in each sister and brother

If God comes down to earth through [the] Son made flesh, then we ascend toward heaven through Jesus present in each sister and brother for whom he died. - Fr. Thomas J. Norris

in the imagination of our opponents

"It’s worth finding out what kind of life we lead in the imagination of our opponents. The next step: figure out what accounts for the difference in how we imagine ourselves & how they imagine us without using lazy labels such as 'ignorant,' 'immoral,' 'from a different planet.'"

[Miroslav Volf, 11/15/20]

for dappled things

 "Glory be to God for dappled things –

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

      For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

   Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;

      And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

   Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

      With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

                                Praise him."

- Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1877

very convenient

"Rebuking someone on the other side of the world (while ignoring the same problems back home) is very convenient, and it provides a deep sense of moral satisfaction." (p. 8)

[Simply Christian by NT Wright]

the regrettable conclusion

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

[Martin Luther King Jr., 1963, Letters from a Birmingham Jail]

suddenly the Judge will come

"Suddenly the Judge will come, and the deeds of every man shall be revealed; but in the middle of the night we cry with fear: Holy, Holy, Holy are Thou, O God..."

- from Daily Orthodox Prayers

the new boldness

"(1) God hasn't call you to challenge or change anyone's feelings. Offer presence, not judgment. (2) Better a good listener than an irritating suggester. (3) Humility and gentleness are the new boldness." - Scotty Smith

not the fulfillment of our wish-list

"Father, you have promised sufficient grace, not the fulfillment of our wish-list. You are more committed to making us like Jesus, than making us cozy. In our most Gospel-sane moments, we’re good with that, Father. Give us more of those moments."

[Scotty Smith]

terrible inner turmoil

Repentance is like antiseptic. You pour antiseptic onto a wound and it stings, but it heals. That’s how repentance works. It creates terrible inner turmoil, because you have to admit things you don’t want to admit. - Tim Keller

seen, known, loved

“We tweet, text, Snap, IG, and DM to be seen, known, and loved. Could it be that our worst social media habits are a failure to believe we are seen, known, and loved by our Creator? A digital delirium caused by our unbelief that Psalm 139 is true over me?”

 

—Tony Reinke

he's a liar

"The devil wants you to believe that you're a special kind of wounded. The kind that no one can love and no one can heal. He's a liar. You are loved and Jesus can heal you." -Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP

ask a lot more questions

"I should presume less, offer fewer solutions, and ask a lot more questions. Only when I listen to the pain of others am I able to love across the lines of difference in ways that are helpful and not hurtful." - Scott Sauls

woe is me... for I am lost

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Isaiah 6:5

grow downward

"Pray that this year you may grow downward: that you may know more of your own vileness, more of your own nothingness, and so be rooted in humility." - Charles Spurgeon

the people dwell in day, who dwelt in death's surrounding night

"The race that long in darkness pined,
Has seen a glorious light;
The people dwell in day, who dwelt
In death’s surrounding night.

To hail Thy rise, Thou better Sun,
The gathering nations come,
Joyous as the reaper bears
The harvest treasures home.

Unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a King,
Unto us a Child is born
Unto us a King

His name shall be the Prince of Peace,
Forevermore adored,
The Wonderful, the Counselor,
The great and mighty Lord.

His power increasing still shall spread,
His reign no end shall know,
Justice shall guard His throne above,
And peace abound below."

Original lyrics: John Morison (approximately 1781)
Variations and modern version by Alex Barrett

emptied himself of his glory

The fact that God became human and emptied himself of his glory means that you should not want to hang out only with the people with power and glitz, who are networked and can open doors for you.

You need to be willing to go to the people without power, without beauty, without money. That is the Christmas spirit, because God became one of us.

[Tim Keller]

the baby in my womb leaped for joy

Luke 1:41-44


And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.'"


Art: Circa 13th Century. Mary Visits Elizabeth.

the 20 percent

If someone is criticizing you and the criticism is mostly mistaken, identify the 20 percent of the indictment that is fair. Without excuse be willing to take it to heart. The strongest Christians are the ones most willing to repent. - Tim Keller

bows low and offers praise

In we shuffle, hooded amplitudes,
scapulared brooms, a stray earring, skin-heads
and flowing locks, blind in one eye,
hooked-nosed, handsome as a prince
(and knows it), a five-thumbed organist,
an acolyte who sings in quarter tones,
one slightly swollen keeper of the bees,
the carpenter minus a finger here and there,
our pre-senile writing deathless verse,
a stranded sailor, a Cassian scholar,
the artist suffering the visually
illiterate and indignities unnamed,
two determined liturgists. In a word,
eager purity and weary virtue.
Last of all, the Lord Abbot, early old
(shepherding the saints is like herding cats).
These chariots and steeds of Israel
make a black progress into church.
A rumble of monks bows low and offers praise
to the High God of Gods who is faithful forever. 

[Kilian McDonnell, "The Monks of St. John's File in for Prayer"]

a deep abyss

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss, at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. -Honore de Balzac, novelist (1799-1850)