"Oh, then, spiritual soul, when you see your appetites darkened, your inclinations dry and constrained, your faculties incapacitated for any interior exercise, do not be afflicted; think of this as a grace, since God is freeing you from yourself and taking from you your own activity."
St. John of the Cross
"Two of the most powerful forces in the world right now are service and spirituality. The growing influence of both is evident almost everywhere, and together they provide the most potent combination for changing our communities. Service and spirituality are growing streams of energy, which, as they begin to flow together, could create a mighty river of action."
Jim Wallis
"A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all."
Martin Luther
"Anthony Bloom reminds us that all holiness is God’s holiness in us: it is a holiness that is participation and, in a certain way, more than participation, because as we participate in what we can receive from God, we become a revelation of that which transcends us."
Richard J. Foster
Streams of Living Water
"Prayer is not an exercise. It is the life of the saint."
Oswald Chambers
"The presence of the Spirit and of grace is not meant to set the law aside, but to enable conformity to it from an inwardly transformed personality."
Dallas Willard
Renovation of the Heart
"For my will was perverse and lust had grown from it, and when I gave into lust habit was born, and when I did not resist the habit it became a necessity."
St. Augustine
Confessions
"It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something."
Henri Nouwen
"We do not go into the desert to escape people but to learn how to find them; we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them, but to find out the way to do them the most good."
Thomas Merton
"He was no longer interested in asking what his future would be, but he set himself to learn God's holy will and pleasure whenever he was beginning or completing some good work."
Thomas à Kempis
The Imitation of Christ
"Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself."
Leo Tolstoy
"There we shall rest and see, see and love, love and praise. This is what shall be in the end without end. For what other end do we propose to ourselves than to attain to the kingdom of which there is no end?"
St. Augustine
"To have no opinion of ourselves, and to think always well and highly of others, is great wisdom and perfection."
Thomas à Kempis
The Imitation of Christ
"Learn the lesson that , if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a scepter but a hoe."
Bernard de Clairvaux
"Learn the lesson that , if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a scepter but a hoe."
Bernard de Clairvaux
"But there are godless men of another kind, those who have the knowledge of God, but do not honour him or give thanks to him as God."
St. Augustine
Confessions
"It is becoming clearer every day that the most urgent problem besetting our church is this: How can we live the Christian life in the modern world?"
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Cost of Discipleship
"We must alter our lives in order to alter our hearts, for it is impossible to live one way and pray another."
William Law
"Every one of us is called to be a contemplative not in the sense of a particular vocation we call the contemplative life, but in the sense of a holy habit of contemplative love that leads us forth in partnership with God into creative and redeeming work."
Richard J. Foster
Streams of Living Water
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
Mother Teresa
"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness."
Martin Luther
"Holiness is goodness on fire."
Walter Rauschenbusch
"Desires and attachments affect the soul as the remora is said to affect a ship; that is but a little fish, yet when it clings to the vessel it effectively hinders its progress."
St. John of the Cross
"Walk simply, do not desire repose of the spirit and you will have the more of it. I recommend to you holy simplicity: look before you and regard not those dangers which you see afar off."
St. Francois de Sales
"There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God."
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
"It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am the more affection I have for them . . . Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.'
Thomas Merton
"Frankly, there are no 'non-charismatic Christians.' I understand what is meant by that term, and I see the historical and sociological reasons for it, but the Christian life is by definition a life in and through the Spirit."
Richard J. Foster
Streams of Living Water
"Virtue -- even attempted virtue -- brings light; indulgence brings fog."
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
"The property of riches is to be given liberally"
Pascal
"The truth about obedience in the kingdom of Jesus, as should be clear by now, is that it really is abundance. Kingdom obedience is kingdom abundance."
Dallas Willard
The Divine Conspiracy
"I must tell you that claiming your own blessedness always leads to a deep desire to bless others. The characteristic of the blessed ones is that, wherever they go, they always speak words of blessing."
Henri Nouwen
"Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all Scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it."
John Wesley
"A disciple is a person who has decided that the most important thing in their life is to learn how to do what Jesus said to do."
Dallas Willard
"We taste Thee, O Thou living bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still,
We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead,
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill"
Bernard de Clairvaux
"We do not go into the desert to escape people but to learn how to find them; we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them, but to find out the way to do them the most good."
Thomas Merton
"Life's most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?"
Martin Luther King
"He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life."
William Law
"Every one of us is called to be a contemplative not in the sense of a particular vocation we call the contemplative life, but in the sense of a holy habit of contemplative love that leads us"
Richard J. Foster
Celebration of Discipline
"I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness."
Mother Teresa
"Nobody is too good for the meanest service. One who worries about the loss of time that such petty, outward acts of helpfulness entail is usually taking the importance of his own career too solemnly."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return."
Thomas Kelly
A Testament of Devotion
"To have what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power."
George MacDonald
"The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works."
St. Augustine
"Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence sharpened: one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education in itself."
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
"All of us are called to sacramental living. Redeemed by God through Christ, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and experience a growing transformation of character as our bodies come into a working harmony with our spirit."
Richard J. Foster
Streams of Living Water
"God calls us to a life of social justice whose circumference embraces 360 degrees: personal, social, institutional. It is a life that receives all people: enemies and friends, poor and rich, illiterate and educated, whomever and whomever."
Richard J. Foster
Streams of Living Water
"I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare."
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
"If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these."
1 Timothy 6:8
"We now live in a time when consumer Christianity has become the accepted norm, and all-out engagement with and in Jesus' kingdom among us is regarded as just one option people may take if it suits them -- but probably 'overdoing it.'"
Dallas Willard
The Divine Conspiracy
"Friendship is being with the other in joy and sorrow, even when we cannot increase the joy or decrease the sorrow. It is a unity of souls that gives nobility and sincerity to love. Friendship makes all of life shine brightly. Blessed are those who lay down their lives for their friends."
Henri Nouwen
'Happy the soul which by a sincere self-renunciation, holds itself ceaselessly in the hands of its Creator, ready to do everything which he wishes; which never stops saying to itself a hundred times a day, 'Lord, what wouldst thou that I should do?'"
Francois Fénelon
"Give up all light and frivolous matters, and read what inspires you to repentance of soul and not what just entertains the mind."
Thomas à Kempis
The Imitation of Christ
"Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down."
John Wesley
"Prayer involves transformed passions. In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God's thoughts after Him: to desire the things He desires, to love the things He loves, to will the things He wills."
Richard J. Foster
Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home
"We need a picture of our life in God that does not leave most of our life untouched."
Dallas Willard
"Live throughout the week as an heir of the kingdom, listening for his voice, obeying his word. Since you have heard his voice throughout the week, you know that you will hear his voice as you gather for public worship."
Richard J. Foster
Celebration of Discipline
"In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding: no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken, nothing."
Henri Nouwen
"God does guide the individual richly and profoundly, but he also guides groups of people and can instruct the individual through the group experience."
Richard J. Foster
Celebration of Discipline
"We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands."
1 John 2:3
"To know God as the sovereign disposer of all good, inviting us to present our requests, and yet not to approach or ask of him, were so far from availing us, that it were just as if one told of a treasure were to allow it to remain buried in the ground."
John Calvin
"O, how amiable this simplicity is! Who will give it to me? I leave all for this. It is the Pearl of the Gospel. "
Francois Fénelon
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words."
St. Francis of Assisi
"For a good confession three things are necessary: an examination of conscience, sorrow, and a determination to avoid sin."
St. Alphonsus Liguori
"Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful. Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community."
Henri Nouwen
"The deepest revelation of our character is what we choose to dwell on in thought, what constantly occupies our mind."
Dallas Willard
The Divine Conspiracy
"We may pray most when we say least, and we may pray least when we say most."
St. Augustine
"We might think that God wanted simply obedience to a set of rules: whereas He really wants people of a particular sort."
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
"Every one of us is called to a Word-centered life. Jesus Christ is among us as the Word of God living. He teaches us, guides us, rules us, comforts us, corrects us, nurtures us, strengthens us."
Richard J. Foster
Streams of Living Water