…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. … And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4: 8 -9
What is my only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
~Heidelberg Catechism
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
~Mary Oliver
To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.
~ T.S. Eliot
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To live is so startling, it leaves little room for other occupations.
~Emily Dickinson
I believe in God as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
~ C. S. Lewis
Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God.
~ Augustine
Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.
~ Mary Oliver
The seed is in the ground. Now may we rest in hope while darkness does its work.
~ Wendell Berry
Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine the true poetry of life.~ Sir William Osler
But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
~George Eliot’s final sentence in Middlemarch
If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
~ E.B. White
Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear, in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye clear. What we need is here.~~ “The Wild Geese” Wendell Berry
Let it come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come.
~ Jane Kenyon from “Let Evening Come”
You can only come to the morning through the shadows.~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Look for what you notice but no one else sees. ~Rick Rubin
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for. ~ Thomas Merton
This life therefore is not righteousness,
but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet
what we shall be,
but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished
but it is going on.
This is not the end
but it is the road.
~Martin Luther
Ten times a day something happens to me like this – some strengthening throb of amazement – some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.
~ Mary Oliver
It is not your love that sustains the marriage —
but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
She has done what she could…
~Mark 14:8
What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good on this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?~ J. R. R. Tolkien from The Hobbit
Barnstorming 
Beautifully and realistically said, Christian and Emily. It seems to be safe for us to take our faith for granted in ‘good’ times. Not as easy, nor as safe in the challenging, chaotic times in which we are now living.
The Gospel writers report that even Jesus was temporarily affected by doubts during times of temptation and angst. That was the price that he was fated to pay for His decision to become the Incarnate God and to walk with us for a short time, showing us the way and experiencing the human condition in its entirety.
For as long as I can remember my faith had never wavered. I had a stock answer for everything (supplied by my early Catechism). In recent adult years, however, my faith has wavered. It has been seriously challenged and questioned. As a Christian disciple of Jesus I admit that this situation has caused me to question the ‘faith’ as I learned and practiced it – to seriously question it and to look to the ‘world’ for answers.
The ever-increasing doubt, anxieties, trauma, fear bordering on terror and hopelessness — in the Church, in our communities and our Nation, and in our ever-shrinking world engender feelings that affect every facet of our lives. We seem to be wandering about in a state of shock and moral inaction, looking for solutions. We seem to be directly on the edge of a precipice that threatens to swallow us all in its vast unknown darkness.
We began our lives with what is sometimes called ‘tabula rasa.’ From there on our faith is constantly buffeted, tested by the realities of suffering, disappointment, serious temptations that try to turn us away from His Presence, His Spirit within. In desperation, we often think that if we ‘make deals with the world’ that our problems will be solved. Then we discover that we have been duped, deceived by the ‘world’ and the emptiness that it offers.
Then we are given the gift of true lasting faith that needs to be constantly nourished by prayer that will help us to reinforce our belief that He is always here – with us and for us. And that He will be true to His Word.
Emily, your lovely suggestion that we ‘turn our faces up each night, asking to be washed in the mist of God’s dew, our anxieties settled like dust,’ is perfect — beginning each new
day, ready to face its perils and troubles, freshly washed by God Himself!
Thank you.
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Alice, once again you articulate so well the experience of many of is — those few lines by Mr. Wiman helped me understand that wavering faith is part of our existence and not a sign of failing or abandonment by God. We must rehydrate in the living water of His word, regularly and with great thirst. Thank you again for sharing your immense wisdom.
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