The following are becoming more obvious to me every day:
Christian Priorities
- Jesus is a "model for living" more than an "object of worship".
- Affirming people’s potential is more important than reminding them of their brokenness.
- The work of reconciliation should be valued over making judgments.
- Gracious behavior is more important than right belief.
- Inviting questions is more valuable than supplying answers.
- Encouraging the personal search is more important than group uniformity.
- Meeting actual needs is more important than maintaining institutions.
- Peacemaking is more important than power.
- We should care more about love and less about sex.
- Life in this world is more important than the afterlife (eternity is God’s work anyway).
To forgive means to "re-member" it no more, (to stop giving it form) (to stop reincarnating it).
"I already am that which I am longing for in the depths of my heart."
"A Little Prayer"
After my last heart attack in 2014, I was remembering
the nighttime prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep..."
My older sister Patty taught it to my younger sister Mary Ann and me
when we were very young; when the Voice inside gave me the following prayer:
"I feel as though I've spent much of my life
somewhat asleep,
But I pray the Lord the safety of my soul
to keep,
To be fully awake is my heart's desire,
and so I pray with all my heart,
Lord, that I should be fully awake,
before I die."
SOME OTHER SAYINGS AND QUOTES WORTH PONDERING
(The authors of these quotes were intentionally omitted so the quotes can be pondered with less prejudice.)
"Prophecy has to be an act of love; otherwise it's merely alienation."
"Jesus taught us that losers are the real winners, which includes just about everybody."
"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes"
"Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering"
"There is no coming to consciousness without pain"
"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves"
"A dream uninterpreted is like a letter unopened"
"Our patience will achieve more than our force"
"The church has too often defined holiness as subservience and obedience because that's the kind of person those in power want around them
so they can stay in power."
