "Protection from Our Weaknesses," he discusses human weaknesses, how they are exploited or used as excuses, and that we often are protected from knowing our own weaknesses. He also explores the idea of experiences resulting from cause and effect or else from things in which we had no part.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags:

Description by Spencer Roberts

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Joy Beyond Pain (1961-10-06); Protection From Our Weaknesses (1962-10-12),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1246.

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 one cannot travel alone. He notes that one can never abide when experiencing isolation. It is through one another that one finds themselves and God, and vice-a-versa.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: Bardoli, death, development, From Man to Man, Gandhi, George Cross, heart, Hinduism, inclusivism, India, individuality, Isolation, justice, life, mysticism, odyssey, Olive Schreiner, oppression, personalism, prayer, process, prosperity, protest, reality, resistance, satyagraha, spirituals, Telemachus, The Inward Journey, truth, universalism, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Resistance to the Social Order (1962-04-20); Self Realization and Acceptance (1963-11-08),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1245.

In both of these recordings within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads from his text, "Meditations of the Heart." In them, we hear Thurman reflecting upon citizenship and right action. Thurman's central question throughout these reflections is: What does it me to be a full, free, and responsible citizen? He claims that by having a moral praxis that rejects hatred in every way it manifests itself, one is able to resist means that contradict the end they are seeking.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: action, citizenship, Co-Laboring, decision, democracy, egg, evil, freedom, government, intention, John Donne, justice, meditations of the heart, morality, No Man is and Island, non-violent resistance, responsibility, Roman Empire, T.R. Glover, voting, working paper

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Intentional Living (1961-06-23); Man's Relation to Social Order (1963-10-04),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1244.

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 We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads a meditation that speaks of two men who were once enemies sharing the same prison cell. From this meditation, he asks the question of what it means to overcome evil, and anticipate the Kingdom of God? He continues that it is in the disruption of barriers of hatred that humanity builds against itself that one can begin to anticipate the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. He continues, when we put our lives at the disposal of "that in which we stand," no matter how big or small, one is pursuing the greater good of humanity.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: awareness, calling, citizenship, creativity, evil, facts, George Cross, Herman Hagedorn, holiday, identity, meditation, meditations of the heart, prison, prisoners, race, reconciliation, solidarity, testimony, truth

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Idiom of Brotherhood (1963-11-15); The Big Dream, the Little Act (1959-05-29),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1243.

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.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: 1 Corinthians, A sense of what is vital, affection, community, confidence, Dillinger, discernment, dog, experience, interconnectivity, love, meaning, Moffatt, mortician, mortuary, Olive Schreiner, ownership, Paul, requitment, San Francisco, satisfaction, security, symbolism, trust, understanding, vitality, wisdom

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Meaning of Love (1958-03-07); A Sense of What is Vital (1959-01-30),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1242.

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.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: belonging, contagion, creation, creativity, ecology, Eugene V. Debs, experience, fellowship, harmony, healing, heart, interconnectivity, inward journey, love, order, organism, Paul, Philippians, poetry, relationship, security, society, synchronization, synthesis, tentacles of time, unity, vulnerability, wholeness, will

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Supportive Order Inherent in Life (1963-05-17); For Love's Sake (1958-05-30),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1241.

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; Howard Thurman reads from his text, "The Inward Journey," reflecting upon what it means to be fully integrated. It is in holistic integration, Thurman suggests, that one finds solitude and interdependency.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: aging, anxiety, darkness, dependability, dynamism, embodiment, event, friendship, harmony, illness, integration, inward journey, life, light, magic, meaning, meditations of the heart, order, psalmist, quiet, rebirth, reconciliation, relationship, restoration, Russia, solitude, tension, United States, urgency, vitality, wisdom, year

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Life Under the Scrutiny of God (1963-01-04); Order in the Totality of Life (1962-05-25),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1240.

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 his own psychological findings. In this recording, Thurman suggests that it is in the exposure to the reality of existence that one can begin to mature.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: angels, balance, biology, chaos, childhood, coding, completion, confidence, consequence, constitution, creativity, death, development, ecology, epistemology, experience, Jane Steger, journey, leaves from a secret journal, life, maturity, meditations of the heart, moral structure, North Carolina, personality, pigs, Sargasso Sea, seasons, snakes, trauma, tree, urge of life, Virginia

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Creative Order in Life (1963-09-27); The Great Exposure (1963-02-15),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1239.

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.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: activity, ancestors, care, contentment, courage, creativity, crossroad, darkness, disaster, examine, Francis Thompson, gratitude, holidays, hope, humility, litany, love, magic, nostalgia, solitude, spirit, temptation, thanksgiving, unrest, waiting, will

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Thanksgiving and the Nature of Life (1963-11-22); Waiting Creatively (1959-06-12),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1238.

In this recording within the We Believe Series; Thurman reflects upon wisdom, and the ways in which wisdom is grounded upon "the reflection of a person gazing deep into the heart of their own experience." This personal experience, Thurman explains, can be understood in both theological and ecological terms; relating human experience to the movement of the seasons, and the life of Jesus of Galilee. This recording within the We Believe Series marks a transitional point in Thurman's career as the Dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University: a two-year leave to participate in what he calls his "wider ministry." He draws upon ecological themes of seasons in order to articulate the way in which life transitions without one's consent. He notes that the "Fall of the Year" provides an opportunity for "recollection and reflection," and uses this recording as an opportunity to do so.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: becoming, Boston University, creativity, day view, Easter, ecology, energy, experience, fall, Galilee, George Cross, growing edge, harvest, holidays, Ibadan, Jesus, Muslim, New Year, Nigeria, night view, potentiality, rain, recollection, reflections, rhythm, seasons, spring, Sue Bailey Thurman, symbol, transition, unity, wider ministry, winter, wisdom

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Supporting Rhythm of Life (1962-04-13); Thank God for the Fall of the Year (1971-11-23),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1237.

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.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: bears, Cabot, Christmas, decision, ecclesiology, God, Harvard, heart, interconnectivity, Letters of Old Age, limitations, love, Max Herman, meditations of the heart, National Conference of Social Work, need, Paul, Petrarch, poem, quality, quality of life, quantity, religion, responsibility, testimony, Tycho Brahe, voice of the genuine, witness

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Quality of Life (1960-10-07); Religion and Life (1964-04-03),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1236.

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.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: bears, behavior, Cabot, candidacy, character, Christmas, circumstances, consciousness, discipline, God, Harvard, heart, longing, love, martyrdom, meditations of the heart, National Conference of Social Work, need, psychology, quality, quality of life, quantity, responsibility, self-actualization, truth, Tycho Brahe

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Psychology and Religion (1963-10-25); Qualitative Living (1960-10-07),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1235.

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 the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: aliveness, altar, communion, creativity, daydreaming, detachment, discipline, fact, fairyland, image, individuality, intention, interconnectivity, meditations of the heart, mind, pacing, raw materials, reality, rest, rhythm, solitude, spirit, Stephen Hawking, sugarplum, waiting, withdraw

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Our Little Lives, Our Big Problems (1963-01-25); Periodic Rest (1963-03-22),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1234.

This recording has two parts. In "Long Live Life!" Thurman reflects on the passing of a year and reminds his audience to carefully consider their past experiences as moments in "which you learned something, those experiences that taught you something fresh and new about yourself, those experiences without which you would not be as sensitive as you are now to values, those experiences that made you aware of yourself, your purposes, your world." He concludes by focusing on the importance of walking straight ahead into the future, not letting the past shape us against it. In "My Life is Not My Own," Thurman reads from Inward Journey and discusses the idea that we are uniquely our own selves but also that our lives are not our own. We often find strength and confidence in our singleness within. However, our thoughts and actions are part of the heritage of humankind, and our lives are not for us alone. "Every person's life is involved profoundly and intimately in the life of all the other people in all the other ages who have ever lived." Yet in our inner solitude, we encounter God and make the great decisions in life.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags:

Description by Spencer Roberts

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Long Live Life! (1963-12-27); My Life Is Not My Own (1961-10-20),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1233.

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 this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman uses Langston Hughes' poem, "Rivers," to speak to human experience. Thurman discusses the analogy of human life as a river flowing, flooding, and resting.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, agony, Augustine, Congo, contemplation, death, design, essence, experience, flood, goal, goals, integrity, inward journey, journey, Langston Hughes, life, meaning of life, Mississippi River, New Orleans, order, pattern, pilgrim's progress, responsibility, Rivers, soul, storm, tension, Thomas a Kempis, turbulence

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Intentional Life (1962-05-18); Life is a River (1961-03-24),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1232.

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 of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: authenticity, Columbia, contextuality personality, dynamism, experience, fulfillment, imagination, individualism, inward journey, perfection, philosophy of a fool, projection, psychology, relationship, sculptor, sociologist, synchronicity, wholeness

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Image of Perfection (1963-04-26); Angelos of God (1961-09-29),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1231.

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 this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman reflects upon a meditation from his text, "The Inward Journey," and an anonymous quotation from a personal letter sent to Thurman. His reflection wrestles with the tension between the "time and place" of one's life, and the "meaning and significance" of one's life.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: blind puppy, childhood, cities, clouds, darkness, desert, destruction, Earth, experience, George Washington, God, inward journey, Jane Steger, learning, leaves from a secret journal, light, meaning, New York, opener of the way, Pawling, permanence, potentiality, relationship, rhythm, scent, smell, twilight, universe, vision, womb

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Growing Apprehension in Life (1963-09-13); Human Life in Perspective (1964-05-22),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1230.

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 22:11-14. In his reflection, Thurman notes of the ways in which humanity longs for a climactic moment, a moment in which life is fulfilled. He notes, "We stand in our moment unaware. Happy is the one who knows that their moment is the great moment." For Thurman, fulfillment is possible now, and reorienting one's posturing towards the potential that one holds today is the key for synthesis and actualization.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags:

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Grace of Man and God (1964-04-24); The Great Moment (1962-12-07),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1229.

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 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)

Tags: A Song of Living, angels, biology, chaos, coding, common experience, completion, confidence, constitution, creativity, ecology, epistemology, experience, Jane Steger, journey, leaves, leaves from a secret journal, life, North Carolina, Oak Tree, parable, peace, personality, pigs, Sargasso Sea, seasons, snakes, transcendence, tree, urge of life, Virginia, working paper

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Country of the Heart (1963-09-20); Death - A Part of Life (1961-05-12),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1228.

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.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: christology, donkey, experience, fact, family, flowers, heart, historical Jesus, holiday, hope, ideal, inward journey, Jesus of Nazareth, kingdom, lent, longing, love, ministry, palms, prayer, process, prophet, quest, reflections, sanctification, spirit, story, synthesis, Triumphant Entry

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Jesus, His Contribution (1963-03-01); The Triumphant Entry (1964-03-20),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1227.

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 the significance of Jesus' death.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: agony, crucifixion, De Profundis, death, experience, God, Good Friday, Hand of God, historical Jesus, holiday, Holy Week, human spirit, interpretation, Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Jordan Valley, legion, logic, oppression, Oscar Wilde, Oswald W.S. McCall, participation, Passover, personality, reverence, sovereignty, suffering, theodicy, transcendence

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “"The Crucifixion" (1959-03-27); Good Friday (1964-03-27),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1226.

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 adults should listen to, teach, and learn from children.

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: behavior, belonging, children, community, creativity, curiosity, dedication, dependability, development, developmental psychology, divan, experience, faith, family, Frederick J. Moffitt, furniture, genuine, goodness, habits, home, imagination, influence, intention, learning, life, love, meditations of the heart, moonlight, prayer, relationship, responsibility, self-control, teaching, Thus a Child Learns, tone, tradition, vitality

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “The Child and Religious Meaning (1964-01-24); Our Children Are Not Our Things (1963-11-01),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1225.

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," to reflect upon the content of freedom, as the July 4th holiday approaches him and the original audience. He waxes over the variety of expressions of freedom: freedom as release from a current moment, freedom as a wide-open road, freedom as responsibility which leads to growth in wisdom. While discerning these forms of freedom, Thurman returns to a mantra, "Give me the strength to be free and to endure the burden of freedom and loneliness of those without change."

Part of the Collection, We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)

Tags: angels, beginnings, birds, change, child, completion, conformity, death, Fourth of July, freedom, friendship, future, God, gratitude, holiday, innocent, life, maturity, movement, new start, New Years Day, organism, re-ordering, responsibility, seasons, soul, strength, time, tomorrow, understanding, unity, wisdom

Dustin Mailman

Recorded in WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Salute to the New Year (1962-01-05); The Strength to be Free (1960-07-01),” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1224.

In 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 person has to give, and that commitment is to give our lives to life itself, which involves giving our live to others – this act of self-giving from our very center is called love.

Part of the Collection, Disciples of Christ Retreat (1971, Santa Barbara, CA)

Tags:

Description by Rodell Jefferson III.

Recorded in Disciples of Christ Retreat, Santa Barbara, California

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Disciples of Christ Retreat, Lecture 4, 1971 July 25,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/1221.