{Beauty | Personal}

"Let us jointly make such works of artistic beauty - small and large, simple and complex - that the world around us will pause for one moment and say, "Truly there must be a God, and He must be here."

 {For the Beauty of the Church}

{Transformed | Personal}

"To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do -- to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst -- is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed." - The Sacred Journey, Frederick Buechner

{Read this a few times... it's so powerful. I have such a hard time letting anyone, even God, do anything for me. But that's missing out on so much that could transform your life and make it even better. Let God do His work. }

{Up Ahead - Noteworthy Quotes | Personal}

{Taken at the Johnson Shut-Ins, Lesterville, MO}

"Ain't you thinkin' what's it gonna be like when we get there? Ain't you scared it won't be nice like we thought?"


"No," she said quickly. "No, I ain't. You can't do that. It's too much - livin' too many lives. Up ahead they's a thousand lives we might live, but when it comes, it'll only be one. If I go ahead on all of 'em, it's too much." 
{The Grapes of Wrath, Stienbeck} 



Live here, in this moment, because living in the future is too much unnecessary work. Live now, be all present in this moment, enjoy this moment, worry about this moment only.

Let Jesus carry the burdens of the future, because He is so much better at it. Live just this one life that is before you.


"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." {Matthew 11:28-30}

{Happiness - Noteworthy Quotes | Personal}

"What is the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you? People were ready to have even their appetites controlled then... we've gone on controlling since.


"It hasn't been very good for truth.. but it's been very good for happiness. One can't have something for nothing. Happiness has got to be paid for.


"You're paying for it, Mr. Watson - paying because you happen to be too much interested in beauty. I paid for it, because I happened to be too much interested in truth."


{never be willing to give up beauty for comfort; never sacrifice truth for safety.}


"What about self-denial then? If you had a God, you'd have a reason for self-denial. You'd have a reason for chastity." 


"But chastity means passion, chastity means *neurasthenia. And passion and neurasthenia mean instability. And instability means the end of civilization. You can't have a lasting civilization without plenty of pleasant vices."


"But God's the reason for everything noble and fine and heroic. If you had a God..."


"My dear young friend, " said Mustpha Mond, "civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism.. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunity for being noble or heroic. Conditions have got to be thoroughly unstable before the occasion can arise." 

"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin." 

{when you eliminate all of the unstable, all the danger, you eliminate the need for God to come through.. and eliminate all the things that come from God... beauty, truth, freedom and true love.}


"What you need," the Savage went on, "is something with tears for a change. Nothing costs enough here." 


___________________________________________


{quotes from Brave New World, by Adolus Huxley}


{words in brackets are mine}

* neurasthenia

[noo͡r′əsthē′nē·ə]

Etymology: Gk, neuron + a + sthenos, without strength

1 an abnormal condition that often follows depression, characterized by nervous exhaustion and a vague functional fatigue.

2 (in psychiatry) a stage in the recovery from a schizophrenic experience during which the patient is listless and apparently unable to cope with routine activities and relationships. neurasthenic, adj.

{His Peace | Personal}

"You will not find lasting peace in the world around you, in circumstances, or in human relationships. The external world is always in flux - under the curse of death and decay...
"Take time to delve into the riches of My residing Presence." {Jesus Calling, Sarah Young} 

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in on body, and be thankful." {Colossians 3:15}

Each day remember that we are called to let His peace rule in our hearts, nothing else, just His peace. Everything else fades away when we concentrate on His peace and Presence in our life.

{Miracles | Personal}

"We have insulated ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them... If we get sick, we go to a doctor. If we need food, we go to the store and buy it. We've eliminated the need for miracles." {Shane Claiborne}

"We say things like, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'... and then we live and plan like we don't believe God even exists. We try to set up our lives so everything will be fine even if God doesn't come through." {Francis Chan}

"But true faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God's fidelity to His promises." {Chan}

 I have to ask myself, what in my life would turn out to be a disaster if God didn't come through? Is there anything in my life that is requiring me to put my total trust in Him, and just jump?

I say I trust Him, but do my actions and my plans and my dreams show that I do?

 

{Commonplace | Personal}

"Commonplaces never become tiresome. It is we who become tired when we cease to be curious and appreciative... we find that it is not a new scene which is needed, but a new viewpoint." {Norman Rockwell}

Why I love Winter: Spring

Another reason I love winter:

Because it makes spring that much sweeter.

Little things and a Big God

[A few thoughts from the book I just started reading, 'The Irresistible Revolution', by Shane Claiborne]

"We are surrounded by unbelieving activists and inactive believers. Where are the true Christians?" 

"We live in a world that has lost it's appreciation for the little things... a world that wants things bigger and bigger. We want to supersize our fries, sodas and church buildings. But amid all the supersizing  many of us feel God is doing something new, something small and subtle."

{both from the introduction to the book} 

I think the ironic thing about the above *very* true statement, is although we are supersizing everything else in our life, we have failed to realize how truly "supersized" our God is. We put Him in boxes, make Him smaller than He is... and routinely fail to believe that He is BIG. At the same time, when He tries to reach us through small things - whispers, creation, etc - we fail to realize that it is God because... "He's supposed to be BIG."  What an oxymoron!

Let's wake up and see God in the little things, but at the same time wake up to the fact that we've limited Him to those little things, and that He is bigger than our wildest dreams. Let's take up the banner of our King and become believing activists, know that our God can change the world.