The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new leaves, fresh blossoms, green fruit. Such is the growing edge!

Howard Thurman

The Growing Edge

Topic: Spiritual Growth & Practice

All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new leaves, fresh blossoms, green fruit. Such is the growing edge!

It is the extra breath from the exhausted lung, the one more thing to try when all else has failed, the upward reach of life when weariness closes in upon all endeavor. This is the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on when times are out of joint and men have lost their reason, the source of confidence when worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash. The birth of a child—life’s most dramatic answer to death—this is the growing edge incarnate.
Look well to the growing edge!

Howard Thurman

Howard Thurman, born on November 18, 1899, in Daytona Beach, Florida, emerged as a highly influential figure in American history. As a theologian, philosopher, educator, and civil rights leader, Thurman’s intellectual pursuits underscored the intersection of spirituality and the fight for social justice. Growing up in a segregated society, he became a beacon of enlightenment and understanding, using religion and spirituality as powerful tools to combat racial discrimination and social injustice. His profound impact on American society is evident through his extensive writings and teachings, which continue to inspire.

Thurman’s influence extended notably to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom he mentored. His book, Jesus and the Disinherited, profoundly shaped King’s understanding of nonviolent resistance, which became a cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to his role as a mentor, Thurman achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first African-American dean of a predominantly white university, serving as the dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University. His guidance and teachings helped foster a deeper understanding of the potential role of Christian churches in social justice efforts, which significantly influenced the direction and spirit of the Civil Rights Movement.

Even after King left Boston University, Thurman continued to support him and other civil rights leaders, emphasizing the importance of maintaining spiritual roots amidst their social justice efforts. He urged them to remain vigilant in their spiritual journeys through meditation, prayer, singing, celebration, and worship. Thurman believed that true social change could only come through personal transformation and adherence to spiritual disciplines. Howard Thurman passed away on April 10, 1981, in Daytona Beach, Florida, leaving behind a substantial and impactful legacy that continues to inspire individuals in the fields of civil rights, theology, and education.

(1899-1981) Christianity
The Growing Edge

Palmer, Parker J., and Carrie Newcomer. “Look Well to the Growing Edge.” The On Being Blog, On Being Studios, 18 June 2018, onbeing.org/blog/. [The Growing Edge, A sermon by Howard Thurman].

Howard Thurman

Theme: Spiritual Growth

About This Howard Thurman Quotation [Commentary]

Howard Thurman’s concept of “the growing edge” invites us to recognize the unseen renewal that quietly unfolds amid life’s decline. When he writes, “The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness,” Thurman points to a deeper rhythm: growth often occurs beyond our sight, in overlooked spaces. This “growing edge” does not ignore the “dying worlds” around us; rather, it acknowledges that alongside endings, there is always the promise of renewal. For Thurman, this slow, hidden renewal represents spiritual resilience—a reminder that growth unfolds patiently, often in the quiet places of our lives.

Thurman expands this metaphor to encompass life’s hardships, describing it as “the basis of hope in moments of despair” and “the incentive to carry on.” These words reflect a lived understanding of enduring adversity. Born into a world shaped by racial oppression and the legacy of slavery, Thurman’s life stands as a testament to this quiet resilience. Spiritual growth, he suggests, does not avoid struggle but engages with it—a conviction that even in the hardest times, life holds seeds of renewal. For Thurman, this growing edge is a source of quiet hope and persistence that resists despair.

To “look well to the growing edge” is to recognize both loss and regeneration. This view allows us to hold space for life’s challenges without being defined by them. Thurman’s insights reflect a spiritual awareness that life offers growth amid decay, an “upward reach” within each person that resists defeat. He reminds us that spiritual growth isn’t only in visible success but also in silent, persistent efforts that transform despair into resilience. The growing edge thus becomes a sacred space where life renews itself, pressing forward with quiet strength.

Howard Thurman – Author, Educator, and Civil Rights Leader

The Growing Edge is a book of Howard Thurman’s sermons. For Thurman, the sermon is an act of worship in which the preacher exposes his spirit and mind as they seek to reveal the spirit of the Living God upon them…

Parker J. Palmer and Carrie Newcomer: Look Well to the Growing Edge

[Post by Parker J. Palmer and Carrie Newcomer on the On Being Blog introducing their project: The Growing Edge.]

Parker J. Palmer is a columnist for On Being. He is a Quaker elder, educator, activist, and founder of the Center for Courage & Renewal. His books include A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life, and Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. His book On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old will be published in June.

Carrie Newcomer is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter. Her albums include Kindred Spirits, A Permeable Life, and The Beautiful Not Yet, and two books of poetry and essays.

Given what’s going on in the U.S. and around the world, it’s easy for some of us to think apocalypse 24/7 and fall prey to the anger and paralysis that comes with it. We live in a era when, to quote Howard Thurman, the “times are out of joint and [people] have lost their reason” while “worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash.” Without turning away from all the dying and grieving—which, rightly held, can redouble our commitment to life—we must learn to “Look well to the growing edge!”

When Howard Thurman calls the growing edge “the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on”, he’s not indulging a cheap fantasy. Those words came from a black man born into a culture of white supremacy, only one generation away from his grandmother’s experience as an enslaved human being. He stood in a long lineage of lived testimony to the fact that new life beckons to us even in the midst of horrors.

“As I’ve come to understand that life “composts” and “seeds” us as autumn does the earth, I’ve seen how possibility gets planted in us even in the hardest of times.”

—Parker Palmer [Quoted by Fr. Richard Rohr in The Abyss of Grief (see link in Resources)].

Additional Howard Thurman Quotes

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

—Howard Thurman [As quoted in Violence Unveiled (1996) by Gil Bailie] p. xv.

“In the conflicts between man and man, between group and group, between nation and nation, the loneliness of the seeker for community is sometimes unendurable. The radical tension between good and evil, as man sees it and feels it, does not have the last word about the meaning of life and the nature of existence. There is a spirit in man and in the world working always against the thing that destroys and lays waste. Always he must know that the contradictions of life are not final or ultimate; he must distinguish between failure and a many-sided awareness so that he will not mistake conformity for harmony, uniformity for synthesis. He will know that for all men to be alike is the death of life in man, and yet perceive harmony that transcends all diversities and in which diversity finds its richness and significance.”

—Howard Thurman [The Search For Common Ground : An Inquiry Into The Basis Of Man’s Experience Of Community (1971)] p. 6.

“Community cannot feed for long on itself; it can only flourish where always the boundaries are giving way to the coming of others from beyond them — unknown and undiscovered brothers.”

—Howard Thurman [The Search For Common Ground : An Inquiry Into The Basis Of Man’s Experience Of Community (1971)] p. 104.

The Growing Edge

Resources

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