Lawrence Kushner Quotes

• A mystic is anyone who has the gnawing suspicion that the apparent discord, brokenness, contradictions and discontinuities that assault us every day might conceal a hidden unity.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Unity, Might, Harmony

  Lawrence Kushner (2010). “I'm God, You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego”, p.150, Jewish Lights Publishing

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• Everyone carries with them at least one piece to someone else's puzzle.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Pieces, One Piece, Carrie

  Lawrence Kushner (1998). “Eyes remade for wonder: a Lawrence Kushner reader”, Jewish Lights Pub

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• ...the goal of all spiritual life is to get your ego out of the way - outwit the sucker; dissolve it; shoot it; kill it. Silence the incessant planning, organizing, running, manipulating, possessing, and processing"... "because these activities preclude awareness of the Divine.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Life, God, Running

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• When you see something that is broken, fix it. When you find something that is lost, return it. When you see something that needs to be done, do it. In that way, you will take care of your world and repair creation.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Broken, Way, Return

  Lawrence Kushner (2001). “Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians”, p.61, Jewish Lights Publishing

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• God puts you where God needs you. You are where you are supposed to be. The job you are doing may not be any easier on account of this, indeed it may be harder, even more urgent, but now you are centered, focused, clear. So this is where I am supposed to be. I always thought I was supposed to be somewhere else, doing something else, being someone else. But I realize now that I was mistaken. This does not mean that I can't or will not be doing something else. Just right now, I am where God wants me.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Jobs, Mean, Somewhere Else

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• The "burning bush" was not a miracle. It was a test. God wanted to find out whether or not Moses could pay attention to something for more than a few minutes. When Moses did, God spoke. The trick is to pay attention to what is going on around you long enough to behold the miracle without falling asleep. There is another world, right here within this one, whenever we pay attention.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Fall, Long, Miracle

  Lawrence Kushner (2016). “God Was in This Place & I, i Did Not Know, 25th Anniversary Edition: Finding Self, Spirituality and Ultimate Meaning”, p.27, Jewish Lights Publishing

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• The first mystery is simply that there is a mystery, a mystery that can never be explained or understood, only encountered from time to time. Nothing is obvious. Everything conceals something else.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Firsts, Mystery, Obvious

  Lawrence Kushner (1999). “Honey from the Rock”, p.32, Jewish Lights Publishing

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• Our tolerance for forms of religious expression we disagree with is a precise barometer of our own spiritual security.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Spiritual, Religious, Expression

  Lawrence Kushner (2010). “I'm God, You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego”, p.36, Jewish Lights Publishing

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• God does not have hands, we do. Our hands are God's. It is up to us what God will see and hear, up to us, what God will do. Humanity is the organ of consciousness of the universe ... Without our eyes the Holy One of Being would be blind.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Eye, Hands, Humanity

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• The only thing truly within our power, may be whether or not we will behave in each moment with arrogance or reverence.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Arrogance, May, Moments

  Lawrence Kushner (1998). “Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary”, Jewish Lights Pub

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• Hold up your hands before your eyes. You are looking at the hands of God.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Spiritual, Eye, Hands

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• That's what Hanukkah is about: trying to survive the darkness on the far-fetched hope there's still some life and light left in the universe. It's more than just a religious story. The days have been growing shorter, imperceptibly but inescapably darker.... Heading into the night of the winter solstice, every spiritual tradition has some kind of festival of light. We're all just whistling in the dark, hoping against hope that someone up there will see these little Hanukkah candles and get the hint.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Spiritual, Religious, Dark

  Lawrence Kushner (2010). “I'm God, You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego”, p.103, Jewish Lights Publishing

  39 Copy quote

• Religion is a more or less organized way of remembering that every ministry points to a higher reality.

  Lawrence Kushner

  Reality, Ministry, Way

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