Rediscovering Our Identity and Calling As the People of God
Nero did not throw Christians to the lions because they confessed that ‘Jesus is Lord of my heart.’ It was rather because they confessed that ‘Jesus is Lord of all,’ meaning that Jesus was Lord even over the realm Caesar claimed as his domain of absolute authority.
–Michael Bird
Seems the marketing strategy of the church these days is: “You can have the life you’ve always wanted.”
But who would want a life that looks like a cross?
–Rodney Reeves, Spirituality According to Paul (33)
Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story, one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into the future so that we can take the next step… If you want to change a society, then you have to tell an alternative story.
-Ivan Illich, Austrian philosopher
Most men die at 27, we just bury them at 72.
Mark Twain
Every man dies. Not every man really lives.
William Wallace in Braveheart
You are stronger than you think you are…
… and weaker than you realize.
You are uniquely and wonderfully special…
… and you are broken.
You strive for love and acceptance…
… and you’ve never been unloved.
Everything you need
is nowhere that you’re looking.
Look up.
(Check out Hebrews 12:1-3 for further reflection.)
When we give,
we receive what matters most.
When we serve,
our deepest needs are met.
When we love,
our hearts are fullest.
In living for God and others,
we finally find real life for ourselves.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow! What a ride!”
Hunter S. Thompson
My life is an instant,
An hour which passes by;My life is a moment
Which I have no power to stay.You know, O my God, that to love you here on earth-
I have only today.
-Thérèse of Lisieux
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her.
It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.
We have refused to be instruments of love in the hands of God to give the poor a piece of bread, to offer them a dress with which to ward off the cold.
Mother Teresa