Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.
Saint Basil
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
"Sing In The Rain"
The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.
Saint Basil
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.
Saint Basil
"Choose Your Perspective"
Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them."
Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
"God's Planting The Flag Of Truth"
No doubt Pain as God's megaphone is a terrible instrument; it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.
CS Lewis
CS Lewis
"Snatch, Seize, And Enjoy"
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness...never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
Lord Chesterfield
Lord Chesterfield
"Nothing Matters More To God"
If you want to be used by God, you must care about what God cares about; what he cares about most is the redemption of the people He made. He wants his lost children found! Nothing matters more to God; the Cross proves that...more important than any job, achievement, or goal you will reach during your life on earth...Nothing else you do will ever matter as much as helping people establish an eternal relationship with God.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 284ff
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 284ff
"God's Power In Your Weakness"
You have a bundle of flaws and imperfections: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. You also have uncontrollable circumstances that weaken you…the more important issue is what you do with these…Whenever you feel weak, God is reminding you to depend on Him...Vulnerability is an endearing quality; we are naturally drawn to humble people. Pretentiousness repels but authenticity attracts, and vulnerability is the pathway to intimacy. This is why God wants to use your weakness, not just your strengths. If all people see are your strengths, they get discouraged and think, “Well, good for her, but I’ll never be able to do that.” But when they see God using you in spite of your weaknesses, it encourages them to think, ‘Maybe God can use me!’ Our strengths create competition, but our weaknesses create community. At some point you are going to have to decide whether you want to impress people or influence people.
Rick Warren
Purpose Driven Life pp 272-277
Rick Warren
Purpose Driven Life pp 272-277
"A Secret Society: Those Who Are In The World, But Not Of The World"
The thing has happened: the new step has been taken and is being taken. Already the new men are dotted here and there all over the earth. Some... are still hardly recognizable: but others can be recognized. Every now and then one meets them. Their voices and faces are different from ours; stronger, quieter, happier, more radiant. They begin where most of us leave off. They are, I say, recognizable; but you must know what to look for. They will not be very like the idea of 'religious people' which you have formed from your general reading. They do not draw attention to themselves. You tend to think that you are being kind to them when they are really being kind to you. They love you more than other men do, but they need you less. (We must get over wanting to be needed: in some goodish people, especially women, that is the hardest of all temptations to resist.) They will usually seem to have a lot of time: you will wonder where it comes from. When you have recognized one of them, you will recognize the next one much more easily. And I strongly suspect (but how should I know?) that they recognize one another immediately and infallibly, across every barrier of colour, sex, class, age... In that way, to become holy is rather like joining a secret society. To put it at the very lowest, it must be great fun.
CS Lewis
CS Lewis
"Gratitude Toward Those Who've Eased Our Way"
When eating a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree.
Vietnamese saying
Vietnamese saying
"Reject Not Thine Only Means Of Survival"
Man’s basic vice, the source of all his evils, is the act of unfocusing his mind, the suspension of his consciousness, which is not blindness, but the refusal to see, not ignorance, but the refusal to know. Irrationality is the rejection of man’s means of survival [God] and, therefore, a commitment to a course of blind destruction...
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
"The Circle Of Light At Our Feet"
A week ago we woke up to over a foot of silent, heavenly, childhood-resurrecting snow. I went out with a shovel and found that my neighbor George had unbarricaded me already. So I plucked my way to old Mrs. Carter’s house and did her car and driveway. Meanwhile, Kathy B. was hacking a tunnel from Mrs. Gliba’s steps to the road, and I saw Steven D. armed and looking for someone to rescue.
Economically speaking, it was a zero-sum game: Everybody’s snow got shoveled by someone else, and it was no more or no less efficient than if they had shoveled it themselves. But life is more than the removal of precipitation, and the crisscrossing lines of neighbors “bearing one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) augmented the value of the exercise.
It made me think that if God had wanted to create a more “efficient” world with more efficient people, He would have eliminated such time-wasters as sleep (one-third of the day), eating (three times a day), hygiene, sex, music, friendship, and childhood. Then we could have gotten a lot done.
The next question is, of course, what we are so bent on getting done? I thought about my own life. What is the point of everything I do? Am I forever doing the thing I’m doing so that later on I can get to the thing I really want to be doing? Dorothy Parker said, “I hate writing. I love having written.” Is that how it is for me, too?
What is the definition of an “interruption”? According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, “Interrupt: To stop or hinder by breaking in.” The implication is that the activity being “hindered” is more important than the demand that is interrupting it. We may have some things reversed. Our preacher last Sunday said his wife phoned him while he was preparing his sermon (on love), and rather than listen to her talk about her day, he orchestrated the conversation to find the nearest exit.
It’s hard to say what I would have got done if the storm hadn’t come. No one is allowed to know the might-have-beens. All that we have is the circle of light at our feet.
Andree Seu
Economically speaking, it was a zero-sum game: Everybody’s snow got shoveled by someone else, and it was no more or no less efficient than if they had shoveled it themselves. But life is more than the removal of precipitation, and the crisscrossing lines of neighbors “bearing one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) augmented the value of the exercise.
It made me think that if God had wanted to create a more “efficient” world with more efficient people, He would have eliminated such time-wasters as sleep (one-third of the day), eating (three times a day), hygiene, sex, music, friendship, and childhood. Then we could have gotten a lot done.
The next question is, of course, what we are so bent on getting done? I thought about my own life. What is the point of everything I do? Am I forever doing the thing I’m doing so that later on I can get to the thing I really want to be doing? Dorothy Parker said, “I hate writing. I love having written.” Is that how it is for me, too?
What is the definition of an “interruption”? According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, “Interrupt: To stop or hinder by breaking in.” The implication is that the activity being “hindered” is more important than the demand that is interrupting it. We may have some things reversed. Our preacher last Sunday said his wife phoned him while he was preparing his sermon (on love), and rather than listen to her talk about her day, he orchestrated the conversation to find the nearest exit.
It’s hard to say what I would have got done if the storm hadn’t come. No one is allowed to know the might-have-beens. All that we have is the circle of light at our feet.
Andree Seu
"Rooting Out The Distructive"
With the old Almanack and the old Year, Leave thy old Vices, tho' ever so dear...Each year one vicious habit rooted out, in time might make the worse man good throughout.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
"'Tis Easier"
How may observe Christ's Birth-day; How few his Precepts! O, 'tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
"Lift Up Your Eyes"
Those who give too much attention to trifling things become generally incapable of great ones.
Francois duc de la Rochefoucauld
Francois duc de la Rochefoucauld
"The Discomfort Of Denied Reality"
The house of delusions is cheap to build but drafty to live in.
A.E. Housman
A.E. Housman
"The Goal Of True Education"
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically... Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Vision Cleared"
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
Helen Keller
Helen Keller
"The Presense In Which You Have Always Stood"
If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him. You cannot put Him off with speculations about your next door neighbors or memories of what you have read in books. What will all that chatter and hearsay count (will you even be able to remember it?) when the anesthetic fog which we call 'nature' or 'the real world' fades away and the Presence in which you have always stood becomes palpable, immediate, and unavoidable?
C S Lewis
C S Lewis
"Like Turning A Horse Into A Winged Creature"
'Niceness'- wholesome, integrated personality - is an excellent thing. We must try by every medical, educational, economic, and political means in our power to produce a world where as many people as possible grow up `nice'; just as we must try to produce a world where all have plenty to eat. But we must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world - and might even be more difficult to save.
For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature. Of course, once it has got its wings, it will soar over fences which could never have been jumped and thus beat the natural horse at its own game. But there may be a period, while the wings are just beginning to grow, when it cannot do so: and at that stage the lumps on the shoulders - no one could tell by looking at them that they are going to be wings - may even give it an awkward appearance.
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity Ch. 32
For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature. Of course, once it has got its wings, it will soar over fences which could never have been jumped and thus beat the natural horse at its own game. But there may be a period, while the wings are just beginning to grow, when it cannot do so: and at that stage the lumps on the shoulders - no one could tell by looking at them that they are going to be wings - may even give it an awkward appearance.
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity Ch. 32
"Find Your Voice"
As we must account for every idle Word, so we must for every idle Silence.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
"Bait And Switch"
Many a Man thinks he is buying Pleasure, when he is really selling himself a Slave to it.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
"Wake Up And Smell The Coffee"
When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately
bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not
when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity pp 93
bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not
when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity pp 93
"Woe To You When All Men Speak Well Of You"
To serve the publick [sic] faithfully, and at the same time please it entirely, is impracticable.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
"Thinking Like A Servant"
To be a servant requires a mental sift, a change in your attitudes. God is always more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements...
We can measure our servant’s heart by how we respond when others treat us like servants. How do you react when you’re taken for granted, bossed around, or treated as an inferior? …if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life...
They don’t compare, criticize, or compete with other servants or ministries. They’re too busy doing the work God has given them…We’re all on the same team; our goal is to make God look good, not ourselves…There’s no place for petty jealousy between servants. When you’re busy serving, you don’t have time to be critical. Any time spent criticizing others is time that could be spent ministering. It’s not our job to evaluate the Master’s other servants. It is also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism….Your service to Christ is never wasted regardless of what others say...
Because they remember they are loved…servants don’t have to prove their worth. They willingly accept jobs that insecure people would consider ‘beneath’ them…Jesus knew who He was, so the task [of washing the disciples’ feet] didn’t threaten His self-image.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 265-269
We can measure our servant’s heart by how we respond when others treat us like servants. How do you react when you’re taken for granted, bossed around, or treated as an inferior? …if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life...
They don’t compare, criticize, or compete with other servants or ministries. They’re too busy doing the work God has given them…We’re all on the same team; our goal is to make God look good, not ourselves…There’s no place for petty jealousy between servants. When you’re busy serving, you don’t have time to be critical. Any time spent criticizing others is time that could be spent ministering. It’s not our job to evaluate the Master’s other servants. It is also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism….Your service to Christ is never wasted regardless of what others say...
Because they remember they are loved…servants don’t have to prove their worth. They willingly accept jobs that insecure people would consider ‘beneath’ them…Jesus knew who He was, so the task [of washing the disciples’ feet] didn’t threaten His self-image.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 265-269
"Living For An Audience Of One: What Makes The Servant's Heart Tick"
The world defines greatness in terms of power, possessions, prestige, and position…God determines your greatness by how many people you serve not how many people serve you...
Real servants do what’s needed, even when it’s inconvenient. Servants see interruptions as divine appointments for ministry and are happy for the opportunity to practice serving...
Servants are always on the lookout for ways to help others. We miss many occasions for serving because we lack sensitivity and spontaneity. Great opportunities to serve never last long. They pass quickly, sometimes never to return again. You may only get one chance to serve that person, so take advantage of the moment...
…before attempting the extraordinary, try serving in ordinary ways…The size of the task is irrelevant. The only issue is, does it need to be done?… Jesus specialized in menial tasks that everyone else tried to avoid: washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast, and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath Him, because He came to serve. It wasn’t in spite of His greatness that He did these things, but because of it…
...Servants finish their tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises, and complete their commitments. They don’t leave a job half undone, and they don’t quit when they get discouraged. They are trustworthy and dependable...
Self-promotion and servant-hood don’t mix. Real servants don’t serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of One. You won’t find many real servants in the limelight; in fact, they avoid it when possible. They are content with quietly serving in the shadows.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp257-262
Real servants do what’s needed, even when it’s inconvenient. Servants see interruptions as divine appointments for ministry and are happy for the opportunity to practice serving...
Servants are always on the lookout for ways to help others. We miss many occasions for serving because we lack sensitivity and spontaneity. Great opportunities to serve never last long. They pass quickly, sometimes never to return again. You may only get one chance to serve that person, so take advantage of the moment...
…before attempting the extraordinary, try serving in ordinary ways…The size of the task is irrelevant. The only issue is, does it need to be done?… Jesus specialized in menial tasks that everyone else tried to avoid: washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast, and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath Him, because He came to serve. It wasn’t in spite of His greatness that He did these things, but because of it…
...Servants finish their tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises, and complete their commitments. They don’t leave a job half undone, and they don’t quit when they get discouraged. They are trustworthy and dependable...
Self-promotion and servant-hood don’t mix. Real servants don’t serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of One. You won’t find many real servants in the limelight; in fact, they avoid it when possible. They are content with quietly serving in the shadows.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp257-262
"Don't Waste Your Pain"
People are always more encouraged when we share how God’s grace helped us in weakness than when we brag about our strengths.” (Pg. 247) “Only shared experiences can help others. Aldous Huxley said, ‘Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.’ What will you do with what you’ve been through? Don’t’ waste your pain; use it to help others.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp.147-148
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp.147-148
"Prayiing With Both Body And Soul"
When one prays in strange places and at strange times one can't kneel, to be sure. I won't say this doesn't matter. The body ought to pray a well as the soul. Body and soul are both the better for it.
CS Lewis
Letters to Malcolm pp. 17
CS Lewis
Letters to Malcolm pp. 17
"Be Not Too Dignified To Unveil Thine Heart"
...we want to know not how we should pray if we were perfect but how we should pray being as we are now. And if my idea of prayer as "unveiling" is accepted, we have already answered this. It is no use to ask God factitious earnestness for A when our whole mind is in reality filled with the desire for B. We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us...And perhaps, as those who do not turn to God in petty trials will have no 'habit' or such resort to help them when the great trials come, so those who have not learned to ask Him for childish things will have less readiness to ask Him for great ones. We must not be too high-minded. I fancy we may sometimes be deterred from small prayers by a sense of our own dignity rather than of God's.
C.S. Lewis
Letters to Malcolm pp.
C.S. Lewis
Letters to Malcolm pp.
"Our Perfect God Of Sharp Corners And Rough Edges"
We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labour is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake...I call upon Him in prayer. Often He might reply - I think He does reply - "But you have been evading me for hours." For He comes not only to raise up but to cast down; to deny, to rebuke, to interrupt...If I never fled from His presence then I should suspect those moments when I seemed to delight in it of being wish -fulfillment dreams. That, by the way, explains the feebleness of all those watered versions of Christianity which leave out all the darker elements and try to establish a religion of pure consolation. No real belief in the watered versions can last. Bemused and besotted as we are, we still dimly know at heart that nothing which is at all times and in every way agreeable to us can have objective reality. It is of the very nature of the real that it should have sharp corners and rough edges, that it should be resistant, should be itself. Dream-furniture is the only kind on which you never stub your toes or bang your knee. You and I have both known happy marriage. But how different our wives were from the imaginary mistresses of our adolescent dreams! So much less exquisitely adapted to all our wishes; and for that very reason (among others) so incomparably better. Servile fear is, to be sure, the lowest form of religion. But a god such that there could never be occasion for even servile fear, a 'safe' god, a tame god, soon proclaims himself to any sound mind as fantasy. I have met no people who fully disbelieved in Hell and also had a living and life-giving belief in Heaven.
C.S.Lewis
Letters to Malcolm, pp 75-76
C.S.Lewis
Letters to Malcolm, pp 75-76
"When I Say I'm A Christian"
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not shouting, "I've been saved!"
I'm whispering, "I get lost! That's why I chose this way"
When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't speak with human pride
I'm confessing that I stumble-needing God to be my guide
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not trying to be strong
I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not bragging of success
I'm admitting that I've failed and cannot ever pay the debt
When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't think I know it all
I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible but God believes I'm worth it
When I say, "I am a Christian," I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name
When I say, "I am a Christian," I do not wish to judge
I have no authority--I only know I'm loved
Carol Wimmer
I'm whispering, "I get lost! That's why I chose this way"
When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't speak with human pride
I'm confessing that I stumble-needing God to be my guide
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not trying to be strong
I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not bragging of success
I'm admitting that I've failed and cannot ever pay the debt
When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't think I know it all
I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible but God believes I'm worth it
When I say, "I am a Christian," I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name
When I say, "I am a Christian," I do not wish to judge
I have no authority--I only know I'm loved
Carol Wimmer
"Only Discern From An Aerial View"
The Nazca Lines of the high plateau in Peru can only be discerned with any understanding from an aerial view. On the ground all you see is reddish pebbles. From a higher elevation, a menagerie of winsome creatures appears: fish, orcas, llamas, monkeys, spiders, and hummingbirds.
The principle holds true for observing the work of God in my life. From my 57-year perch, I now see that rebellion bore fruit for evil in the long run, though in the short run I seemed to have gotten away with it:
“But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? . . .” (Zechariah 1:6).
God’s words “overtake.” They catch up. They are living words. Put them on the shelf and they will vibrate till they jump off, or smoke till there’s a fire.
But I can trace also in my life the finger of His mercy, which at every juncture blunted the full impact of evil and brought beauty from ashes.
A day is coming when many of us will moan to see that “not one word” of God has failed—all those words we watered down, we relegated to poetry, we tamed into liturgy, we dismissed as culturally conditioned, we claimed had ceased in our day, we shunted off into the millennium, we submitted to the judgment of man rather than submitting the judgments of man to the Word of God.
Hold fast, indeed, warns Joshua (verse 8). Slipping away is easier than you think. Beware of the "nations" and don’t [spiritually] intermarry (verse 12). This is what we’ve done in America. It’s the frog in the pot thing.
Andree Seu
The principle holds true for observing the work of God in my life. From my 57-year perch, I now see that rebellion bore fruit for evil in the long run, though in the short run I seemed to have gotten away with it:
“But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? . . .” (Zechariah 1:6).
God’s words “overtake.” They catch up. They are living words. Put them on the shelf and they will vibrate till they jump off, or smoke till there’s a fire.
But I can trace also in my life the finger of His mercy, which at every juncture blunted the full impact of evil and brought beauty from ashes.
A day is coming when many of us will moan to see that “not one word” of God has failed—all those words we watered down, we relegated to poetry, we tamed into liturgy, we dismissed as culturally conditioned, we claimed had ceased in our day, we shunted off into the millennium, we submitted to the judgment of man rather than submitting the judgments of man to the Word of God.
Hold fast, indeed, warns Joshua (verse 8). Slipping away is easier than you think. Beware of the "nations" and don’t [spiritually] intermarry (verse 12). This is what we’ve done in America. It’s the frog in the pot thing.
Andree Seu
"Love What You Do. Do What You Love"
God wants you to serve Him passionately, not dutifully. People rarely excel at tasks they don’t enjoy doing or feel passionate about…When you are doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you or challenge you or check up on you. You do it for the sheer enjoyment. You don’t need rewards or applause or payment, because you love serving in this way. The opposite is also true: When you don’t have a heart for what you’re doing you are easily discouraged…The second characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness. Whenever you do what God wired you to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives perfection. In contrast, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Drive Life pp 238-239
Rick Warren
The Purpose Drive Life pp 238-239
"Not For All The Olive Oil In Asher"
How do you like the fact that the Levites had no inheritance of land among the other 11 tribes (except for a few cities and their surrounding farmland)—because God was their inheritance?
“But to tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance” (Joshua 13:33).
Would that sit well with you if you were a Levite? Or would you feel cheated?
This is perhaps a question best discretely left hanging, for your private rumination.
Then again, it is actually the question we are each faced with many times a day: What would you prefer... to “find yourself in the world” to chart a course for a prestigious career? Or to give it all up to serve your husband—and hear a “well done, good and faithful servant” from God? Would you prefer getting an extra paid essay under your belt today? Or meeting that neighbor who needs to talk—plus a “well done, good and faithful servant” from God?
Or have you even gotten to the point where the choice of God is not a sacrifice? Have you gotten to the place where you have stepped into obedience enough times, and chosen the way of faith often enough, that you have learned a very cool secret—that the joy is immediate and the deepening intimacy with God is something you wouldn’t trade for all the olive oil in Asher?
“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6).
Andree Seu
“But to tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance” (Joshua 13:33).
Would that sit well with you if you were a Levite? Or would you feel cheated?
This is perhaps a question best discretely left hanging, for your private rumination.
Then again, it is actually the question we are each faced with many times a day: What would you prefer... to “find yourself in the world” to chart a course for a prestigious career? Or to give it all up to serve your husband—and hear a “well done, good and faithful servant” from God? Would you prefer getting an extra paid essay under your belt today? Or meeting that neighbor who needs to talk—plus a “well done, good and faithful servant” from God?
Or have you even gotten to the point where the choice of God is not a sacrifice? Have you gotten to the place where you have stepped into obedience enough times, and chosen the way of faith often enough, that you have learned a very cool secret—that the joy is immediate and the deepening intimacy with God is something you wouldn’t trade for all the olive oil in Asher?
“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6).
Andree Seu
"Earth Thrown In"
If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": aim at earth and you will get neither.
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity ch. 10
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity ch. 10
"My Strong Tower"
I trust in the Lord in spite of the things I don’t understand about Him—because of the things I do understand about Him. And one of those things is that He looks at the heart of a matter and not just external appearances. Every one of us knows what it’s like to be in a situation that looks really, really bad, but onlookers are unaware of a few facts that would unfurl their eyebrows if they knew. What about the poor guy who walks into church on Sunday morning filthy because he stopped to help someone on the way who had a flat tire?...God knows all that stuff. But mortals jump to conclusions...Therefore, as we learn in today’s chapter, God invented the cities of refuge, because there are extenuating circumstances in life. There were six cities of refuge scattered throughout Israel (for your convenience), and each was a place you could run to if you had killed a person accidentally, without malice aforethought. You didn’t get off scot-free because you still were forced to leave everyone and everything you knew and to go to a strange city and hang around there until the high priest died. But it was better than vigilante justice on the streets of Debir or Medeba. God once gave King David a choice of punishments: famine, fleeing from his foes, or pestilence. David didn’t miss a beat: “Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man” (2 Samuel 24:14).Today, of course, the cities of refuge are all done away with, superseded by the refuge that is in Christ: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10).
Andree Seu
Andree Seu
"Donations Accepted"
We are healed to help others. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are saved to serve…Anytime you use your God-given abilities to help others, you are fulfilling your calling…. At the end of your life on earth you will stand before God, and He is going to evaluate how well you served others with your life…Each of us will have to give a personal account to God. Think about the implications of that. One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others. What matters is not the duration of your life, but the donation of it. Not how long you lived, but how you lived.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 229, 231-232
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 229, 231-232
"Use Them For His Glory"
If you had them [talents] all, you’d have no need of anyone else, and that would defeat one of God’s purposes - to teach us to love and depend on each other. Your spiritual gifts were not given for your own benefit but for the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for your benefit… God planned it this way so we would need each other. When we use our gifts together, we all benefit. If others don’t use their gifts, you get cheated, and if you don’t use your fits, they get cheated...God never wastes anything. He would not give you abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality, and life experiences unless He intended to use them FOR HIS GLORY.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp. 235-237
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp. 235-237
"If The Echo Be This Beautiful, How Much More The Voice"
I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country...
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity ch.7
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity ch.7
"Faithful First In The Very Little"
Someone asked Beth Moore how she felt about "The Prayer of Jabez", which emboldened us to pray for enlarged borders, a la 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (bigger church programs?) "I feel just fine about it," she said. "But sometimes I wonder if God is thinking, 'I was kind of hoping that you would operate in the borders I already gave you.'"
Andree Seu
Andree Seu
"A Ring Of Gold In A Swine's Snout"
Virtue may not always make a Face handsome, but Vice will certainly make it ugly.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
"Fear Requires Permission"
Your fears can be overcome if you deal with them properly. Emotions come wholly from within, and have only the strength we allow them.
John Wilson
John Wilson
"Expensive Garbage"
Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.
Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou
"Finish Strong"
Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than before.
Polybius
Polybius
"Out Of Joy And Deep Gratitude"
In God’s kingdom, you have a place, a purpose, a role, and a function to fulfill. This gives your life great significance and value. It cost Jesus His own life to purchase your salvation…We don’t serve God out of guilt or fear or even duty, but out of joy, and deep gratitude for what He’s done for us. We owe Him our lives. Through salvation our past has been forgiven, our present is given meaning, and our future is secured.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp228
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp228
"Change The Channel Of Your Mind"
If you’re serious about defeating temptation you must manage your mind and monitor your media intake…choose carefully what you think about.The more you think about something, the stronger it takes hold of you… Since temptation always begins with a thought, the quickest way to neutralize its allure is to turn your attention to something else…change the channel of your mind and get interested in another idea…Temptation begins by capturing your attention. What gets your attention arouses your emotions. Then your emotions activate your behavior and you act on what you felt…Satan can’t get your attention when your mind is preoccupied with something else…
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp.210-212
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp.210-212
"He Has Been To Us A Fountain Of Living Waters, Overflowing, Ever flowing,
They have affronted their God, by turning their back upon him, as if He were not worthy their notice: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, in whom they have an abundant and constant supply of all the comfort and relief they stand in need of, and have it freely." God is their fountain of life, (Ps 36:9) There is in Him an all-sufficiency of grace and strength; all our springs are in Him and our streams from Him; to forsake Him is, in effect, to deny this. He has been to us a bountiful benefactor, a fountain of living waters, over-flowing, ever-flowing, in the gifts of his favour; to forsake Him is to refuse to acknowledge his kindness and to withhold that tribute of love and praise which his kindness calls for.
They have cheated themselves, they forsook their own mercies, but it was for lying vanities. They took a great deal of pains to hew themselves out cisterns, to dig pits or pools in the earth or rock which they would carry water to, or which should receive the rain; but they proved broken cisterns, false at the bottom, so that they could hold no water. When they came to quench their thirst there they found nothing but mud and mire, and the filthy sediments of a standing lake. Such idols were to their worshippers, and such a change did those experience who turned from God to them.
If we make an idol of any creature-wealth, or pleasure, or honour,-if we place our happiness in it, and promise ourselves the comfort and satisfaction in it which are to be had in God only,-if we make it our joy and love, our hope and confidence, we shall find it a cistern, which we take a great deal of pains to hew out and fill, and at the best it will hold but a little water, and that dead and flat, and soon corrupting and becoming nauseous. Nay, it is a broken cistern, that cracks and cleaves in hot weather, so that the water is lost when we have most need of it, (Job 6:15). Let us therefore with purpose of heart cleave to the Lord only, for whither else shall we go? He has the words of eternal life.
Matthew Henry's
They have cheated themselves, they forsook their own mercies, but it was for lying vanities. They took a great deal of pains to hew themselves out cisterns, to dig pits or pools in the earth or rock which they would carry water to, or which should receive the rain; but they proved broken cisterns, false at the bottom, so that they could hold no water. When they came to quench their thirst there they found nothing but mud and mire, and the filthy sediments of a standing lake. Such idols were to their worshippers, and such a change did those experience who turned from God to them.
If we make an idol of any creature-wealth, or pleasure, or honour,-if we place our happiness in it, and promise ourselves the comfort and satisfaction in it which are to be had in God only,-if we make it our joy and love, our hope and confidence, we shall find it a cistern, which we take a great deal of pains to hew out and fill, and at the best it will hold but a little water, and that dead and flat, and soon corrupting and becoming nauseous. Nay, it is a broken cistern, that cracks and cleaves in hot weather, so that the water is lost when we have most need of it, (Job 6:15). Let us therefore with purpose of heart cleave to the Lord only, for whither else shall we go? He has the words of eternal life.
Matthew Henry's
"Who Has Sorrow?"
Drink does not drown Care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
"Your Focus Will Determine Your Future"
God doesn’t expect you to be thankful for evil, for sin, for suffering, or for their painful consequences in the world. Instead, God want you to thank Him that He will use your problems to fulfill his purposes [and patient during times of distress, so vital in letting our troubles transform us]...It is vital that you stay focused on God’s plan, not your pain or the problem…Your focus will determine your future…The secret of endurance is to remember that your pain is temporary but your reward will be eternal. Don’t give in to short-term thinking. Stay focused on the end result.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp. 198-199
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp. 198-199
"The Compass, Counsel, Benchmark, The First And Last Word"
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us like the Son of God...The Bible must become the authoritative standard for my life: the compass I rely on for direction, the counsel I listen to for making wise decisions, and the benchmark I use for evaluating everything. The Bible must always have the first and last word in my life…Determine to first ask, “What does the Bible say?” when making decisions. Resolve that when God says to do something, you will trust God’s Word and do it whether or not I makes sense or you feel like doing it.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 185, 187
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 185, 187
"Responding To God's Promises"
God makes a promise. Faith believes it. Hope anticipates it. Patience quietly awaits it.
Author Unknown
Author Unknown
"Awaiting The Commander To Sound The Horn To End All Horns"
We recall the reason for Israel’s detainment of 40 years in a desert that should have taken two weeks to walk; it was because of her chronic murmuring, whining, complaining, negativity, faithless talk, and “bad reports” (Numbers 13:32). The tongue is a very consequential organ, leading the whole body either into the paths of victory or defeat in the spiritual realms, releasing the power of God or inviting Satan by agreement. It is as if Joshua... said, OK, this time around, let’s not sabotage our venture with loose lips. Let’s keep our mouths zipped so as not to risk breathing a word of unbelief.
Until the blowing of the trumpets! And then shout for all you’re worth!
All blowing of trumpets in the Bible reminds us of the final blowing of trumpets. There are 7 in Revelation, chapters 8-11, these horns to end all horns. And as here on the shores of the Jordan, they announce judgment of God’s enemies, all the Jerichos and Babylons that ever raised their fists against the Almighty.
Then suddenly there is Jesus, the selfsame “Angel of the Lord” who had startled Joshua 5:13-15 when he announced himself as the commander of the armies of God. “And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses” (Revelation 19:14).
Andree Seu
Until the blowing of the trumpets! And then shout for all you’re worth!
All blowing of trumpets in the Bible reminds us of the final blowing of trumpets. There are 7 in Revelation, chapters 8-11, these horns to end all horns. And as here on the shores of the Jordan, they announce judgment of God’s enemies, all the Jerichos and Babylons that ever raised their fists against the Almighty.
Then suddenly there is Jesus, the selfsame “Angel of the Lord” who had startled Joshua 5:13-15 when he announced himself as the commander of the armies of God. “And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses” (Revelation 19:14).
Andree Seu
"Shed Joys"
Live to shed joys on others. Thus best shall your own happiness be secured.
Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher
"The Foundation of All Clear Thinking"
...the human idea of decent behaviour was obvious to every one. And I believe they were right. If they were not, then all the things we said about the war were nonsense. What was the sense in saying the enemy were in the wrong unless Right is a real thing which the Nazis at bottom knew as well as we did and ought to have practised. If they had had no notion of what we mean by right, then, though we might still have had to fight them, we could no more have blamed them for that than for the colour of their hair...It seems, then, we are forced to believe in a real Right and Wrong. People may be sometimes mistaken about them, just as people sometimes get their sums wrong; but they are not a matter of mere taste and opinion any more than the multiplication table...If we do not believe in decent behaviour, why should we be so anxious to make excuses for not having behaved decently...These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in...The laws of nature, as applied to stones or trees, may only mean "what Nature, in fact, does." But if you turn to the Law of Human Nature, the Law of Decent Behaviour, it is a different matter. That law certainly does not mean "what human beings, in fact, do"; for as I said before, many of them do not obey this law at all, and none of them obey it completely. The law of gravity tells you what stones do if you drop them; but the Law of Human Nature tells you what human beings ought to do...
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity pp. 5-17
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity pp. 5-17
"Enough Is Enough"
A wise man will desire no more than he can get honestly, use wisely, and leave cheerfully.
Derivative of a similar Benjamin Franklin quote
Derivative of a similar Benjamin Franklin quote
"Where Man Lives Behind Himself Is Where God Most Shines"
I told my sister-in-law Aline that there is so much of the Old Testament I don’t understand. She said: Just ask the Lord for one thing in each chapter. Surely even the census lists of Numbers and the bad advice of Bildad in Job impart spiritual value, if you look for it.
As I happen to be in Joshua in my private devotions, let us test Aline’s proposition here. If the gambit proves successful, we will come away with 24 words from the Lord, the better to know him, obey him, and enjoy him.
I would be very dense indeed not to see the emphasis of chapter 1, as it is commanded four times: “Be strong and courageous” (verse 6), “Be strong and very courageous” (verse 7), “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened” (verse 9), and “Only be strong and courageous” (verse 18).
I say “commanded” as a reminder to myself that this is an order, not a sweet nothing in my ear, as I am prone to make of it. I have done this same injustice to many an imperative in Scripture. “Do not be anxious about anything,” Philippians 4:6 insists, and I have received it as treacly sentimentality—and not obeyed.
Israel under Joshua is being told to do something totally beyond herself—to go in and take possession of a land of giants and fortified city states (Numbers 13). Where man lives beyond himself is where God most shines. God is best glorified in the differential between our natural ability and the size of the objective....
This is true whether the conquest is the Old Testament takeover of land or the New Testament takeover of land. Land is involved in both cases—a repossession of territory from the enemy. Just as the devil was sitting on Israel’s physical inheritance, he sits on our spiritual inheritance. Warfare should be our all-consuming passion as it was our ancestors’. I don’t see much difference between Joshua 1 and Matthew 28:18-20.
The convicting question is: Are we of the new age army really up for it? Do we get up in the morning bent on warfare, determined to “take captive every thought” and “put to death” every unholy desire? Or is Ephesians 6 just talk?
Andree Seu
As I happen to be in Joshua in my private devotions, let us test Aline’s proposition here. If the gambit proves successful, we will come away with 24 words from the Lord, the better to know him, obey him, and enjoy him.
I would be very dense indeed not to see the emphasis of chapter 1, as it is commanded four times: “Be strong and courageous” (verse 6), “Be strong and very courageous” (verse 7), “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened” (verse 9), and “Only be strong and courageous” (verse 18).
I say “commanded” as a reminder to myself that this is an order, not a sweet nothing in my ear, as I am prone to make of it. I have done this same injustice to many an imperative in Scripture. “Do not be anxious about anything,” Philippians 4:6 insists, and I have received it as treacly sentimentality—and not obeyed.
Israel under Joshua is being told to do something totally beyond herself—to go in and take possession of a land of giants and fortified city states (Numbers 13). Where man lives beyond himself is where God most shines. God is best glorified in the differential between our natural ability and the size of the objective....
This is true whether the conquest is the Old Testament takeover of land or the New Testament takeover of land. Land is involved in both cases—a repossession of territory from the enemy. Just as the devil was sitting on Israel’s physical inheritance, he sits on our spiritual inheritance. Warfare should be our all-consuming passion as it was our ancestors’. I don’t see much difference between Joshua 1 and Matthew 28:18-20.
The convicting question is: Are we of the new age army really up for it? Do we get up in the morning bent on warfare, determined to “take captive every thought” and “put to death” every unholy desire? Or is Ephesians 6 just talk?
Andree Seu
Freedom
Freedom is not the right to do as you please, but the liberty to do as you ought.
Author Unknown
Author Unknown
"An Opportunity To Do The Right Thing"
The moment you become God’s child, Satan, like a mobster hit man, put out a 'contract' on you. You are his enemy, and he’s plotting your downfall...[yet] Every temptation is an opportunity to do good. On the path to spiritual maturity, even temptation becomes a stepping-stone rather than a stumbling block when you realize that it is just as much an occasion to do the right thing as it is to do the wrong thing. Temptation simply provides the choice…Every time you choose to do good instead of sin, you are growing in the character of Christ.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life 201-206
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life 201-206
"Use Your Problems To Fulfill His Purposes"
Life is a series of problems. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place. Not all of them are big, but all are significant in God’s growth process for you…We learn things about God in suffering that we can’t learn any other way…You’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you’ve got... It is during suffering that we learn to pray our most authentic, heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. When we’re in pain, we don’t have the energy for superficial prayers...God doesn’t expect you to be thankful for evil, for sin, for suffering, or for their painful consequences in the world. Instead, God wants you to thank Him that He will use your problems to fulfill His purposes...It is vital that you stay focused on God’s plan, not your pain or the problem…Your focus will determine your future…The secret of endurance is to remember that your pain is temporary but your reward will be eternal. Don’t give in to short-term thinking. Stay focused on the end result.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp. 193-198
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp. 193-198
"The Compass, Counsel, And Benchmark"
This kind of thinking is unnatural, counter-cultural, rare, and difficult. Fortunately we have help...The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us like the Son of God...The Bible must become the authoritative standard for my life: the compass I rely on for direction, the counsel I listen to for making wise decisions, and the benchmark I use for evaluating everything. The Bible must always have the first and last word in my life…Determine to first ask, “What does the Bible say?” when making decisions. Resolve that when God says to do something, you will trust God’s Word and do it whether or not I makes sense or you feel like doing it.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp183-187
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp183-187
"Change Your Autopilot, Change Your Life"
Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot set to go east. If you decide to reverse and head west, you have two possible ways to change the boat’s direction. One way is to grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the opposite direction from where the autopilot is programmed to go. By sheer willpower you could overcome the autopilot, but you would feel constant resistance. Your arms would eventually tire of the stress, you’d let go of the steering wheel, and the boat would instantly head back east, the way it was internally programmed. This is what happens when you try to change your life with willpower: You say, “I’ll force myself to eat less…exercise more…quit being disorganized and late.” Yes, willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you haven’t dealt with the root cause. The change doesn’t feel natural, so eventually you give up, go off your diet, and quit exercising. You quickly revert to your old patterns. There is a better and easier way: Change your autopilot----the way you think…Your first step in spiritual growth is to start changing the way you think. Change always starts first in your mind. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you fell influences the way you act.
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 181-182
Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life pp 181-182
"Sharing In The Perfect Surrender And Humiliation"
The perfect surrender and humiliation was undergone by Christ: perfect because he was God, surrender and humiliation because he was man. Now the Christian belief is that if we somehow share the humility and suffering of Christ we shall also share in his conquest of death and find a new life after we have died and in it become perfect, and perfectly happy, creatures. This means something much more than trying to follow his teaching. People often ask: when the next step in evolution - the step to something beyond man will happen. Well, on the Christian view, it has happened already. In Christ a new type of man appeared; and the new kind of life which began in Him is to be put into us. How is this done?
There are three things that spread the Christ-life to us: baptism, belief, and the Lord's Supper...Do not think I am setting up baptism and belief and the Holy Communion as things that I will do instead of my own attempts to copy Christ. Your natural life is derived from your parents; that does not mean it will stay there if you do nothing about it. You can lose it by neglect, or you can drive it away by committing suicide. You have to feed it and look after it; but always remember you are not making it , you are only keeping up a life you got from someone else. In the same way a Christian can lose the Christ-life which has been put in him, and he has to make efforts to keep it. But even the best Christian that ever lived is not acting on his own steam - he is nourishing or protecting a life he could never have acquired by his own efforts. And it has practical consequences. As long as the natural life is in your body, it will do a lot towards repairing the body. Cut it, and up to a point it will heal, as a dead body would not. A live body is not one that never gets hurts, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble - because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out."
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity
There are three things that spread the Christ-life to us: baptism, belief, and the Lord's Supper...Do not think I am setting up baptism and belief and the Holy Communion as things that I will do instead of my own attempts to copy Christ. Your natural life is derived from your parents; that does not mean it will stay there if you do nothing about it. You can lose it by neglect, or you can drive it away by committing suicide. You have to feed it and look after it; but always remember you are not making it , you are only keeping up a life you got from someone else. In the same way a Christian can lose the Christ-life which has been put in him, and he has to make efforts to keep it. But even the best Christian that ever lived is not acting on his own steam - he is nourishing or protecting a life he could never have acquired by his own efforts. And it has practical consequences. As long as the natural life is in your body, it will do a lot towards repairing the body. Cut it, and up to a point it will heal, as a dead body would not. A live body is not one that never gets hurts, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble - because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out."
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity
"Clear And Simple English Sentences"
It has long been a curiosity of the Hillside cemetery that leashed dogs daily prance through its wrought iron gates past a sign that reads, “No dogs allowed.” When I was a newcomer, with my greyhound Spider in tow and contemplating that forbidding notice, I at first made the understandable foreigner’s mistake of thinking that the sign really meant, “No dogs allowed.” But upon careful observation of the casual comings and goings of human-canine pairs through the idyllic headstone-pockmarked acres, I came to the only reasonable conclusion that the sign was not serious. Maybe there had been a time when it was serious, but now it was wallpaper.
About two weeks ago I noticed a few new signs had been put up—more prominent, less weathered—that read “No dogs allowed.” And I also noticed a complete absence of dogs. I tried to understand the meaning of this—why the original signs were not effective but the new ones were. I detected immediately unflattering comparisons to my parenting: how the first command to “Come and eat” had very little impact on the environment. It took about two more calls of “Come and eat” at an increasing decibel level to get the job done.
But then, in a different direction, I thought more generally about how people learn what to take seriously or not, and what to fear or not. It occurred to me that we may hear an authoritative word every day, and it may have a simple enough meaning, and we may understand it very well at some level. But if we then look around and see that nobody is heeding that authoritative word, we tend to disparage its authority and join the crowd. It is, I take it, the relational component of the learning process. The importance of the company we keep. Of our “fellowship,” you might say.
Then I thought of all the Bible teachings and truths a person might read every day, mostly clear and simple English sentences. But if the person looks around him and doesn’t see other people (who read the same Bible) acting on those things, then he tends to think they mustn’t be very important after all. Or perhaps he has misread them. Or likely there will be no consequences for noncompliance.
Hold on, it gets even weirder: If that person reads something in his Bible that at first seems to be very plain, but if the preaching from the pulpit seems to tacitly deny it—either by consistently ignoring it or downplaying its power or relegating it to bygone age—then after a while, the person will not only disobey the plain word, but will even come around to the opinion that the word doesn’t mean what it seems to mean. The final stage is that he forgets he ever saw the plain meaning.
Andree Seu
About two weeks ago I noticed a few new signs had been put up—more prominent, less weathered—that read “No dogs allowed.” And I also noticed a complete absence of dogs. I tried to understand the meaning of this—why the original signs were not effective but the new ones were. I detected immediately unflattering comparisons to my parenting: how the first command to “Come and eat” had very little impact on the environment. It took about two more calls of “Come and eat” at an increasing decibel level to get the job done.
But then, in a different direction, I thought more generally about how people learn what to take seriously or not, and what to fear or not. It occurred to me that we may hear an authoritative word every day, and it may have a simple enough meaning, and we may understand it very well at some level. But if we then look around and see that nobody is heeding that authoritative word, we tend to disparage its authority and join the crowd. It is, I take it, the relational component of the learning process. The importance of the company we keep. Of our “fellowship,” you might say.
Then I thought of all the Bible teachings and truths a person might read every day, mostly clear and simple English sentences. But if the person looks around him and doesn’t see other people (who read the same Bible) acting on those things, then he tends to think they mustn’t be very important after all. Or perhaps he has misread them. Or likely there will be no consequences for noncompliance.
Hold on, it gets even weirder: If that person reads something in his Bible that at first seems to be very plain, but if the preaching from the pulpit seems to tacitly deny it—either by consistently ignoring it or downplaying its power or relegating it to bygone age—then after a while, the person will not only disobey the plain word, but will even come around to the opinion that the word doesn’t mean what it seems to mean. The final stage is that he forgets he ever saw the plain meaning.
Andree Seu
"People Of A Particular Sort"
Prudence means practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it...Temperance ...to all pleasures...going the right length and no further...Justice...is...'fairness'; it includes honesty, give and take, truthfulness, keeping promises...And Fortitude includes both kinds of courage - the kind that faces danger as well as the kind that 'sticks it' under pain...But the truth is that right actions done for the wrong reason do not help to build the internal quality or character called a 'virtue'...We might think that God wanted simply obedience to a set of rules: whereas He really wants people of a particular sort.
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity pp 78-80
CS Lewis
Mere Christianity pp 78-80
"To Be At Last Summoned Inside"
Apparently, then, our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned inside would be both glory and honour beyond all our merits and also the healing of that old ache.
CS Lewis
The Weight of Glory
CS Lewis
The Weight of Glory
"Quality Not Quanitity"
'Tis not knowing much, but what is useful, that makes a wise man.
Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller
"A Lesson In Love And Gratitude: One Woman's Letter To Her Deceased Husband"
Death is the great leveler, is it not? Want to hear a good one? The groundskeeper tells me about all these headstones with "19__" etched into them and now only seven months to make good on it. A little permutation on the Y2K problem. What do I do with these flowers? I wonder (I will keep the ribbon: "Loving Husband" "Loving Father"). The succulent reds and yellows of the spray we left for you are now as nondescript as the washed-out, brittle pages of old books, the blossoms being in mid-transformation to the dust whence they came. Which is only right. Why should they survive and you not? Cemeteries are time warps, I have always felt. Just a quarter mile off the main road, but a pocket of eternity unto itself, the murmuring oaks the only sound, perennial music of the house of mourning. ... But for a train that breaks the stillness at 20-minute intervals. Your brother quipped to the graveman that you'd feel right at home here since a railroad slices through our own backyard. It was the first time anyone chuckled in four months. At the memorial service I told them about the little boy in Chonju in 1962 (I hope that's OK), who crossed out all the multiple choices and penciled in, " All the above wrong. Man not evolved from any animal." You scrubbed the latrine after school for your contumacy, and your Mom was proud. God's economy is strange. I would never remove a creature so fine, so before the time (There's a giant hole in the universe now). But I am a catechized lady and I know: He it is who fills the shuttle, who plies the loom, and has a billion strands to weave into His tapestry. Here are Rachel and Leah on one level, conniving and competing for Jacob's love. And when the smoke clears, here is God on another level, and the 12 tribes of Israel standing all in a row. He is building His kingdom. I know it in my head. Ah, Young, God has fitted His bow with a single arrow and has hit not only you, but me, and the four children, and the whole church as well. Because of us the fear of the Lord has fallen on many. Already I hear rumors of wives loving their husbands better, husbands their wives. How the planted seed has sent its shoots outs everywhere. And I would trade all that sanctification just to have you back for one day. But that's because I'm finite and sinful and see but through a glass darkly. This is the first scribbling of mine that will not fall under your discerning eye. You were the writer, dear, pointing men to Christ for exotic markets in a language I never quite learned, more in the manner of Flannery O'Connor than of Francis Schaeffer. For all truth is God's truth. Rev. Min says when I feel myself sinking I must start from the beginning: What is true? What is real? God is alive. I am His daughter. You His true son. Some distance from here a mason is busy inscribing my name next to yours, by my command. Give me a good reason why I should bother to leave here at all before keeping that last rendezvous. The shadows lengthen. I cannot stay. Peter, James, and John were not allowed to linger either, remember? Back down the mount for the lot of you, smack into the gritty commotion of sick kids and spirits to be cleaned out. But hide the transfiguration in your heart, that little intrusion of the eschaton. To feed on till the substance of things hoped for can be touched. I will see you again, my darling. And soon.
Andree Seu's husband, Young Seu, died May 29.
Andree Seu's husband, Young Seu, died May 29.
"A Good Name Is Better Than A Good Ointment"
Our names are labels, plainly printed on the bottled essence of our past behavior"
Logan Pearsall Smith
Logan Pearsall Smith
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