The Days Are Too Short

How beautiful it is to find someone who asks for nothing but your company.
( Brigitte Nicole )

Relying on God for assistance is like reaching for a lamp in the darkness.
As morning light dispels the dark night, the word of God exposes darkness in our hearts and illuminates truth about a heavenly father who cares.
Darkness is the absence of light.
But since God is light, then in him there is no darkness at all.

A Quiet Truth.
Deep within, there is something profoundly known, not consciously, but subconsciously.
A quiet truth, that is not a version of something, but an original knowing.
What this, absolute, truth (identity) is may be none of our business.
But it is there, guiding us along the path of greater becoming.
A true awareness.
It is so self-sustaining that our recognition of it is not required.
We are offspring’s of such a powerfully divine force.
Creator of all things known and unknown.
( T.F. Hodge )

He is not a wrathful God but a loving God who made each of us and loved us since we were in our mother’s womb. 
( Ann Rinaldi )

Charity even for one person does not make sense except in terms of an effort to love all Creation in response to the Creator’s love for it. 
( Wendell Berry )

God is the light shining in the midst of darkness, not to deny that there is darkness in the world but to reassure us that we do not have to be afraid of the darkness because darkness will always yield to light.
( Harold S. Kushner )

He created us for adventure, not ease. 
( Mary DeMuth )

It is not God who is too busy to hear us, it is we who are too busy to hear God. 
( Jennifer Megan Varnadore )

Grant Me The Patience To Listen.
Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old.
Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other peoples’ affairs.
With my immense treasure of experience and wisdom, it seems a pity not to let everybody partake of it.
But thou knowest, Lord, that in the end I will need a few friends.
Grant me the patience to listen to the complaints of others.
But seal my lips on my own aches and pains.
They increase with the increasing years and my inclination to recount them is also increasing.
I will not ask thee for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my own memory doesn’t agree with that of others.
Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong.

If we keep our heads down, either out of defeat or loss or shame or tiredness, whatever the reason, we are going to miss the beautiful sun (and Son) that is right there in front of us, shining its warmth on our faces and our souls. 
( Mary Beth Chapman )

The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons, with Himself included in that community as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant. 
( Dallas Willard )

If we think we will have joy only by praying and singing psalms, we will be disillusioned.
But if we fill our lives with simple good things and constantly thank God for them, we will be joyful, that is, full of joy.
And what about our problems?
When we determine to dwell on the good and excellent things in life, we will be so full of those things that they will tend to swallow our problems. 
( Richard J. Foster )

Everything God does has purpose and intention behind that design.
It is a master design, and every little thing has its proper place and function. 
( A.W. Tozer )

Our concept of God is something too simplistic.
God is not an actual man or woman.
The male and female references in our prayers are just poetic ways of describing and exploring our experience of the totally unknowable thing that caused the universe to exist.
God is not a bearded man on a cloud.

Do Not Listen To What The Prophets Are Prophesying To You.
They fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.
Do not let the prophets among you deceive you.
Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.
They are prophesying lies to you in my name.
I have not sent them.
( Jeremiah )

Although human beings are incapable of talking about themselves with total honesty, it is much harder to avoid the truth while pretending to be other people.
They often reveal much about themselves in a very straightforward way.
I am certain that I did.
There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself.
( Akira Kurosawa )

The older you get, the more you realise that it’s okay to live a life others don’t understand.
( Len Firswood )

When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people enquire of their God?
( Isaiah )

When mediums and spiritists claim to consult with the dead, it is the Devil at play giving false hope to the weak, the vulnerable, and the stupid.
It is not possible to consult with, or contact, the dead.

We think if we can make all our own choices and do our own thing, we will be free.
But the opposite is true. By trying to be independent, we are attempting to take God’s place as the ruler of our lives. We can never succeed at creating happiness because we are the created, not the Creator.
( Pauline Creeden )

A Statement Is Meaningless.
A statement is meaningless if we cannot see how it can be verified or shown to be false.
To say:  “There is intelligent life on Mars” is not meaningless since we can see how we could verify this once we had the necessary technology.
To say:  “I believe in God” is not a meaningless statement, since after death we should be able to find out whether or not this is true.
To say:  “God does not exist” is too vague.
It is impossible to see how it can be tested, therefore, this statement is meaningless.

Be sober-minded.
Be watchful.
Your adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
( 1 Peter 5:8 )

The Scriptures warn us that the Devil continues to walk the earth.
With the ever increasing number of evil souls, this could well be true.
( Dion Felsrow )

Choosing not to believe in the Devil won’t protect you from him.

We cannot claim that God is on our side.
The most we can do is hope that we are on God’s side.
( Gordon Brown )

I read the book of Job last night.
I don’t think God comes out well in it.
( Virginia Woolf )

Following astronomical clues in the gospels, the date of the crucifixion has been calculated most probably as April 3 in AD 33.
According to Isaac Newton’s calculation, it happened on April 23, AD 34.

Despite the tale of three wise men paying homage to baby Jesus, the Bible never gives a number.
Matthew’s gospel refers to merely “wise men”.

Everyone Has An Angel.
Everyone has an angel, a guardian who watches over us.
We can’t know what form they’ll take – one day an old man, next day a little girl.
But don’t let appearances fool you, they can be fierce as any dragon.
Yet they’re not here to fight our battles but to whisper from our heart, reminding that it’s us, it’s everyone of us, who holds the power over the worlds we create.
We can deny our angels exist, convince ourselves they can’t be real but they show up anyway, at strange places and at strange times.
They can speak through any character we can imagine, they’ll shout through demons if they have to, daring us, challenging us to fight.
And finally, this question:- The mystery of whose story it will be of who draws the curtains?
Who is it that chooses our steps in a dance?
Who drives us mad, lashes us with whips and crowns us with victory when we survive the impossible?
Who is it that does all these things?
Who honours those with love for the very life we live?
Who sends monsters to kill us, and at the same time things that will never die?
Who teaches us what’s real and how to laugh at lies?
Who decides why we live and what we’ll die to defend?
Who chains us, and who holds the key that can set us free?
It’s you – You have all the weapons you need – Now fight.
( Narration from the movie ‘Sucker Punch’ )

There is no reference to angels singing anywhere in the Bible.

I want to know God’s thought.
The rest are details.
( Albert Einstein )

Consummatum est (it is completed).
( Christ’s last words on the cross )

Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th but sometime in September between 6 BC and 30 AD.

I’m not here to fit into your world.
I’m here to make my own.
( Dion Felsrow )

Astronomers believe the star of Bethlehem, which guided the wise men to Jesus, may have been a comet or the planet Uranus.

We are destroying Nature and the environment.
We are out-of-control apes marveling at the moon whilst our feet are burning.
( Rose Winfold )

October was the 8th month in the original Roman calendar.
When July and August were later added, August became the 8th Month.
The number 8 in Greek or Latin gives us the prefix “Oct”.
As in Octet (8 musicians) and Octagon (8-sided shape).

Our medieval forebears believed that they shared the world with the dead, and angels and demons battled for control of souls.

I lie in bed at night wondering how long I have left and try to imagine what it feels like at the very end.
I wonder whether part of me, like my soul, will go on eternally.
Sometimes it makes me weep, thinking that will be the end of me forever.
The tiny fraction of time that I occupy in life is so insignificant it makes my life seem pointless.
( Rose Winfold )

Tell Me, If You Know All This.
Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man.
I will question you, and you shall answer me.
Where were you when I laid the Earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know.
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther. Here is where your proud waves halt’?
Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the Earth?
Do you know the laws of the Heavens?
Tell me, if you know all this.
( God speaking to Job )

None can sense more deeply than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of his hands. 
( John Paul II )

The hardest and greatest thing a human being can do is submit to his Creator. 
( Habeeb Akande )

Fortunately, some are born with spiritual immune systems that sooner or later give rejection to the illusory world-view grafted upon them from birth through social conditioning.
They begin sensing that something is amiss, and start looking for answers.
Inner knowledge and anomalous outer experiences show them a side of reality others are oblivious to, and so begins their journey of awakening.
Each step of the journey is made by following the heart instead of following the crowd and by choosing knowledge over the veils of ignorance.
( Henri Bergson )

True power is sitting back and observing everything with logic.
True power is restraint.
If words control you, that means everyone else can control you.

I belong to the divine source from which I originated.
( T.F. Hodge )

Look Through The Eyes Of Your Children.
There are too many people who become middle-aged in their 30s.
Who refuse to try anything new, who eat the same meals, drink in the same pub, watch the same television programme’s and go on holiday to the same place year in, year out.
They lose that amazing ability to see the world through the eyes of a child, to see that for all the problems and difficulties, it is still a wonderful place, full of miracles and delight.
Take a look and be inspired, determined to wring every last ounce of joy out of life.
Look through the eyes of your children or grandchildren and see the pleasure they find in the simple things in life, in almost anything.

Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty.
( Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister )

The Days Are Too Short.
I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.
So often it seems there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to be done and still keep in close touch with the ones you love.
Sometimes life gets so busy and we tend to let things go, and though we think of those we love, we fail to let them know.

If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best coloured man, he won’t know you’re picking his pocket.
Hell, give him someone to look down on and he’ll empty his pockets for you.
( L B Johnson )

Our beliefs don’t make us a better person.
Our behaviour does.

Thought Is A Bird Of Space.
You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.
And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips,
And sound is a diversion and a pastime.
And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.
For thought is a bird of space,
That in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.
There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone.
The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape.
And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand.
And there are those who have the truth within them.
But they tell it not in words.
( Kahlil Gibran )