Archive for Quotes
(Un)Answered Prayer – A Good Poem
Posted by: | CommentsI often say that much of my struggles in life come not by failing to believe God has good for me, but in failing to value what is truly good. Oftentimes, I find myself praying for the good things, only to chafe against the means the Lord uses to bring me that good. This poem is one I would do well to read each day.
(Un)Answered Prayer
He asked for strength that he might achieve;
He was made weak that he might obey.
He asked for health that he might do greater things;
He was given infirmity that he might do better things.
He asked for riches that he might be happy;
He was given poverty that he might be wise.
He asked for power that he might have the praise of men;
He was given weakness that he might feel the need of God.
He asked for all things that he might enjoy life;
He was given life that he might enjoy all things.
He has received nothing that he asked for, all that he hoped for.
His prayer is answered. He is most blessed.
- From the chapel door at South Kent School
True Joy in Life – A Good Quote
Posted by: | CommentsI am quite sure I wouldn’t subscribe to the entirety of George Bernard Shaw’s worldview, but I do like this quote, particularly if the mighty purpose you recognize is a God-centered one:
This is true joy in life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
Great Quote
Posted by: | CommentsI am pretty sure this is the first time I have ever quoted Shakespeare, but I suppose this is a good first. This quote was apparently used by John and Abigail Adams in their letters to one another at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in the shallows and in miseries…
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
Shalom: The Way Things Ought to Be
Posted by: | CommentsBelow is one of my all-time favorite quotes- from anyone. In his book, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, Cornelius Plantinga writes,
The prophets knew how many ways human life can go wrong because they knew how many ways human life can go right. (You need the concept of a wall on a plumb to tell when one is off.) These prophets kept dreaming of a time when God would put things right again.
They dreamed of a new age in which human crookedness would be straightened out, rough places made plain. The foolish would be made wise and the wise, humble. They dreamed of a time when the deserts would flower, the mountains would run with wine, weeping would cease and people could go to sleep without weapons on their laps. People would work in peace and work to fruitful effect. Lambs could lie down with lions. All nature would be fruitful, benign, and filled with wonder upon wonder; all humans would be knit together in brotherhood and sisterhood; and all nature and all humans would look to God, walk with God, lean toward God and delight in God. Shouts of joy and recognition would well up from valleys and seas, from women in streets and from men on ships.
The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.
If you think about it, we all hold some unwritten standard of the way things ought to be. The question we ought to ask ourselves is where does this unwritten standard come from? Who is its author? How has it been informed? Usually, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we have just decided the standard ourselves. We pick things up here and there and then set our views up as ultimate and well-informed.
From a Christian standpoint, however, this is arrogance. Humility dictates the need for a source outside oneself. An authoritative one. This is where the Bible and the need for us to study it with diligence comes so clearly into view. For though many read it and see incoherence, when rightly understood and studied, a unified story emerges. And not just any unified story, but the ultimate unified story, indeed, the only unified story that can tell us how things ought to be, and what has been done to assure that Shalom will come to pass.
This line of thinking is about as practical as it gets. For no matter the topic, understanding how life ought to be is central to how you ought to think and act now. When thinking about sports or the environment or politics or marriage or whatever, apart from an authoritative standard, you thinking will be far from clear. Theology is incredibly practical.
I could say more, but that is enough for now. Suffice it to say that if what I have said really is true (especially if you are a Christian), you ought to do all you can to understand Shalom, or the way things ought to be. In subsequent posts, I will make a few book recommendations.
Great Quote
Posted by: | CommentsFrom Charles Spurgeon, cited in my current read, Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian. Keep in mind he is talking about much more than fashion in clothes. How we think is certainly much more important.
“The great guide of the world is fashion and its god is respectability–two phantoms at which brave men laugh! How many of you look around on society to know what to do? You watch the general current and then float upon it! You study the popular breeze and shift your sails to suit it. True men do not do so! You ask, ‘Is it fashionable? If it is fashionable, it must be done.’ Fashion is the law of multitudes, but it is nothing more than the common consent of fools.”
