^{Blessed are they
who have no locks on their door.
~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky}

Reflect, Resonate, Reevaluate, Respond

O the bliss of those who are always angry at the right time and never angry at the wrong time, who have every instinct, impulse and passion under control because they themselves are God-controlled, who have the humility to realize their own ignorance and their own weakness, for such people can indeed rule the world!
~ William Barclay, 1907-1978, Church of Scotland pastor & professor

Matthew 5:9-13

Scripture scholars contend that the original language of the Beatitudes should not be rendered as “Blessed are the single-hearted” or “Blessed are the peacemakers” or “Blessed are those who struggle for justice.” Greater precision in translation would say, “You’re in the right place if…you are single-hearted or work for peace.” The Beatitudes is not a spirituality, after all. It’s a geography. It tells us where to stand.”
~ Gregory Boyle, 1954- , founder and director of Homeboy Industries

Jesus does not limit the peacemaking to only one kind, and neither will his disciples. In the light of the gospel, Jesus himself is the supreme peacemaker, making peace between God and man, and man and man. Our peacemaking will include the promulgation of that gospel. It must also extend to seeking all kinds of reconciliation. Instead of delighting in division, bitterness, strife, or some petty “divide and conquer” mentality, disciples of Jesus delight to make peace wherever possible.
~ D.A. Carson, 1946- , distinguished New Testament scholar & theologian

I have found truly jubilant Christians only in the Bible, in the Underground Church and in prison.
~ Richard Wurmbrand, 1909-2001, Romanian Lutheran priest

At the Nicene Council, an important church meeting in the 4th century A.D., of the 318 delegates attending, fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or lost a hand or did not limp on a leg lamed by torture for their Christian faith.
~ Vance Havner, 1901-1986, revivalist preacher

Blessed are the peacemakers, and one sure way of peacemaking is to let the fire of contention alone. Neither fan it, nor stir it, nor add fuel to it, but let it go out by itself.
~ Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892, ‘Prince of Preachers’

^{Blessed are they who have no
locks on their door.
~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky}

Reflect, Resonate, Reevaluate, Respond

One must be a sea, to receive a polluted stream without becoming impure.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche, from Thus Spoke Zarathustra

No one is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart: for his purity, by definition, is unassailable.
~ James Baldwin, from Nobody Knows My Name

For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.
~ G.K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, author, Christian apologist

Matthew 5:1-10

But the man who is not afraid to admit everything that he sees to be wrong with himself, and yet recognizes that he may be the object of God’s love precisely because of his shortcomings, can begin to be sincere. His sincerity is based on confidence, not in his own illusions about himself, but in the endless, unfailing mercy of God.
~ Thomas Merton, 1915-1968, Trappist monk, theologian

A pure heart won’t get us out of conflict and controversy. It may well be the very thing that gets us into it.
~ John Hagee, 1940- , pastor, televangelist

If you wait until your motives are pure and unselfish before you do something, you will wait forever.
~ Tim Keller, 1950-2023, pastor, author

God bestows more consideration on the purity of the intention with which our actions are performed than on the actions themselves.
~ Augustine of Hippo, 354-430

Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved.
~ John Chrysostom, died 407 AD, Golden-Mouthed

The so-called innocence of children is more a matter of weakness of limb, than purity of heart.
~ Augustine of Hippo, philosopher, theologian