Reflections

Man makes his plans (selah) and God laughs.
~ Yiddish Proverb

The wound is the place where the Light enters you.
~ Rumi, 13th century Persian poet

Paul paid dearly for his loyalty to the freeness and universality of the gospel.
~ John Stott (1921-2011), British theologian and pastor

…as concerning faith, we ought to be invincible, and more hard, if it might be, than a stone; but as touching charity, we ought to be soft, and more flexible than the reed or leaf that is shaken with the wind, and ready to yield to everything.
~ Martin Luther (1483-1546)

This horror of pain is a rather low instinct and…if I think of human beings I’ve known and of my own life, such as it is, I can’t recall any case of pain which didn’t, on the whole, enrich life. … I can say that I never knew what joy was like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am beholden to Jesus.
~ Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990), English journalist

The Church is the Lord’s bride whom He so loves that in her no spot or wrinkle is endurable. For the truth which this analogy serves to emphasize is that Love, in its own nature, demands the perfecting of the beloved; that the mere ‘kindness’ which tolerates anything except suffering in its object is, in that respect, at the opposite pole from Love…You asked for a loving God: you have one…not a senile benevolence that drowsily wishes you to be happy in your own way…not the care of a host who feels responsible for his guests, but the consuming fire Himself, the Love that made the worlds, persistent as the artist’s love for his work and despotic as a man’s love for a dog, provident and venerable as a father’s love for a child, jealous, inexorable, exacting as love between the sexes.
~ C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Suffering, then, is a badge of true discipleship.
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

This Sunday’s readings: Acts 27:13-38

Reflections

Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.
~ Roy T. Bennett

We need to cultivate the courage to be uncomfortable and to teach the people around us how to accept discomfort as a part of growth.
~ Brené Brown, Professor/author/Speaker

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There is always a danger that we will make it appear externally that we believe in God when internally we don’t. We say with our mouths that we believe in him, but we live with our lives like he never existed. That is the ever-present danger confronting religion. That’s a dangerous type of atheism.
~ Martin Luther King Jr., (1929-1968)

How quick come the reasons for approving what we like.
~ Jane Austen, Persuasion

The real persuaders are our appetites, our fears, and above all, our vanity. The skillful propagandist stirs and coaches internal persuaders.
~ Eric Hoffer, 1902-1983, Moral/Social Philosopher

Compelling reason will never convince blinding emotion.
~ Richard Bach, Author

He who holds the truth within his heart should never fear that his tongue will lack the strength of persuasion.
~ John Ruskin, 1819-1900, English Author

No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.
~ Luke 11:33

This Sunday’s readings: Acts 26:15-32