These moments move us beyond the ordinary labors of our lives

Douglas Steere writes in WORK AND CONTEMPLATION of occasional moments of transcendence, as "ripples of ecstasy, when our deepest creative impulse, our spring of freedom, is drawn upon and released . . . And in such moments of utter self-absorption, we are lifted above both pain and pleasure. "These moments move us beyond the ordinary labors of our lives. They often occur when we have been in the company of strangers. They require time, and they invite Love.

Home as places of preparation

Harry Emerson Fosdick urges the case for peaceful homes as places of nurturance. Nevertheless, he recognizes that our homes can become bastions against the world if they are not connected to work for the sake of the world outside. Fosdick affirms the ultimate purpose of peaceful homes:

O God of life, send from above
Thy succor, swift and strong,
That from such homes stout souls may come
To triumph over wrong.

Understood in this way, our homes are places of nurture but also of preparation. From such places some stalwart souls will envision the world in new ways.