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fd0fbf0 ... the mind was designed not to defend what we want, but to discover what is ultimately true, which should shape our wants and satisfy them more deeply with God. The purpose of the mind is not to rationalize subjective preferences, but to recognize objective reality and to help the heart revel in God. mind god truth objectivity intellect John Piper
00e3e2e The poor young man must work for his bread; he eats; when he has eaten, he has nothing left but reverie. He enters God's theater free; he sees the sky, space, the stars, the flowers, the children, the humanity in which he suffers, the creation in which he shines. He looks at humanity so much that he sees the soul, he looks at creation so much that he sees God. He dreams, he feels that he is great; he dreams some more, and he feels that he is tender. From the egotism of the suffering man, he passes to the compassion of the contemplating man. A wonderful feeling springs up within him, forgetfulness of self, and pity for all. In thinking of the countless enjoyments nature offers, gives, and gives lavishly to open souls and refuses to closed souls, he, a millionaire of intelligence, comes to grieve for the millionaires of money. All hatred leaves his heart as all light enters his mind. And is he unhappy? No. The poverty of a young man is never miserable. poverty suffering nature humanity god reverie contemplation poor soul creation Victor Hugo
ded877f If God had designed the orchestra, then the cello was His greatest accomplishment. god orchestra Rick Moody
c1cbad0 Long looking with admiration produces change. From your heroes you pick up mannerisms and phrases and tones of voice and facial expressions and habits and demeanors and convictions and beliefs. The more admirable the hero is and the more intense your admiration is, the more profound will be your transformation. In the case of Jesus, he is infinitely admirable, and our admiration rises to the most absolute worship. Therefore, when we behold him as we should, the change is profound. worship joy god sanctification John Piper
08706a4 Our images of God matter. Just as how we conceptualize God affects what we think the Christian life is about, so do our images of God. god life conceptualizing image Marcus J. Borg
293b1c4 It must be a real betrayal, when your body turns against you. I wonder if she likes flowers. All the bits of you that can go wrong... I don't like flowers, not really. I like growing them, but that's only because I like seeing them blossom, and seeing them die... But oh, how I love to play God. god flowers Neil Gaiman
e6c330d The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil's party without knowing it. poetry god milton liberty devil hell William Blake
1f993c8 "It comes as no surprise to find [Norman] Mailer embracing [in the book ] a form of Manicheanism, pitting the forces of light and darkness against each other in a permanent stand-off, with humanity as the battlefield. (When asked if Jesus is part of this battle, he responds rather loftily that he thinks it is a distinct possibility.) But it is at points like this that he talks as if all the late-night undergraduate talk sessions on the question of theism had become rolled into one. 'How can we not face up to the fact that if God is All-Powerful, He cannot be All-Good. Or She cannot be All-Good.' Mailer says that questions such as this have bedevilled 'theologians', whereas it would be more accurate to say that such questions, posed by philosophers, have attempted to put theologians out of business. A long exchange on the probability of reincarnation (known to Mailer sometimes as "karmic reassignment") manages to fall slightly below the level of those undergraduate talk sessions. The Manichean stand-off leads Mailer, in closing, to speculate on what God might desire politically and to say: 'In different times, the heavens may have been partial to monarchy, to communism, and certainly the Lord was interested in democracy, in capitalism. (As was the Devil!)' I think it was at this point that I decided I would rather remember Mailer as the author of good-and-evil jesus politics religion god philosophy omnibenevolence omnipotence norman-mailer theology theism monarchy reincarnation capitalism democracy communism devil Christopher Hitchens
b0ccf9d What is the reason?' 'Finish your journey and you will know. the-timekeeper mitch-albom god life-lessons life inspirational Mitch Albom
3788982 Long exile from Christendom and civilization inevitably restores a man to that condition in which God placed him, i.e. what is called savagery. god savagery Herman Melville
9270129 God is immutable--He never changes! His ministry to you is complete, on target, and constant! faith change god love ministry target never constant christian Elizabeth George
9aa6bd7 "He made the country down in Illinois, and He made the Missouri", the little girl continued. "I guess somebody else made the country in these parts. It's not nearly so well done. They forgot the water and the trees." -- god humor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
a9bdadf The precious gift of life must be preserved no matter now painful and pointless it seemed. Peace, I told them, is a gift so perfect that only God should grant it. I told people, only God's most selfish children would steal God's greatest gift, His only gift greater than life. The gift of death. This lesson is to the murderer, I said. This is to the suicide. This is to the abortionist. This is to the suffering and sick. Only God has the right to surprise His children with death. suicide god life peace Chuck Palahniuk
4742ee7 Is it not lack of faith that leads men to fear the scrutiny of reason? If the destination is doubtful, than the path must be fraught with fear. A robust faith need not fear, for if God exists, then reason cannot help but lead us to Him. Cogito, ergo Deus est,'says St. Augustine, I think, therefore God is. reason god st-augustine latin knowledge Donna Woolfolk Cross
ce1c303 She has committed great sins, but they've been forgiven, and that's why she loves so deeply. faith religion god hope love mary-magdalene prostitution second-chances forgiveness redemption Philip Pullman
282c0de Each day is God's gift of a fresh unspoiled opportunity to live according to His priorities. live god life fresh day priorities plan christian gift purpose Elizabeth George
938e155 I lay in bed and watched moments break into phenomenal particles of panic and could actually see the divine crack of God's ass as he completely turned his back on me. doubt fear god panic Arthur Nersesian
8994192 What a terrible disease that must be if it could kill God in a man. god Yann Martel
0d94b88 Achilles might be a good papa to the family, but he was also a killer, and he never forgives. Poke knew that, though. Bean warned her, and she knew it, but she chose Achilles for their papa anyway. Chose him and then died for it. She was like that Jesus that Helga preached about in her kitchen while they ate. She died for her people. And Achilles, he was like God. He made people pay for their sins no matter what they did. The important thing is, stay on the good side of God. That's what Helga teaches, isn't it? Stay right with God. I'll stay right with Achilles. I'll honor my papa, that's for sure, so I can stay alive until I'm old enough to go out on my own. metaphor murder jesus god poke bean forgiveness survival Orson Scott Card
6075983 A christian martyrdom is never an accident, for Saints are not made by accident. god by-chance saints martyrdom christian T.S. Eliot
36a39ac "My mother believed in God's will for many years. It was af if she had turned on a celestial faucet and goodness kept pouring out. She said it was faith that kept all these good things coming our way, only I thought she said "fate" because she couldn't pronounce the "th" sound in "faith". And later I discovered that maybe it was fate all along, that faith was just an illusion that somehow you're in control. I found out the most could have was hope, and with that I wasn't denying any possibility, good or bad. I was just saying, If there is a choice, dear God or whatever you are, here's where the odds should be placed. I remember the day I started thinking this, it was such a revelation to me. It was the day my mother lost her faith in God. She found that things of unquestioned certainty could never be trusted again. We had gone to the beach, to a secluded spot south of the city near Devil's Slide. My father had read in magazine that this was a good place to catch ocean perch. And although my father was not a fisherman but a pharmacist's assistant who had once been a doctor in China, he believed in his , his ability to do anything he put his mind to. My mother believed she had to cook anything my father had a mind to catch. It was this belief in their that had brought my parents to America. It had enabled them to have seven children and buy a house in Sunset district with very little money. It had given them the confidence to believe their luck would never run out, that God was on their side, that house gods had only benevolent things to report and our ancestors were pleased, that lifetime warranties meant our lucky streak would never break, that all the elements were now in balance, the right amount of wind and water." fate god luck Amy Tan
68ff459 My god is not a ten-devotee-to-the-average-dozen, got-a-priest-on-every-corner kind of god who is always being badgered by his worshipers. He keeps a very close eye on me, and what may look completely stupid to you is merely a demonstration of my faith. god Megan Whalen Turner
a587ecd And it came to me as I stood on the desert sand, looking at the Great Pyramid, that what any civilization says about God tells us more about that civilization than it does about God. faith god Madeleine L'Engle
cbe7635 As prayer warriors, we must remember that no matter how hopeless a situation may appear to us, God gives us power in prayer to do something about it. We may be overwhelmed by it, but God isn't. We may not see a way out, but God can. Because of Him, we can make a difference! prayer god warrriors Stormie Omartian
c970422 But I know Jesus arose. I feel his presence now, here, with me. I see the evidence of his Word everyday. From creation forth, the whole world is witness to God's plan revealed through his Son. From the beginning, he prepared us. In the passing of the seasons; in the way flowers spring forth, die, and drop seeds for life to begin again; in the sunset and sunrise. Jesus' sacrifice is reenacted every day of our lives if we but have the eyes to see. seasons jesus sacrifice god witness sunset evidence flowers die eyes sunrise Francine Rivers
b41da09 The fact the enemies of God must face is that modern civilization has conquered the world, but in doing so has lost its soul. And in losing its soul it will lose the very world it gained. Even our own so-called Liberal culture in these United States which has tried to avoid complete secularization by leaving little zones of individual freedom is in danger of forgetting that these zones were preserved only because religion was in their soul. And as religion fades so will freedom, for only where the spirit of God is, is there liberty. god liberty liberalism Fulton J. Sheen
cf3d664 How you respond to the enemy of your soul determines whether his plan for your life or God's plan for your life is realized. god satan response Stormie Omartian
c3ec443 God is one and there is but one God -- all else is but the way the ignorant seek to put Gods into a form they can understand... god Marion Zimmer Bradley
92d2100 "Maybe demons are defined as anything other than God that tries to tell us who we are. And maybe, just moments after Jesus' baptism, when the devil says to him, "If you are the Son of God..." he does so because he knows that Jesus is vulnerable to temptation precisely to the degree that he is insecure about his identity and mistrusts his relationship with God. So if God's first move is to give us our identity, then the devil's first move is to throw that identity into question." identity god Nadia Bolz-Weber
a30dafc "[John] watched the flames for a while. "I would have to say that I find God in serving His children. 'When I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was a stanger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, sick and you cared for me, imprisoned and you came to me.'" The words lingered in the air as the fire popped and hissed softly. Sondoz had stopped pacing and stood motionless in a far corner of the room, his face in shadows, firelight glittering on the metallic exoskeleton of his hands. "Don't hope for more than that, John," he said. "God will break your heart." god love quiet fire Mary Doria Russell
10afd15 If we rely on anything else besides faith to maintain the practice of the presence of God, we will certainly fail, whether this is our feelings, or experiences, or sincerity, or good intentions, or reasonings, or plans. The reason these things will fail while faith will not fail is that all these things depend on us, while faith depends on God. It is a gift of God. trust god the-presence-of-god Peter Kreeft
2d38b56 If you're male, and you're Christian and living in America, your father is your model for God. And sometimes you find your father in your career. god father Chuck Palahniuk
60b729b "I have often noticed that these things, which obsess me, neither bother nor impress other people even slightly. I am horribly apt to approach some innocent at a gathering, and like the ancient mariner, fix him with a wild, glitt'ring eye and say, "Do you know that in the head of the caterpillar of the ordinary goat moth there are two hundred twenty-eight separate muscles?" The poor wretch flees. I am not making chatter; I mean to change his life." fate seeing free light poem prayer nature poetry freedom joy spirit wonder faith beauty religion science god philosophy enoughness exultant illumination intricacy joyfulness living-in-the-present-moment religious-diversity stalking-the-gaps the-tree-with-the-lights-in-it gaps philosopher-s-stone multiplicity praying prayers hallelujah life-force seeking exploration praise joyful mindfulness epiphany tolerance grace energy disbelief watching growth belief fearless humility consciousness walking fire mystery curiosity power soul poet creation Annie Dillard
38cbd73 I am the chosen of the Lord, for who He loveth, so doeth He chastiseth. But I be durn if He dont take some curious ways to show it, seems like. suffering god William Faulkner
dffd8ba The clocks understood, they kept moving, motion, following the truth that change is the nature of God's mind, and resistance to it is the source of great pain. god clocks Craig Ferguson
056c1d4 Right now I am like the unborn baby in the womb, knowing nothing except the comforting warmth of the amniotic fluid in which I swim, the comforting nourishment entering my body from a source I cannot see or understand. My whole being comes from an unseen, unknown nurturer. By that nurturer I am totally loved and protected, and that love is forever. It does not end when I am precipitated out of the safe waters of the womb into the unsafe world. It will. It end when I breathe my last, mortal breath. That love manifested itself joyously in the creation of the universe, became particular for us in Jesus, and will show itself most gloriously in the Second Coming. We need not fear. god love second-coming nurturing Madeleine L'Engle
dddd1f0 Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh. god overrated seventh creativity Ernest Hemingway
d8b2513 Oh God, it is amazing that men can talk so much about man's creaturely power and goodness, when, if thou didst not hold us back every moment, we should be devils incar nate. men goodness god Arthur Bennett
d4ad6d3 ...when you trust the Lord God to give you the next step, when you wait in humility upon Him, *He* will open the doors or close them, and you'll get to rest and relax until He says, 'Go. trust god humility peace waiting Charles R. Swindoll
2a4003f Exchange the bad habit of worrying with the excellent habit of trusting God. prayer faith trust god excellent exchange worry habit Elizabeth George
9b0f875 One of the greatest advantages of singleness is the potential for greater focus on Christ and accomplishing work for Him. marriage work god life love potential calling single singleness christian young Elizabeth George
4a94920 The sorrows God sent us brought comfort and strength with them, while the sorrows we brought on ourselves, through folly or wickedness, were by far the hardest to bear. faith god daily-living trials L.M. Montgomery
2f53778 That God is in truth the sort of bloodthirsty paranoid Who would rend to bits forty-two children for the crime of sassing one of his priests. Don't ask me about the Front Office's policies; I just work here. religion god stranger-in-a-strange-land priests Robert A. Heinlein
9f08e53 Bean was tired of talking about this. She looked so happy when she talked about God, but he hadn't figured it out yet, what God even was. It was like, she wanted to give God credit for every good thing, but when it was bad, then she either didn't mention God or had some reason why it was a good thing after all. As far as bean could see, though, the dead kids would rather have been alive, just with more food. If God loved them so much and he could do whatever he wanted, then why wasn't there more food for these kids? And if God just wanted them dead, why didn't he let them die sooner or not even be born at all, so they didn't have to go to so much trouble and get all excited about trying to be alive when he was just going to take them to his heart. None of it made any sense to Bean, and the more Sister Carlotta explained it, the less he understood it. Because if there was somebody in charge, then he ought to be fair, and if he wasn't fair, then why should Sister Carlotta be so happy that he was in charge? suffering religion god Orson Scott Card
2b068df Submitting seemed to me a lot like giving up. If God gave us the strength to bail- the gumption to try and save ourselves- isn't that what he wanted us to do? religion god hard-work Jeannette Walls
6d7fa8f People believe in God because they don't have any other explanation for things that happen. religion god Jodi Picoult
cd55002 ...when humans experience something as powerful as a forest or a rainbow, it is not crazy to assign its existence to a Greater Intelligence. god rainbow forest Anne Lamott
a319351 When God makes a covenant with us, God says: 'I will love you with an everlasting love. I will be faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me.' In our society we don't speak much about covenants; we speak about contracts. When we make a contract with a person, we say: 'I will fulfill my part as long as you fulfill yours. When you don't live up to your promises, I no longer have to live up to mine.' Contracts are often broken because the partners are unwilling or unable to be faithful to their terms. But God didn't make a contract with us; God made a covenant with us, and God wants our relationships with one another to reflect that covenant. That's why marriage, friendship, life in community are all ways to give visibility to God's faithfulness in our lives together. relationships god contracts covenant god-s-faithfulness Henri J.M. Nouwen
2b0f7cb "Marty, my mother used to say "Never get greedy with God." I think what she meant was "Don't dare ask for more if you already have what you need." " greed god need James Patterson
0345088 Never stop having doubts. If you ever do, it will be because you've stopped moving forward, and at that point, God will step in and pull the rug out from under your feet, because that is His way of controlling His chosen ones, by making sure they always follow their appointed path to the end. If, for any reason, we stop, whether out of complacency, laziness, or out of a mistaken belief that we know enough, He forces us on. god life-lessons Paulo Coelho
e7cedac Obedience is a foundational stepping-stone on the path of God's will. god stone path will obedience Elizabeth George
74f3e14 Begin each day with God. It will change your priorities. joy faith change god hope love day priorities start christian Elizabeth George
eb420cb The speech of God's beautiful woman is a fountain of life to those around her. woman faith god life fountain lady-like her christian girl nice lady pretty speech eyes Elizabeth George
235d371 Allow God to use the difficulties and disappointments in life as polish to transform your faith into a glistening diamond that takes in and reflects His love. women faith god life love diamond disappointments daily transform difficult reflective polish walk Elizabeth George
d802bdc "Milton's Eve! Milton's Eve! ... Milton tried to see the first woman; but Cary, he saw her not ... I would beg to remind him that the first men of the earth were Titans, and that Eve was their mother: from her sprang Saturn, Hyperion, Oceanus; she bore Prometheus" -- "Pagan that you are! what does that signify?" "I say, there were giants on the earth in those days: giants that strove to scale heaven. The first woman's breast that heaved with life on this world yielded the daring which could contend with Omnipotence: the stregth which could bear a thousand years of bondage, -- the vitality which could feed that vulture death through uncounted ages, -- the unexhausted life and uncorrupted excellence, sisters to immortality, which after millenniums of crimes, struggles, and woes, could conceive and bring forth a Messiah. The first woman was heaven-born: vast was the heart whence gushed the well-spring of the blood of nations; and grand the undegenerate head where rested the consort-crown of creation. ... I saw -- I now see -- a woman-Titan: her robe of blue air spreads to the outskirts of the heath, where yonder flock is grazing; a veil white as an avalanche sweeps from hear head to her feet, and arabesques of lighting flame on its borders. Under her breast I see her zone, purple like that horizon: through its blush shines the star of evening. Her steady eyes I cannot picture; they are clear -- they are deep as lakes -- they are lifted and full of worship -- they tremble with the softness of love and the lustre of prayer. Her forehead has the expanse of a cloud, and is paler than the early moon, risen long before dark gathers: she reclines her bosom on the ridge of Stilbro' Moor; her mighty hands are joined beneath it. So kneeling, face to face she speaks with God. That Eve is Jehova's daughter, as Adam was His son." self-determination nature independence women empowerment strength god godliness titans eve superiority greatness gender Charlotte Brontë
cd0ad2d You cannot arrive at your life's purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God - and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end. identity god purpose-driven-life rick-warren purpose Rick Warren
1729304 Like completing a run, living today begins with preparation, planning, and prayer. prayer faith living god love prepare run plan christian Elizabeth George
4dbe73a The idea of God was invented in the small hours of history by a scam who had genius; it somehow reeks too much of humanity, that idea, to make its azure origin plausible... god atheism Vladimir Nabokov
689a2bd God does not exist, as neither does our hereafter, that second bogey being as easily disposed of as the first. Indeed, imagine yourself just dead--and suddenly wide awake in Paradise where, wreathed in smiles, your dear dead welcome you. Now tell me, please, what guarantee do you possess that those beloved ghosts are genuine; that it is really your dear dead mother and not some petty demon mystifying you, masked as your mother and impersonating her with consummate art and naturalness? There is the rub, there is the horror; the more so as the acting will go on and on, endlessly; never, never, never, never, never will your soul in that other world be quite sure that the sweet gentle spirits crowding about it are not fiends in disguise, and forever, and forever, and forever shall your soul remain in doubt, expecting every moment some awful change, some diabolical sneer to disfigure the dear face bending over you. heaven god atheism Vladimir Nabokov
e6e66b8 [Moses] dedicated himself to the will of God, but not to the God whose will it was. god gods-will moses Charles R. Swindoll
4541038 Why the delay? Why does God let evil and pain so flagrantly exist, even thrive, on this planet?...He holds back for our sakes. Re-creation involves us; we are, in fact, at the center of his plan...the motive behind all human history, is to develop us, not God. Our very existence announces to the powers in the universe that restoration is under way. Every act of faith by every one of the people of God is like the tolling of a bell, and a faith like Job's reverberates throughout the universe. faith god good-versus-evil job Philip Yancey
1a13536 I wonder, said the Lord I wonder if I know the answer any more. jesus god lord jesus-christ Norman Mailer
387a966 Your assignment from God is not to change your husband, but to love, follow, assist, and minister to him. marriage men good women god love truth assist minister wife pure christian follow husband Elizabeth George
6478149 A kind of northing is what I wish to accomplish, a single-minded trek towards that place where any shutter left open to the zenith at night will record the wheeling of all the sky's stars as a pattern of perfect, concentric circles. I seek a reduction, a shedding, a sloughing off. At the seashore you often see a shell, or fragment of a shell, that sharp sands and surf have thinned to a wisp. There is no way you can tell what kind of shell it had been, what creature it had housed; it could have been a whelk or a scallop, a cowrie, limpet, or conch. The animal is long since dissolved, and its blood spread and thinned in the general sea. All you hold in your hand is a cool shred of shell, an inch long, pared so thin that it passes a faint pink light. It is an essence, a smooth condensation of the air, a curve. I long for the North where unimpeded winds would hone me to such a pure slip of bone. But I'll not go northing this year. I'll stalk that floating pole and frigid air by waiting here. I wait on bridges; I wait, struck, on forest paths and meadow's fringes, hilltops and banksides, day in and day out, and I receive a southing as a gift. The North washes down the mountains like a waterfall, like a tidal wave, and pours across the valley; it comes to me. It sweetens the persimmons and numbs the last of the crickets and hornets; it fans the flames of the forest maples, bows the meadow's seeded grasses and pokes it chilling fingers under the leaf litter, thrusting the springtails and the earthworms deeper into the earth. The sun heaves to the south by day, and at night wild Orion emerges looming like the Specter over Dead Man Mountain. Something is already here, and more is coming. fate seeing free light poem prayer nature poetry freedom joy spirit wonder faith beauty religion science god philosophy ring-the-bells enoughness exultant illumination intricacy joyfulness living-in-the-present-moment religious-diversity stalking-the-gaps the-tree-with-the-lights-in-it gaps philosopher-s-stone multiplicity praying prayers hallelujah life-force seeking exploration praise joyful mindfulness epiphany tolerance grace energy disbelief watching growth belief fearless humility consciousness walking fire mystery curiosity power soul poet creation Annie Dillard
9516546 The higher Christian churches...come at God with an unwarranted air of professionalism, with authority and pomp, as though they knew what they were doing, as though people in themselves were an appropriate set of creatures to have dealings with God. I often think of the set pieces of liturgy as certain words which people have successfully addressed to God without their getting killed. In the high churches they saunter through the liturgy like Mohawks along a strand of scaffolding who have long since forgotten the danger. If God were to blast such a congregation to bits, the congregation would be, I believe, genuinely shocked. But in the low churches you expect it any minute. god high-church low-church church Annie Dillard
41de0ee To be able to enjoy fully the many good things the world has to offer, we must be detached from them. To be detached does not mean to be indifferent or uninterested. It means to be non-possessive. Life is a gift to be grateful for and not a property to cling to. A non-possessive life is a free life. But such freedom is only possible when we have a deep sense of belonging. To whom then do we belong? We belong to God, and the God to whom we belong has sent us into the world to proclaim in his Name that all of creation is created in and by love and calls us to gratitude and joy. That is what the 'detached' life is all about. It is a life in which we are free to offer praise and thanksgiving. god non-possessive detachment Henri J.M. Nouwen
273f28f God's voice is usually nothing more than a whisper, and you have to listen very carefully to hear it. But other times, in those rarest of moments, the answer is obvious and rings as loud as a church bell. religion god epiphany listen Nicholas Sparks
6891d69 If we speak of an angry God at all, we will speak of a God angry at indifference, angry at apathy, angry at racism and violence, angry at inhumanity, angry at waste, angry at destruction, angry at injustice, angry at hostile religious clannishness. That anger is never against us (or them); it is against what is against us (and them). god Brian D. McLaren
c3bc95c The many contradictions in our lives - such as being home while feeling homeless, being busy while feeling bored, being popular while feeling lonely, being believers while feeling many doubts - can frustrate, irritate, and even discourage us. They make us feel that we are never fully present. Every door that opens for us makes us see how many more doors are closed. But there is another response. These same contradictions can bring us into touch with a deeper longing, for the fulfillment of a desire that lives beneath all desires and that only God can satisfy. Contradictions, thus understood, create the friction that can help us move toward God. god paradox longing Henri J.M. Nouwen
4b795b6 It will never end. Till the world ends in the chaos of Ragnarok, we will fight for our women, for our land, and for our homes. Some Christians speak of peace, of the evil of war, and who does not want peace? But then some crazed warrior comes screaming his god's filthy name into your face and his only ambitions are to kill you, to rape your wife, to enslave your daughters, and take your home, and so you must fight. rape war world god enslave must ragnarok daughters face chaos christians wife take end home warrior peace kill fight evil name Bernard Cornwell
ee19ac4 When we view ourselves through the lens of God's Word, we better understand God's love for us and the worth we have in His eyes. worth men women inspire god love lens view understand word value christian eyes Elizabeth George
0a4ae97 We cannot begin to define God's knowledge. We know, simply and profoundly, that nothing is hidden from Him or incomprehensible to Him. mind profound faith god heart love define comprehend simple hide knowledge Elizabeth George
3a16c34 Only one life, it will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. jesus faith past god life soon one done christian last christ Elizabeth George
42f85fc Just as mental toughness and physical energy are the primary traits of an army, they also mark God's beautiful woman. woman women strength god love mental toughness trait physical energy christian beautiful eyes Elizabeth George
2e97c30 In the end idealism annoyed Bouvard. 'I don't want any more of it: the famous cogito is a bore. The ideas of things are taken for the things themselves. What we barely understand is explained by means of words that we do not understand at all! Substance, extension, force, matter and soul, are all so many abstractions, figments of the imagination. As for God, it is impossible to know how he is, or even if he is! Once he was the cause of wind, thunder, revolutions. Now he is getting smaller. Besides, I don't see what use he is. idealism spirituality religion god language Gustave Flaubert
61370a1 Jauh lebih menyenangkan merasa bahwa Tuhan mendengarkanmu dan mengatakan tidak, ketimbang merasa tak ada siapa pun yang mendengarkanmu god Mitch Albom
8984839 Know, my son, that the enemy will always be with you. He will be in the shadow of your dreams and in your living flesh, for he is the other part of yourself. There will be times when he will surround you with walls of darkness. But remember always that your soul is secure to you, for your soul is entire, and that he cannot enter your soul, for your soul is part of God. god soul evil Jane Yolen
2cd1d1e The pair smiled desperately at one another. And for the first time ever, despite the fact that everyone he knew - even the gods themselves - would condemn him for it, Jebel didn't think of Tel Hesani as a slave, but as an equal. equality god p275 thin-executioner Darren Shan
26af213 One of the most pernicious effects of religion is that it tends to divorce morality from the reality of human and animal suffering. Religion allows people to imagine that their concerns are moral when they are not--that is, when they have nothing to do with suffering or its alleviation. Indeed, religion allows people to imagine that their concerns are moral when they are highly immoral--that is, when pressing these concerns inflicts unnecessary and appalling suffering on innocent human beings. morality religion god Sam Harris
9fe4e09 Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got enough, like, information... and if it's God, you've got the wrong house. god Zadie Smith
a5b2acf It is not easy to explain why God permits evil; but it is impossible for an atheist to explain the existence of goodness. How could a spiritless, soul-less, cross-less, Godless universe become the center of faith, purity, sacrifice, and martyrdom? How can decency be the decent thing if there is no God? Since God is love, why should we be surprised that want of it should end in pain, hate, broken hearts, and war? morality goodness god Fulton J. Sheen
c4ad162 Some religions draw by force of arms; He would draw by force of love. The attraction would not be His words, but Himself. It was His Person around which His teaching centered; not His teaching around which He would be remembered. 'Greater love than this no man hath' - that was the secret of His magnetism. jesus religion god the-cross Fulton J. Sheen
f3afcb6 "When asking God for direction, ask Him to give you ears to hear it and the will and strength to follow it. Say, "God show me what to do and enable me to do it." miracle god inspirational direction Stormie Omartian
75011cd What remains to be done must be done by you; since in order not to deprive us of our free will and such share of glory as belongs to us, God will not do everything himself. free-will god exultation Niccolò Machiavelli
0d9c061 "After Hiram Bingham built the first church on Oahu the student recalls, "When it was completed some of the natives said among themselves, 'That house of worship built by the haoles is a place in which they will pray us all to death. It is meant to kill us." religion god humor Sarah Vowell
0c9e421 Crime begins with God. It will end with man, when he finds God again. Crime is everywhere, in all the fibres and roots of our being. Every minute of the day adds fresh crimes to the calendar, both those which are detected and punished, and those which are not. The criminal hunts down the criminal. The judge condemns the judger. The innocent torture the innocent. Everywhere, in every family, every tribe, every great community, crimes, crimes, crimes. War is clean by comparison. The hangman is a gentle dove by comparison. Attila, Tamerlane, Genghis Khan reckless automatons by comparison. Your father, your darling mother, your sweet sister: do you know the foul crimes they harbor in their breasts? Can you hold the mirror to iniquity when it is close at hand? Have you looked into the labyrinth of your own despicable heart? Have you sometimes envied the thug for his forthrightness? The study of crime begins with the knowledge of oneself. All that you despise, all that you loathe, all that you reject, all that you condemn and seek to convert by punishment springs from you. The source of it is God whom you place outside, above and beyond. Crime is identification, first with God, then with your own image. god self Henry Miller
b5c105c God, if he believed in Him, and his conscience, if he had one, were the only judges to whom he was answerable. independence god Jules Verne
b33e78f We are not free to love God insofar as we are enslaved to creatures. And we all are. We are addicted to whatever we cannot part with that is less than God, our true good. And that includes ourselves--especially ourselves and our own will. So we must renounce this too, this especially. God's world is not the problem; our attitude is. God does not want us to renounce the unspeakably beautiful world he gave us as creation, as gift, as it really is. He wants us to renounce it as creator, as our god, as it really is not. This wonderful world is our God-given house to live in and to live the love of God in. But God's bride must learn not to love her house as if it were her husband. faith god perspective Peter Kreeft
63b6e46 What our Heavenly Father wants us to do about our spiritual failures is like what our earthly father wants us to do about our earthly failures. When we fall off the horse, or the bike, or the high road to Heaven, we must simply climb on again as soon as we are aware of the fact that we have fallen off, rather than sitting there stewing in self-pity or self-hatred. perseverance faith trust god humilty Peter Kreeft
7fb4cf6 If God gave Dad Alzheimer's, He's got to understand when Dad forgets what church he belongs to. god church snark sad Joanne Fluke
ec0c097 "When winds are raging o'er the upper ocean, And billows wild contend with angry roar, 'Tis said, far down beneath the wild commotion, That peaceful stillness reigneth evermore. Far, far beneath, the noise of tempest dieth, And silver waves chime ever peacefully, And no rude storm, how fierce soe'er it flieth, Disturbs the Sabbath of that deeper sea. So to the heart that knows Thy love, O Purest, There is a temple sacred evermore, And all the babble of life's angry voices Dies in hushed silence at its peaceful door. Far, far away, the roar of passion dieth, And loving thoughts rise calm and peacefully, god Harriet Beecher Stowe
66df5db Wisdom is the God-given ability to see life with rare objectivity and to handle life with rare stability. joy faith god life love wisdom point-of-view stable view stability objectivity see christian peace Elizabeth George
f75eb5d Fear not, brothers and sisters, God, who is full of grace and abounding in steadfast love, meets us in our sin and transforms us for God's glory and the healing of God's world. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, your sins are forgiven, be now at peace. religion god love holy-spirit grace son father sin Nadia Bolz-Weber
cc6bbf7 When I tell other Christians of my time with the goddess, I think they expect me to characterize it as a period in my life when I was misguided, and that I have now thankfully come back to both Jesus and my senses. But it's not like that. I can't imagine that the God of the universe is limited to our ideas of God. I can't imagine that God doesn't reveal God's self in countless ways outside of the symbol system of Christianity. In a way, I need a God who is bigger and more nimble and mysterious than what I could understand and contrive. Otherwise it can feel like I am worshipping nothing more than my own ability to understand the divine. god gender Nadia Bolz-Weber
77470a8 The old face, crinkled and dented with canals running every which way, pushed and shoved up against itself for a while, till a big old smile busted out from beneath 'em all, and his grey eyes fairly glowed. It was the first time I ever saw him smile free. A true smile. It was like looking at the face of God. And I knowed then, for the first time, that him being the person to lead the colored to freedom weren't no lunacy. It was something he knowed true inside him. I saw it clear for the first time. I knowed then, too, that he knowed what I was - from the very first. slavery humanity god peace James McBride
4b1c02b We must pay a price if we are to become priceless. faith god love gem priceless price pay cost christian eyes Elizabeth George
c638206 Your ultimate goal for marriage is that both of you--as husband and wife--commit to keep growing spiritually. marriage god spiritual life love ultimate grow goal married faithfulness wife christian husband Elizabeth George
60461e5 "She was silent; the great wings almost stopped moving; only a delicate stirring seemed to keep them aloft. "Listen, then," Mrs. Whatsit said. The resonant voice rose and the words seemed to be all around them so that Meg felt that she could almost reach out and touch them: "Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that there is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift their voice; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord!" worship god love christ Madeleine L'Engle
938d59f Men are made in God's image, or so I am told. Likewise that we differ from the animals in having reason. Reason, therefore, must plainly be a characteristic of the Almighty, quod erat demonstrandum. Is it reasonable, then, to create men whose very nature-- clearly constructed and defined by yourself-- is inimical to your own laws and must lead inevitably to destruction? Whatever would be the point of that? Does it not strike you as a most capricious notion-- to say nothing of being wasteful? god homosexuality Diana Gabaldon
86899e7 A mothers greatest joy in having a child is to give that child fully and freely to God. woman free joy god christian mom mother Elizabeth George
a83201d Pray all you like, ask anything you want, but don't forget that he never promised he'd say yes. He never guaranteed us anything. Not anything at all. Except one thing. Just one thing . . . . That he cares . . . That is all. Nothing else. prayer god Madeleine L'Engle
67b7eb5 It would have been a help if at some time Baptist preacher, resting his forearms on the pulpit and hunching his shoulders, had said On the other hand, how could any preacher, Baptist or otherwise, say this? god divine-providence deserve William Maxwell
e6f71d5 Dust off that Bible. It has the answers you are looking for, and its delights await you. woman reading bible god love daily christian searching delight looking Elizabeth George
574fae9 No matter what you do each day...or in life...doing things God's way is a matter of the heart. god heart wife christian mom mother Elizabeth George
e1ef7bd I am for that thing in your genome that demands it. I am for that thing which keeps you animals alive. I am, at most, a slice of monkey suspended within the stuff of universal intelligence. You are a monkey in nice clothes. In the harsh environment you refer to as a habitable planet, group behaviors are required to survive long enough to procreate. Since you are stupid monkeys, you have no natural affinity for group altruism. And so you have evolved a genetic pump that delivers pleasant chemicals to your monkey brains. One that is triggered by awe and fear of an anthropomorphism of your environment. Earth mothers. Sky gods. Bits of bush that catch fire. Interesting-looking rocks. An oddly-shaped branch. You're not fussy. When your brain does this idiot work, you stop in front of that bump or stick and consider it fiercely. Other monkeys will, like as not, stop next to you and emulate you. Your genetic pump delivers morphine for your souls. You have your fellow monkeys join in. Perhaps so they can feel it too. Perhaps because you feel it might please the stick god to have more monkeys gaze at it in narcotic awe. The group must be defended. Because as many monkeys as possible must please the stick god, and you can continue to get your fix off praying to it. You draw up rules to organize and protect the group. Two hundred thousand years later, you put Adolf Hitler into power. Because you are, after all, just monkeys. I am your stash. religion god Warren Ellis
102b765 " ,' Dad said, 'has the sort of ellipsis ending most American audiences would rather undergo a root canal than be left with, not only because they loathe anything left to the imagination-we're talking about the country that invented spandex-but also because they are a confident, self-assured nation. They Family. They Right from Wrong. They know God-many of them attest to daily chats with the man. And the idea that none of us can truly know anything at all-not the lives of our friends or family, not even ourselves-is a thought they'd rather be shot in the arm with their own semi-automatic rifle than face head-on. Personally, I think there's something terrific about not knowing, relinquishing man's feeble attempt to control. When you throw up your hands, say, "Who knows?" you can get on with the sheer gift of being alive." -- america family god ambiguous-ending foreign-film ambiguity endings control americans right-and-wrong Marisha Pessl
bbb0154 It is one thing to believe in God; it is quite another to believe God. faith god christian-faith R.C. Sproul
985ca95 But here God didn't come. We were all on our own. religion god maus holocaust Art Spiegelman
73a562b "Now life is given in exchange for pain and fear, and that's the basis of the whole deception. Now man is still not what he should be. There will e a new man, happy and proud. Whoever doesn't care whether he lives or doesn't live, he himself will be God. And that other God will no longer be.' suicide death god russian-lit fyodor-dostoyevsky russian-literature dostoyevsky russian demons russia Fyodor Dostoyevsky
e846496 She was a logical child, as far as children go. She did not understand how such a nice, kind, good God as the one they preyed to, could condemn the whole earth for sinfulness and flood it, or condemn his only Son to a disgusting death on behalf of everyone. This death did not seem to have done much good. religion god punishment logic sin A.S. Byatt
aad3c96 Many of us suffer because we think that if people don't really love us, then we will have to live forever without love. But it's not true. The greatest sense of love, which is available for us at all times, is God's love. love-quotes christianity inspirational-quotes god god-s-love-for-us inspirational-love christian-living Stormie Omartian
3915538 "They have not forgotten the Mysteries," she said, "they have found them too difficult. They want a God who will care for them, who will not demand that they struggle for enlightenment, but who will accept them just as they are, with all their sins, and take away their sins with repentance. It is not so, it will never be so, but perhaps it is the only way the unenlightened can bear to think of their Gods." Lancelet smiled bitterly. "Perhaps a religion which demands that every man must work through lifetime after lifetime for his own salvation is too much for mankind. They want not to wait for God's justice, but to see it now. And that is the lure which this new breed of priests has promised them." doubt religion god salvation rebirth Marion Zimmer Bradley
bd179b6 If you want to live a godly life, then choose to put the things into your mind that lead to living a godly life. living god life godly Elizabeth George
0afc43b We must pray in order to grow, and we must grow because Infinite Love will not, cannot, settle for less than the greatest joy of which his beloved creature is capable. prayer joy god love Peter Kreeft
5f59630 Did God get out of bed one morning and draw back the curtains (Reggie's imaginary God led a very domesticated life) and think, 'A drowning in a hotel swimming pool, I fancy. We haven't had that one in a while. god Kate Atkinson
4f819ba I guess, like some guy once said, if triangles invented a god, the chances are high it would have three sides. religion god Michael Marshall Smith
910fd11 He is not a punishing God, Lizzy. That is the mistake most people make, thinking He sits with an account book and a big fist, waiting to punish us. He is not a wrathful God but a loving God who made each of us and loved us since we were in our mother's womb faith god love purpose Ann Rinaldi
8d6fb03 As I recall, St. Paul stood by and held the coats of the men who were stoning him (Stephen). Apparently he wasn't a believer at the time. In fact, I think he was regarded as the most terrible enemy of the Church. And yet he later repented, didn't he? So I suggest you think of me, not as the enemy of God, but as an apostle who has not yet been stopped on the road to Damascus god ender sinners saints Orson Scott Card
694f2d6 <>, decia Herbert. <> god reasoning Mario Vargas Llosa
7b080bd Instead of speaking of justice and injustice, freedom and oppression, classless society and class society, they talked in terms of God and the Devil. god Mario Vargas Llosa
0d3b92a "Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever." "Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never." faith god Elie Wiesel
7a32f33 Did he who made the lamb make thee? christianity religion god william-blake innocence William Blake
d64fb99 Next to us is not the workman whom we have hired, with whom we love so well to talk, but the workman whose work we are. god Henry David Thoreau
f1e242c You and I can become so dedicated to the will of God, we can be so driven by a false sense of purpose, that we might inadvertently take matters into our own hands and leave God completely out of the loop. god gods-will purpose Charles R. Swindoll
c4191d1 If you life is an example of glorifying God, others won't see your good works and glorify YOU, because they'll know what you are doing is for God's glory. god life glorifying-god wake-up Charles R. Swindoll
9f86c82 "They served "Good Food" but only a G, an O and a D were lit up. Personally, I doubted God dined there. Unless God was keen on samonella poisoning and rat droppings in the hamburgers. But then again, what did I know?" god humor hamburgers food Julie Kenner
cace98d Dios me creo para que yo lo imitara de noche. El es el Sol, yo soy la Luna. Mi luz flota sobre todo lo que es futil o ha terminado, fuego fatuo, margenes de rio, pantanos y sombras. god moon diablo sol dios sun luna Fernando Pessoa
ea5341f I do not live when I loose belief in the existence of God. I should long ago have killed myself had I not had a dim hope of finding Him. I live really live only when I feel him and seek Him suicide god meaning-of-life Leo Tolstoy
298e98a "If you're a child of God, you do not just "go around once" on Earth. You don't get just one earthly life. You get another-one far better and without end. You'll inhabit the New Earth! You'll live with the God you cherish and the people you love as an undying person on an undying Earth." new-earth heaven god life Randy Alcorn
ef8d38e Worry denies the power of God and produces no good results. Worry adds no value to your life. Eliminate it with God's help. free god life love result value worry power Elizabeth George
889e3c2 The artist is the closest man comes to being God. god Leonard Peikoff
3eb8e58 Evren, serinkanliligimizi koruyamayacagimiz kadar buyuleyici. god bilim john-c-lennox tanrı John C. Lennox
2dce42b Tabii ki Tanri, Laplace'nin (esyanin nasil isledigine dair) matematiksel tarifinde yer almaz, tipki Bay Ford'un icten yanmali motorun bilimsel tarifinde yer almadigi gibi. god john-lennox tanrı John C. Lennox
374f324 "Can I ask you, what is your relationship to God?" "Limited," I say. "Limited with the exception of spontaneous prayer in times of distress." humour religion god prayers A.M. Homes
63fa695 Let's only care about the place where we are. There's beauty enough in being here and not anywhere else. If there's someone beyond the curve in the road, Let them worry about what's past the curve in the road, That's what the road is to them. nature meaning living god life it-is-what-it-is pantheism feeling worry paganism being Alberto Caeiro
b6d2552 ...goals not bathed in prayer or brought in humility before the Lord turn out to be downright useless. They don't go anywhere. They don't accomplish anything. prayer god goals humility Charles R. Swindoll
05ba880 If your motive is in any way to promote greatness for yourself, you're in the wrong calling. worship god Charles R. Swindoll
4003bdb To be an atheist is to maintain God. His existence or his non-existence, it amounts to much the same, on the plane of proof. spirituality religion god science-fiction Ursula K. Le Guin
c1b7391 Life is a cosmic grab-bag. At this moment, somewhere in the world, someone is losing a child, skiing down a mountain, having an orgasm, getting a haircut, lying on a bed of pain, singing on a stage, drowning, getting married, starving in a gutter. In the end, aren't we all that same person? An aeon is a thousand million years, and an aeon ago every atom in our bodies was a part of a star. Pay attention to me, God. We are all a part of your universe, and if we die, part of your universe dies with us. universe god Sidney Sheldon
c33222a You can have all the money in the world, one of the biggest mansions ever built, be one of the most famous people in the world, and still be as unhappy as Mariah Carey was. Money and fame don't make people happy. Only God does. Amen. money joy god success love mansion worldly mariah-carey unhappy fame peace popularity Lisa Bedrick
13d7464 How we think about God matters. It affects the credibility of religion in general and of Christianity in particular. Our concept of God can make God seem real or unreal, just as it can also make God seem remote or near. christianity religion god Marcus J. Borg
d96aeaf In a number of workshops, I have asked people whether they have had one or more experiences that they would identify as an experience of God and, if so, to share them in small groups. On average, 80 percent of the participants identify one or more and are eager to talk about them. They also frequently report that they had never before been asked that question in a church setting or given an opportunity to talk about it. faith god experience Marcus J. Borg
a3b6c35 Our group takes what I'll call a Post-Atheist stance. Our position is that god is a creation of human beings, who only exists because of the clap-hands-if-you-believe-in-fairies principle. If enough people were sensible enough not to clap hands, then this Tinker Bell god would die. However, unfortunately, billions of human beings are still prepared to defend their belief in some sort of god-fairy, and, as a result, god exists. What's worse is that he is now running amok. god belief Salman Rushdie
8f93c64 Religion is about integration, about successfully bringing the selfish ego into line with the centre of the personality where God exists, as a divine spark, in every human being. Religion is about helping man to live in harmony with his true self and to become the person God's designed him to be. faith religion god Susan Howatch
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