Romans 8:24–25

24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

I listen for what is true.

Howard Thurman,

“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.

It is the only true guide you will ever have.

And if you cannot hear it,

you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings

that somebody else pulls.”

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Isaiah 43:2 (NRSVUE)

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

I am not alone in this.

Thomas Merton

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going.

What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment,

and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.”

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Psalm 13:1-2…5-6

1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

…

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,

for he has been good to me.

Courage is possible here.

Pádraig Ó Tuama

“It occurs to me that courage comes from the same place as fear, and where there is fear, there is the possibility of courage.”

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Galatians 6:9

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

God is forming me, even now.

Eugene H. Peterson,

“There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.”

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1 John 4:12 (NRSVUE)

No one has ever seen God;

if we love one another,

God lives in us,

and his love is perfected in us.

There are no ordinary people.

C. S. Lewis

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”

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Lamentations 3:22–23 (NRSV)

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lord, your mercies are enough for today.

Henri J. M. Nouwen

“Each day holds a surprise.

But only if we expect it

can we see, hear, or feel it

when it comes to us.”

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Matthew 6:26–29 (NRSVUE)

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by worrying

can add a single hour to your span of life?

And why do you worry about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;

they neither toil nor spin,

yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory

was not clothed like one of these.

Open my eyes to what is already here.

Annie Dillard

“We are here to abet creation and to witness it,

to notice each thing so each thing gets noticed.

Together we notice not only each mountain shadow

and each stone on the beach

but we notice each other’s beautiful face

and complex nature

so that creation need not play

to an empty house.”

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Luke 16:10 (NRSV)

Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much;

and whoever is dishonest in a very little

is dishonest also in much.

In every small thing, love can shine.

St. Teresa of Ávila

“If you would progress a long way along this road,

the important thing is not to think much,

but to love much.

Do then whatever arouses you to love.

It is love alone that gives worth to all things.”

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