Quotations for August, 1996
Thursday, August 22, 1996
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)
Friday, August 23, 1996
Commemoration of Rose of Lima, Contemplative, 1617
Those who think God did this almost incredible thing call it Good Friday because only an extremely good God could do a thing like that. All religions attempt to bridge the gulf between the terrific purity of God and the sinfulness of man, but Christianity believes that God built that bridge Himself. This particular Friday commemorates His deliberate action in allowing Himself to be caught up in the sin-suffering-death mechanism which haunts mankind.He didn’t let it end there, for He went on, right through death. But the men who believe in Him can’t forget the kind of Person such an act reveals. That’s why they call it Good Friday.
... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Is God at Home?, London: Lutterworth Press, 1957, p. 56
(see the book; see also Isa. 53:2-11; John 19:16-30; Rom. 6:2-10; 1 Cor. 15:17; Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-3; more at Easter, Good Friday, Man, Remembrance, Revelation, Sin, Suffer)
Saturday, August 24, 1996
Feast of Bartholomew the Apostle
If you make a habit of sincere prayer, your life will be very noticeably and profoundly altered. Prayer stamps with its indelible mark our actions and demeanor. A tranquillity of bearing, a facial and bodily repose, are observed in those whose inner lives are thus enriched. Within the depths of consciousness a flame kindles. And man sees himself. He discovers his selfishness, his silly pride, his fears, his greeds, his blunders. He develops a sense of moral obligation, intellectual humility. Thus begins a journey of the soul toward the realm of grace. [Continued tomorrow]
... Alexis Carrel (1873-1944), “Prayer is Power”, from The Reader’s Digest, March, 1941, included in The Questing Spirit, Halford E. Luccock & Frances Brentano, New York: Coward-McCann, 1947, p. 645
(see the book; see also Job 1:20-22; more at Beginning, Grace, Journey, Prayer, Sincerity)
Sunday, August 25, 1996
[Continued from yesterday]Too many people regard prayer as a formalized routine of words, a refuge for weaklings, or a childish petition for material things. We sadly undervalue prayer when we conceive it in these terms, just as we should underestimate rain by describing it as something that fills the birdbath in our garden. Properly understood, prayer is a mature activity indispensable to the fullest development of personality—the ultimate integration of man’s highest faculties. Only in prayer do we achieve that complete and harmonious assembly of body, mind and spirit which gives the frail human reed its unshakable strength.
... Alexis Carrel (1873-1944), “Prayer is Power”, from The Reader’s Digest, March, 1941, included in The Questing Spirit, Halford E. Luccock & Frances Brentano, New York: Coward-McCann, 1947, p. 645
(see the book; see also Matt. 6:7; more at Harmony, Material things, Mind, Prayer, Rain, Spirit, Strength)
Monday, August 26, 1996
Do you so love the truth and the right that you welcome, or at least submit willingly to the idea of an exposure of what in you is yet unknown to yourself—an exposure that may redound to the glory of the truth by making you ashamed and humble?... Are you willing to be made glad that you were wrong when you thought others were wrong?... We may trust God with our past as heartily as with our future. It will not hurt us so long as we do not try to hide things, so long as we are ready to bow our heads in hearty shame where it is fit that we should be ashamed. For to be ashamed is a holy and blessed thing. Shame is a thing to shame only those who want to appear, not those who want to be. Shame is to shame those who want to pass their examination, not those who would get into the heart of things... To be humbly ashamed is to be plunged in the cleansing bath of truth.
... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “The Final Unmasking”, in Unspoken Sermons, Third Series, London: Longmans, Green, 1889, p. 235-236, 238
(see the book; see also 2 Cor. 3:8-9; Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2; Rom. 1:16; 2:16; 2 Cor. 5:10; more at Attitudes, Blessing, Future, God, Holiness, Humility, Longing, Love, Past, Shame, Trust, Truth, Wrong)
Tuesday, August 27, 1996
Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387
Let the Gospels speak. Of what I have learnt from these documents in the course of my long task, I will say nothing now. Only this, that they bear the seal of the Son of Man and God, they are the Magna Charta of the human spirit. Were we to devote to their comprehension a little of the selfless enthusiasm that is now expended on the riddle of our physical surroundings, we would cease to say that Christianity is coming to an end—we might even feel that it had only just begun.
... E. V. Rieu (1887-1972), The Four Gospels, London: Penguin Books, 1952, p. xxxiii
(see the book; see also Acts 5:29-40; Jer. 31:33-34; Mark 1:1; Phil. 1:27-28; more at Bearing, Beginning, Bible, Devotion, Man, Son)
Wednesday, August 28, 1996
Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430
I endeavour to keep all Shibboleths, and forms and terms of distinction out of sight, as we keep knives and razors out of the way of children; and if my hearers had not some other means of information, I think they would not know from me that there are such creatures as Arminians and Calvinists in the world. But we [would] talk a good deal about Christ.
... John Newton (1725-1807), in a letter quoted in John Newton: a biography, Bernard Martin, Heinemann, 1950, p. 275
(see the book; see also Rom. 16:17; John 17:21-23; 1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:1-7; 11:16-19; Heb. 12:2; more at Attitudes, Child, Christ, Knowledge)
Thursday, August 29, 1996
Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God: for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and sensuality and selfishness that have killed his faith.
... Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Seeds of Contemplation, London: Hollis & Carter, 1949, New Directions. 1949, p. 105
(see the book; see also Luke 6:32-34; Prov. 18:19; Zech. 7:5-6; more at Attitudes, Belief, Condemnation, Faith, Selfish)
Friday, August 30, 1996
Many things seem to be good and yet are not, because they be not done with a good mind and intention; and therefore our Saviour saith in the Gospel, “If thy eye has naught, all thy body shall be dark.” For when the intention is wicked, all the work that follows is naught, although it seemed to be never so good.
... St. Gregory the Great (540?-604), The Dialogues of Saint Gregory, P. L. Warner, 1911; Arx Publishing, LLC, 2010, p. 40
(see the book; see also Matt. 6:22-23; 5:21-22,27-28; Gal. 5:22; more at Darkness, Evil, Goodness, Gospel, Intention, Sin)
Saturday, August 31, 1996
Feast of Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 651
Commemoration of Cuthburga, Founding Abbess of Wimborne, c.725
Commemoration of John Bunyan, Spiritual Writer, 1688
Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude, ... but delight to be alone and single with Omnipresency.
... Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), Christian Morals [op. post. 1716], London: Henry Washbourne, 1845, p. 45
(see the book; see also Jer. 23:23-24; 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 139:2,7-13; Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 1:45; Luke 5:16; John 14:16-18; 16:32; 1 Cor. 3:16; Col. 2:9-10; Rev. 21:3; more at Being alone, Presence of God, Solitude)
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