It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism...
We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.
My answer to a friend: There is no success in ministry, only service and moments of celebration. If you choose to minister, expect to be misunderstood. All of the pain people carry will fall upon your brow, and you shall be the stand-in for every ignorant statement...
Dignity is not built on possessing honors, but on the awareness that you deserve them.
Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.
In my present season of grief and regret, I am finding that there is no way through apart from gratitude, and that, in fact, thankfulness is my greatest help. Not a plaster of it applied on the wound, not some anesthetic thanks to numb or replace the sadness, but...
It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature’s gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever.
All worldly honors are nothing but the smoke and fire of burning straw. All that remains is the little good that we have done, if we have managed to make the most of the grace which our good Lord has given us at every instant of our lives.
Who will celebrate Christmas correctly? Whoever finally lays down all power, all honor, all reputation, all vanity, all arrogance, all individualism... beside the manger.
We should acknowledge that moral imagination can rise above one’s culture but never transcend it completely. And we should honor the choice to be the one who does not wait for others but stands in the breach—or the choice to declare one’s own humanity in the face of a...