On PRAYER:
Occasionally, God's silences are His Answers - is that okay with us?
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On SILENCE:
- - ALL Hear Silence! Most run from it, terrified. Many rail at it, contemptuously. Others wander about whining. God Speaks and also Hushes. ***The fear of silence is but another symptom of a soul running from an Encounter with Divinity.***
- - 'There are three kinds of silence. Silence from words is good, because inordinate speaking tends to evil. Silence, or rest from desires and passions is still better, because it promotes quietness of spirit.
But the best of all is silence from unnecessary and wandering thoughts, because that is essential to internal recollection, and because it lays a foundation for a proper reputation and for silence in other respects.'
...Madam Guyon, [1648-1717], French, Christian 'Mystic'
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'It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little. Do what you can!' --Sydney Smith
'Rebellion against your handicaps gets you nowhere. Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accpet oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world - making the most of one's best!' --Harry Emerson Fosdick"
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On ZEAL:
Let us take heed we do not sometimes call that
'zeal for God and His gospel' which is nothing else
but our own tempestuous and stormy passion.
True zeal is a sweet, heavenly, and gentle flame,
which makes us active for God--but always within
the sphere of love. It never calls for fire from heaven
to consume those who differ a little from us. It
strives to save the soul--but hurts not the body.
True zeal is a loving thing, and makes us always
active to edification, and not to destruction. --Cudworth, 1647.
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POEM
"It is His Will that I should cast my cares on Him each day; He also tells me not to cast my confidence away --
But oh!, how foolishly I act, when taken unawares; I cast away my confidence, and carry all my cares!"
--Anonomous
(worry is sin against trust, which is mutiny against Love)
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"I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God!"
--Helen Keller
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On FAITH
"There is no way of learning Faith except by trial. It is God's school of faith and it is far better for us to learn to trust God than to enjoy life." From Streams in the Desert vol 1 March 7th.
"Faith grows but by exercise in circumstance impossible" Miss Mary Butterfield (From Streams in the Desert vol 1 March 9th.)
