A Hodgepodge of Brilliant Authors...

God "is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic neccesity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."

--G.K. Chesterton

The beauty of the world is Christ's tender smile for us coming through matter.

--Simone Weil

Plunge into matter. By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us, and molds us. We imagine it as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact we live steeped in its burning layers.

--Teilhard de Chardin

A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music...

--Kierkegaard

So I am praying while not knowing how to pray. I am resting while feeling restless, at peace while tempted, safe while still anxious, surrounded by a cloud of light while still in darkness, in love while still doubting.

--Henri Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak

Absurdly valued...

Of course I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way. Remember always, that He really likes the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.
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Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.

Excerpts from "The Screwtape Letters"

Oh, how I need You, Lord...

My heart is restless in me
My wings are all worn out
I'm walking in the wilderness
And I cannot get out
I need You, Oh, I need You
Blessed Savior come
I need You, Oh, I need You
Fill the every longing in my soul

My bed is soaked with sadness
My sadness has no end
A downward spiral of despair
That I keep falling in
I need You, Oh, I need You
To You my soul shall fly
I need You, Oh, I need You
Yahweh, how I love You more than life

Your silence is like death to me
So won't You hear my desperate plea

It's not that I am stronger
Look at my feeble wings
But I've been lifted higher
Yahweh's lifted me in His own strength

And made my heart in grace to stay
You've made my heart in grace to stay
Lord, make my heart in grace to stay
--The Swift, I Need You

So don't you turn away from me
Because my heart and my hopes, they're in your hands
If I don't seem certain
It's just a common fear from a common man
But I am in your hands
--Bebo Norman, In Your Hands

Weak and wounded sinner, Lost and left to die,
O, raise your head for Love is passing by

And like a newborn baby, Don't be afraid to crawl,
And remember when you walk sometimes we fall... so
Fall on Jesus,Fall on Jesus, Fall on Jesus and live

Sometimes the way is lonely,
And steep and filled with pain,
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain... then
Cry to Jesus,Cry to Jesus,Cry to Jesus and live...

--Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus), Chris Rice

When I am alone...give me Jesus.

A hodgepodge of wisdom from Sara Groves.

Hope has a way of turning it's face to you just when you least expect it
you walk in a room you look out a window and something there leaves you breathless
you say to yourself it's been a while since I felt this
but it feels like it might be hope
--It Might Be Hope

Your courage asks me what I'm afraid of, and what I know of Love.
--I Saw What I Saw

Love wash over a multitude of things...make us whole.

So come with Your love and wash over us.
--When It Was Over

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real
--Just Showed Up For My Own Life

We come with beautiful secrets
We come with purposes written on our hearts, written on our souls
We come to every new morning
With possibilities only we can hold, that only we can hold
Redemption comes in strange place, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we are
And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That's burning up inside

It comes in small inspirations
It brings redemption to life and work
To our lives and our work
It comes in loving community
It comes in helping a soul find it's worth
--Add to the Beauty

There's a better story
Of true love of true grace
There's the hope of glory
And our first chance to be truly brave
It's the place we're going
When we can't stay where we are
--Rewrite this Tragedy

It's been a hard year.
But I'm climbing out of the rubble.
These lessons are hard.
Healing changes are subtle.
But every day it's...
Less like tearing more like building.
Less like captive more like willing.'
Less like breakdown more like surrender.
Less like haunting more like remember.

And I feel you here.
And you're picking up the pieces.
Forever faithful.
It seemed out of my hands a bad situation.
But you are able.
And in your hands the pain and hurt
look less like scars and more like character.

Less like a prison more like my room.
Less like a casket more like a womb.
Less like dying more like transcending.
Less like fear, less like an ending...
--Less Like Scars

And I don't have to be ashamed.
Hang my head or shoulder the blame.
Wondering if my life's been in vain.
I don't have to be ashamed.
Oh, you did that for me.
Oh, you did that for me.
You wore the chains so I could be free.
Yeah, yeah.
You did that for me..
--You Did That For Me

So many words to say, but I'm opting for silence.
So many days to live.
I thinking I'm sitting this one out.
Cause something I've been chasing finally stop to let me catch it.
Something I've been longing for and dreaming about..

It's a whisper in my ear.
It's a shiver up my spine.
It's the gratitude I feel for all that's right.
It's a mystery appeal that's been granted me tonight.
This peace..

It's something so elusive.
Something close but far away.
It's the home that I can't live in yet somewhere in outer space.
And sometimes I barely miss it when I walk into the room.
The curtains are still swaying and I feel the air move..
--This Peace

A Good Day...; )

I had a wonderful day. A day full of soul-deep conversation, of the myriad chemical-relational reactions different groups of people make when in each other's presence, full of reading justifications of Jezebel's behavior, full of strange memories and poetic inspirations. Full of girlish chuckles and giggles, apologies, affirmations, reminders. It was just a good day. I think the best day I've had since I've been back this semester.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

I do believe I'm gaining this courage to face my fears. Doing the things I think I cannot do. And probably can't, without the all-sufficient grace of Christ.
I do hope so.

Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all

These words, more than some Scripture verses, remind me so vividly of the Hope we have.
It sings the tune without the words--yes, when words are hard to find or difficult to create or conceive...or perhaps, when there are no words.

Romans 15:13 (New International Version)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Love has a hem to her garment that reaches the very dust.
It sweeps the stains from the streets and lanes, and because it can, it must.
- Mother Teresa

And, on a completely unrelated note,
there is hardly anything more delightful than having a snowflake fall on the very tip of one's nose.

Healing...

This is a song by a group called Watermark, and as I was listening to it this afternoon, it struck a chord with me (pun intended). God is a perfect redeemer and restorer. Yes, that must be true. Truly, He works to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Father, give me the grace to trust You.

You repair all that we have torn apart and
You unveil a new beginning in our hearts and
We stand grateful for all that has been left behind and
All that goes before us

Chorus:
You've got all things suspended
All things connected
Nothing was forgotten
Cause your love is perfect
You are our healer
And you know what's broken
And we're not a mystery to you(to you, oh Lord, to you)

We will dance 'cause you restore the wasted years and
You will sing over all our coming fears and
We'll stand grateful for all that has been left behind and all that goes before us
-Chorus-

Bridge:
Lord, you mend the breech
And you break every fetter
You give us your best, but what we thought was better
And you are to be praised
You are to be praised (4x)
-Chorus-(to you, oh Lord, mender of the broken)