Ethan Armstrong

“And you look down, and you find yourself perched on a chair. and there is the sense that the chair doesn't have to be there, but it is anyway. and there is only gratitude for it all. you look down, and my goodness, there is a chair there, offering itself, supporting you unconditionally, asking nothing of you. what grace! the chair doesn't care who you are. who you think you are. it doesn't care what you've done or haven't done. it doesn't care what you've achieved, or haven't achieved. what you believe or don't believe. it doesn't care if you're a success or failure. if you've reached your goals, or not. it doesn't care whether or not you think you're enlightened. it doesn't care what you look like, what clothes you are wearing. it doesn't care whether you are sick or healthy, whether you are a buddhist or a jew, or a christian. whether you are young, or old. whether you understand or don't understand. it only offers itself, unconditionally. this message isn't complicated. it's there in something as simple and common place as a chair. and not just the chair, but all things. all things offer themselves unconditionally. the secret is this: life is not life at all. it is an offering. and right now, it offers THIS, the present moment.”
― Jeff Foster, An Extraordinary Absence: Liberation in the Midst of a Very Ordinary Life

“The unborn” are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus, but actually dislike people who breathe. Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are specifically mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn.”
― Methodist Pastor David Barnhart

“The most common reaction of the human mind to achievement is not satisfaction, but craving for more.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow

“History isn’t a single narrative, but thousands of alternative narratives. Whenever we choose to tell one, we are also choosing to silence others. Human”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow