Quotations for January, 2026
Thursday, January 1, 2026
Feast of the Naming & Circumcision of Jesus
Why does He make our hearts so strangely still,Why stands He forth so stately and so tall?Because He has no self to serve, no willThat does not seek the welfare of the All.
... Edwin Markham (1852-1940), New Poems: eighty songs at eighty, Doubleday, Doran, 1933, p. 99 
(see the book; see also John 5:30; Matt. 11:28-30; John 4:34; 5:19; 6:38; 8:15-16,28,50; 14:10; 17:4; Rom. 2:2; 8:28; 15:3; more at Heart, Jesus, Self, Service)
Friday, January 2, 2026
Feast of Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Teachers, 379 & 389
Commemoration of Seraphim, Monk of Sarov, Mystic, Staretz, 1833
The labours of the farm do not seem strange to the farmer; the storm at sea is not unexpected by the sailor; sweat causes no wonder to the hired labourer; and so to those who have chosen to live the life of piety the afflictions of this world are not unforeseen. Nay, to each of the aforesaid is joined a labour that is appropriate and well known to those who share it—a labour that is not chosen for its own sake, but for the enjoyment of expected blessings. For hopes, which hold and weld together man’s entire life, give consolation for the hardships which fall to the lot of each of these.
... St. Basil the Great (330?-379), Saint Basil, the Letters, tr. Roy Joseph Deferrari, Martin Rawson, Patrick McGuire, London: William Heinemann, 1950, p. 119
(see the book; see also Heb. 6:10-12; Deut. 32:4; Ps. 23:4; Matt. 10:42; 25:40; Mark 9:41; John 13:20; 16:32-33; Acts 10:4; 14:21-22; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 8:1-2; 2 Thess. 1:6-7; 2 Tim. 1:16-18; more at Affliction, Blessing, Consolation, Labor, Weakness)
Saturday, January 3, 2026
Commemoration of Gladys Aylward, Missionary in China, 1970
Every virtue is a form of obedience to God. Every evil word or act is a form of rebellion against Him. This may not be clear at first; but, if we think patiently, we shall find that it is true. Why were you angry? You will probably find that it was because you were not willing to accept the world as God has made it; or because you were not willing to leave it to God to deal with the people that He has made.
... Stephen Neill (1900-1984), The Christian Character, London: Lutterworth Press, 1955, p. 17
(see the book; see also John 9:41; Luke 12:47-48; 2 Pet. 1:5-7; 2:17-21; more at Evil, Faith, God, Obedience, Patience, Virtue)
Sunday, January 4, 2026
You are a man, not God; you are human, not an angel. How can you expect to remain always in a constant state of virtue, when this was not possible even for an angel of heaven, nor for the first man in the Garden?
... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, III.lvii., p. 227
(see the book; see also Gen. 3:12-13; Job 40-41; Ps. 119:137; more at Angel, God, Man, Sin, Virtue)
Monday, January 5, 2026
Setting aside the scandal caused by His Messianic claims and His reputation as a political firebrand, only two accusations of personal depravity seem to have been brought against Jesus of Nazareth. First, that He was a Sabbath-breaker. Secondly, that He was “a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners”—or (to draw aside the veil of Elizabethan English that makes it all sound so much more respectable) that He ate too heartily, drank too freely, and kept very disreputable company, including grafters of the lowest type and ladies who were no better than they should be. For nineteen and a half centuries, the Christian Churches have laboured, not without success, to remove this unfortunate impression made by their Lord and Master. They have hustled the Magdalens from the Communion-table, founded Total Abstinence Societies in the name of Him who made the water wine, and added improvements of their own, such as various bans and anathemas upon dancing and theatre-going. They have transferred the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, and, feeling that the original commandment “Thou shalt not work” was rather half-hearted, have added to it a new commandment, “Thou shalt not play.”
... Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957), Unpopular Opinions, London: Gollancz, 1946, New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1947, p. 3
(see the book; see also Luke 7:33-35; Matt. 11:16-19; 26:6-12; John 2:7-11; more at Church, Commandment, Jesus, Sabbath, Sinner, Social, Unfortunate)
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
EPIPHANY
The wonder of the life of Jesus is this—and you will find it so and you have found it so if you have ever taken your New Testament and tried to make it the rule of your daily life—that there is not a single action that you are called upon to do of which you need be, of which you will be, in any serious doubt for ten minutes as to what Jesus Christ, if He were here, Jesus Christ being here, would have you do under those circumstances and with the materials upon which you are called to act.
... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Addresses, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895, p. 126
(see the book; see also 1 John 5:19-20; Matt. 5:6-9; 9:4-6; 18:21-22; Mark 6:34; more at Action, Bible, Christ, Doubt, Jesus, Rule)
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
You rob, and spoil, and eat his people as bread, by extortion, and bribery, and deceitful weights and measures, and deluding oaths in buying and selling, and then come hither, and so make God your receiver, and his house a den of thieves. His house is sanctum sanctorum, the holiest of holies, and you make it only sanctuarium; it should be a place sanctified by your devotions, and you make it only a sanctuary to privilege malefactors, a place that may redeem you from the ill opinion of men, who must in charity be bound to think well of you, because they see you here.
... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. III, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Sermon LXVIII, p. 217
(see the book; see also Matt. 21:12-13; Ps. 47:2; 65:5; 69:9; 97:2; Isa. 56:6-7; Jer. 7:11; John 2:13-17; more at Church, Evil, Holiness, Sanctuary, Sin)
Thursday, January 8, 2026
30th anniversary of CQOD
Commemoration of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, and Pete Fleming, martyrs, Ecuador, 1956
If God would grant us the vision, the word “sacrifice” would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short; we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us to judge ourselves by the eternities that separate the Aucas from a comprehension of Christmas and Him, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor so that we might, through His poverty, be made rich.
... Nate Saint (1923-1956), in End of the Spear, by Steve Saint, Tyndale House, 2010, p. 309
(see the book; see also John 12:25; Matt. 12:47-50; Luke 14:26-27; Acts 20:24; Rev. 12:11; more at Blessing, Christ, Christmas, Judgment, Poverty, Sacrifice, Vision)
Friday, January 9, 2026
There is never any peace for those who resist God.
... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Spiritual Letters of Archbishop Fénelon. Letters to men, London: Rivingtons, 1877, p. 340
(see the book; see also Isa. 57:18-21; 48:22; Rom. 3:15-17; more at God, Peace, Providence)
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Faith is the leading grace in all our spiritual warfare and conflict; but all along while we live, it hath faithful company that adheres to it, and helps it. Love works, and hope works, and all other graces,—self-denial, readiness to the cross,—they all work and help faith. But when we come to die, faith is left alone. Now, try what faith will do...Not to be surprised with any thing is the substance of human wisdom; not to be surprised with death is a great part of the substance of our spiritual wisdom.
... John Owen (1616-1683), Works of John Owen, v. IX, New York: R. Carter, 1851, Sermon XXVII, 1680, p. 340
(see the book; see also Isa. 25:8; 1 Cor. 15:26,31; 1 Tim. 6:12; more at Death, Faith, Grace, Hope, Love, Wisdom)
Sunday, January 11, 2026
Commemoration of Mary Slessor, Missionary in West Africa, 1915
Faith is indeed the energy of our whole nature directed to the highest form of being. Faith gives stability to our view of the universe... By faith we are convinced that our impressions of things without are not dreams or delusions, but for us true representations of our environment. By faith we are convinced that the signs of permanence, order, progress, which we observe in nature are true. By faith we are convinced that fellowship is possible with our fellow-men and with God.
... Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901), The Historic Faith, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1883, p. 176
(see the book; see also Matt. 17:20; Mark 9:23-24; Rom. 1:16-17; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 10:37-39; 11:1; 1 Pet. 1:7; more at Faith, Fellowship, God, Nature, Permanence, Progress, Truth)
Monday, January 12, 2026
Feast of Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167
Commemoration of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, Scholar, 689
Faith is illuminative, not operative; it does not force obedience, though it increases responsibility; it heightens guilt, but it does not prevent sin. The will is the source of action.
... John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), Lectures on certain difficulties felt by Anglicans in submitting to the Catholic Church, London: Burns & Lambert, 1850, p. 236
(see the book; see also Isa. 59:9-14; John 16:2-3; Rom. 1:25; Tit. 1:15; 1 John 3:19-20; more at Action, Faith, Guilt, Obedience, Responsibility, Sin)
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Feast of Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, Teacher, 367
Commemoration of Kentigern (Mungo), Missionary Bishop in Strathclyde & Cumbria, 603
Contemplating this blighted and sinister career, the lesson is burnt in upon the conscience, that since Judas by transgression fell, no place in the Church of Christ can render any man secure. And since, falling, he was openly exposed, none may flatter himself that the cause of Christ is bound up with his reputation, that the mischief must needs be averted which his downfall would entail, that Providence must needs avert from him the natural penalties for evil-doing. Though one was as the signet upon the Lord’s hand, yet was he plucked thence. There is no security for any soul except where love and trust repose, upon the bosom of Christ.Now if this be true, and if sin and scandal may conceivably penetrate even the inmost circle of the chosen, how great an error it is to break, because of these offenses, the unity of the Church, and institute some new communion, purer far than the Churches of Corinth and Galatia, which were not abandoned but reformed, and more impenetrable to corruption than the little group of those who ate and drank with Jesus.
... G. A. Chadwick (1840-1923), The Gospel According to St. Mark, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1891, p. 90-91
(see the book; see also John 12:4-6; Acts 5:1-5; 1 Cor. 1:10,30; Phil. 1:27-28; Eph. 4:3; Phil. 1:27; more at Betrayal, Church, Conscience, Corruption, Providence, Security, Sin, Truth, Unity)
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Commemoration of Richard Meux Benson, Founder of the Society of St John the Evangelist, 1915
If bodies please thee, praise God on occasion of them, and turn back thy love upon their Maker; lest in these things which please thee, thou displease. If souls please thee, be they loved in God: for they too are mutable, but in Him they are firmly established.
... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, IV.xii, p. 70
(see the book; see also Ps. 103:2-3; Acts 17:24-26 Heb. 11:3; 1 Pet. 1:23; more at God, Historical, Love, Praise, Soul)
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Many we have who plead themselves to be Christians; which might be allowed them, ... would they not do such things as the Christian religion abhoreth. But this is the least part of their claim. They will also be the only Christians, all others who differ from them—however falsely so called, being only a drove of unbelievers, hasting unto hell.
... John Owen (1616-1683), The Church of Rome No Safe Guide, in Works of John Owen, v. XIV, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, p. 487
(see the book; more at Church, Hell, Religion)
Friday, January 16, 2026
Men stand much upon the title of orthodox, by which is usually understood, not believing the doctrine of Christ or His apostles, but such opinions as are in vogue among such a party, such systems of divinity as have been compiled in haste by those whom we have in admiration; and whatever is not consonant to these little bodies of divinity, though possibly it agree well enough with the Word of God, is error and heresy; and whoever maintains it can hardly pass for a Christian among some angry and perverse people. I do not intend to plead for any error, but I would not have Christianity chiefly measured by matters of opinion. I know no such error and heresy as a wicked life... Of the two, I have more hopes of him that denies the divinity of Christ and lives otherwise soberly, and righteously, and godly in the world, than of the man who owns Christ to be the Son of God, and lives like a child of the devil.
... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. IX, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, Sermon CCXXVII, p. 343
(see the book; see also John 20:31; 1 Cor. 13:2; Gal. 6:15; more at Belief, Church, Error, Evil, Heresy, Intention, Knowledge, Righteousness)
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Feast of Antony of Egypt, Abbot, 356
Commemoration of Charles Gore, Bishop, Teacher, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, 1932
The will is that which has all power; ... it makes heaven and it makes hell: for there is no hell but where the will of the creature is turned from God; nor any heaven but where the will of the creature worketh with God.
... William Law (1686-1761), The Way to Divine Knowledge [1752], in Works of Rev. William Law, v. VII, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 217
(see the book; see also Rom. 8:6-9; Matt. 12:41; Rom. 7:5; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 4:17-19; Col. 1:21-22; Jas. 4:4; 1 John 2:15-16; more at God, Heaven and Hell, Strife, Submission)
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Feast of the Confession of Saint Peter the Apostle
Commemoration of Amy Carmichael, Founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship, 1951
The power and attraction Jesus Christ exercises over men never comes from him alone, but from him as Son of the Father. It comes from him in his Sonship in a double way, as man living to God and God living with men. Belief in him and loyalty to his cause involve men in the double movement, from world to God and from God to world. Even when theologies fail to do justice to this fact, Christians living with Christ in their cultures are aware of it. For they are forever being challenged to abandon all things for the sake of God; and forever being sent back into the world to teach and practice all the things that have been commanded them.
... H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962), Christ and Culture, New York: Harper, 1951, reprint, Harper & Row, 1956, p. 29
(see the book; see also John 17:15-18; Isa. 55:11; Matt. 28:19-20; John 5:19-23; 17:23; 20:21; Phil. 3:8-9; more at Belief, Christ, Father, God, Jesus, Life, Loyalty, Power, Social, Teach, World)
Monday, January 19, 2026
Commemoration of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 1095
I do not believe any man ever yet genuinely, humbly, thoroughly gave himself to Christ without some other finding Christ through him.
... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1878, p. 16-17
(see the book; see also Matt. 5:16; more at Authenticity, Belief, Christ, Conversion, Giving)
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Commemoration of Richard Rolle of Hampole, Writer, Hermit, Mystic, 1349
If the [Incarnation] happened, it was the central event in the history of the Earth—the very thing that the whole story has been about. Since it happened only once, it is by Hume’s standards infinitely improbable. But then, the whole history of the Earth has also happened only once: is it therefore incredible? Hence the difficulty, which weighs upon Christian and atheist alike, of estimating the probability of the Incarnation. It is like asking whether the existence of nature herself is intrinsically probable. That is why it is easier to argue, on historical grounds, that the Incarnation actually occurred than to show, on philosophical grounds, the probability of its occurrence.
... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Miracles, New York: Macmillan, 1947, p. 174
(see the book; see also John 1:36; more at Apologetics, Earth, Existence, Historical, Incarnation, Philosophy)
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Feast of Agnes, Child Martyr at Rome, 304
[Paul] Tillich can show us that the unity which we seek as Christians must involve our denominations in changes even greater than those which many of us now expect. His insistence on taking seriously the gropings of all men for the truth about their lives must be allowed to remind the ecumenical movement that the word oikoumene is Greek not for “the Church” but for “the whole inhabited world.” The ecumenical movement is more than Christian patriarchs kissing. Christian unity means the unity of mankind in finding and obeying God. Tillich can teach us that the Church must not shut its door to celebrate a family reunion while a single child of God remains outside.
... David L. Edwards (1929-2018), “A New Stirring in English Christianity”, in The Honest to God Debate, David L. Edwards, ed., London, SCM Press, 1963, p. 35-36
(see the book; see also Gen. 11:7-9; Ps. 133; Isa. 6:3; Matt. 23:8; 2 Cor. 13:11; more at Child, Church, Ecumenical, Family, Truth, Unity)
Thursday, January 22, 2026
This, of course, is what religion is about: this adherence to God, this confident dependence on that which is unchanging. This is the more abundant life, which in its own particular language and own particular way, it calls us to live. Because it is our part in the one life in the whole universe of spirits, our share in the great drive towards Reality, the tendency of all life to seek God, Who made it for Himself, and now incites and guides it, we are already adapted to it, just as a fish is adapted to live in the sea. This view of our situation fills us with a certain awed and humble gladness. It delivers us from all niggling fuss about ourselves, prevents us from feeling self-important about our own little spiritual adventures; and yet makes them worth while as part of one great spiritual adventure.
... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Spiritual Life, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1937, reprinted, Morehouse Publishing, 1985, p. 22-23
(see the book; see also Ps. 90:2; John 10:10; Jas. 1:17; 1 John 4:1; Rev. 1:8; more at Dependence, Faith, Gladness, God, Guidance, Life, Religion, Spiritual life)
Friday, January 23, 2026
Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893
No man dares to condemn the Christian faith today, because the Christian faith has not been tried. Not until men get rid of the thought that it is a poor machine, an expedient for saving them from suffering and pain; not until they get the grand idea of it as the great power of God present in and through the lives of men, not until then does Christianity enter upon its true trial and become ready to show what it can do.
... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Addresses, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895, p. 23
(see the book; more at Condemnation, Faith, God, Pain, Poverty, Power, Salvation, Social)
Saturday, January 24, 2026
Feast of François de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher, 1622
Our business is to love what God would have [us do]. He wills our vocation as it is: let us love that, and not trifle away our time in hankering after other people’s vocation.
... François de Sales (1567-1622), A Selection from the Spiritual Letters of St. Francis de Sales [1622], New York: E. P. Dutton, 1876, p. 56
(see the book; see also Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 4:1,4-6; 2 Thess. 1:11; 2 Pet. 1:10-11; more at Call, God, Love, Obedience, People)
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Feast of the Conversion of Paul
Faith is sometimes equated with credulity, but it can be so equated only when the profound mistake is made of thinking of faith as primarily a matter of intellectual assent. As the New Testament uses the word, faith is trust, acceptance, commitment, vision. It is not a belief in this or that creed, it is a quality which lies rather in the realm of intuition than the intellect. Faith has indeed an element of true simplicity; it is one of the qualities—perhaps the fundamental quality—of the child-like spirit without which no man can enter the Kingdom of God.
... Anonymous, attributed to Charles Wesley
(see also Mark 10:13-16; more at Faith)
Monday, January 26, 2026
Feast of Timothy and Titus, Companions of Paul
Commemoration of Dorothy Kerin, Founder of the Burrswood Healing Community, 1963
It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.
... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Problem of Pain, New York: Macmillan, 1944, p. 133
(see the book; see also Matt. 5:8; Tit. 1:15-16; more at God, Heart, Purity, Sight)
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.“Now they are all on their knees,”An elder said as we sat in a flockBy the embers in hearthside ease.
We pictured the meek mild creatures whereThey dwelt in their strawy pen,Nor did it occur to one of us thereTo doubt they were kneeling then.
So fair a fancy few would weaveIn these years! Yet, I feel,If someone said on Christmas Eve,“Come; see the oxen kneel,
“In the lonely barton by yonder coombOur childhood used to know,”I should go with him in the gloom,Hoping it might be so.
... Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), composed 1915, Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy, London: Macmillan, 1920-24, p. 439
(see the book; more at Christmas, Darkness, Hope, Meekness)
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Feast of Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1274
To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.
... Thomas Aquinas (1225?-1274), attrib.
(see also Mark 15:3-5; Isa. 53:7; Acts 7:22-24; 1 Cor. 6:7; 1 Pet. 2:19-20; more at Bearing, Patience, Perfection, Sin)
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Many Christians are reluctant to become involved in public affairs because politics is a “dirty business,” but the same people are generally quite happy to go into business life, which is in its way just as “dirty.” If the dubious practices and moral compromises of every walk of life were dissected and made known with the glare of publicity which shines on the activities of politicians, then those who like to think that they can keep their hands clean would have very few professions to choose from.
... John Lawrence (1873-1968), Hard Facts, London: SCM Press, 1958, p. 51
(see the book; more at Choices, Morality, Revelation, Social, Way)
Friday, January 30, 2026
Commemoration of Lesslie Newbigin, Bishop, Missionary, Teacher, 1998
It is common to hear churchmen speak as though they did not really regard Christian unity as a serious question this side of the End. This is a disastrous illusion. Christians cannot behave as though time were unreal. God gives us time, but not an infinite amount of time. It is His purpose that the Gospel should be preached to all nations, and that all men should be brought into one family in Jesus Christ. His purpose looks to a real End, and therefore requires of us real decisions. If we misconstrue His patience, and think that there is an infinity of time for debate while we perpetuate before the world the scandal of our dismemberment of the Body of Christ, we deceive ourselves. In an issue concerning the doing of the will of God there is no final neutrality.
... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Reunion of the Church, London: SCM Press, 1960, p. xiii-xiv
(see the book; see also John 17:20-21; Matt. 11:15; John 10:16; Acts 4:32; 1 Cor. 1:10; 12:27; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 4:3-6; Phil. 2:1-5; Col. 3:11-14; 1 Pet. 3:8-9; more at Body of Christ, Church, God, Gospel, Illusions, Jesus, Preach, Purpose, Question, Time, Unity, Will of God, World)
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Commemoration of John Bosco, Priest, Founder of the Salesian Teaching Order, 1888
There is a cowardice in this age which is not Christian. We shrink from the consequences of truth. We look round and cling dependently. We ask what men will think; what others will say—whether they will not stare in astonishment. Perhaps they will; but he who is calculating that, will accomplish nothing in this life. The Father—the Father which is with us and in us—what does He think? God’s work cannot be done without a spirit of independence. A man is got some way in the Christian life when he has learned to say humbly and yet majestically, “I dare to be alone.”
... Frederick W. Robertson (1816-1853), Sermons, v. I, Leipzig: Tauchnitz, 1861, v. 1, p.238
(see the book; more at Attitudes, Cowardice, God, Independence, Truth, Work)
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