At Once Good and Imperfect

"Anxiety strives to become fear, because fear can be met by courage. It is impossible for a finite..."

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:00:05 -0500

“Anxiety strives to become fear, because fear can be met by courage. It is impossible for a finite being to stand naked anxiety for more than a flash of time … But ultimately the attempts to transform anxiety into fear are vain. The basic anxiety, the anxiety of a finite being about the treat of nonbeing, cannot be eliminated. It belongs to existence itself.”

- Paul Tillich, The Courage to Be (39).

"Courage is self-affirmation “in-spite-of”, that is in spite of that which tends to..."

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:00:30 -0500

“Courage is self-affirmation “in-spite-of”, that is in spite of that which tends to prevent the self from affirming itself.”

- Paul Tillich, The Courage to Be (32).

"Since every day a little of our life is taken from us - since we are dying every day - the final..."

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:00:05 -0500

“Since every day a little of our life is taken from us - since we are dying every day - the final hour when we cease to exist does not of itself bring death; it merely completes the death process. The horrors connected with it are a matter of imagination. They vanish when the mask is taken from the image of death.”

- Paul Tillich, The Courage to Be (14).

"Perfect courage is, according to Thomas, a gift of the Divine Spirit. Through the Spirit natural..."

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:36:14 -0500

“Perfect courage is, according to Thomas, a gift of the Divine Spirit. Through the Spirit natural strength of mind is elevated to its supernatural perfection. This however means that it is united with the specifically Christian virtues, faith, hope and love. Thus a development is visible in which the ontological side of courage is taken into faith (including hope), while the ethical side of courage is taken into love or the principle of ethics.”

- Paul Tillich, The Courage to Be (8).

"The best approach is existentialist, and the existentialist approach, in theology, is not through..."

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:09:47 -0500

“The best approach is existentialist, and the existentialist approach, in theology, is not through abstract dogmas but through direct personal confrontation, not of a subject with an object but of a person with an inner demand.”

- Thomas Merton, journal of June 20, 1965.

"Being and doing become one, in our life, when our life and being themselves are a “martyrdom” for..."

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:44:01 -0500

“Being and doing become one, in our life, when our life and being themselves are a “martyrdom” for the truth.”

- Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island 142 (via aphotographicprotest)

"Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of..."

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:57:53 -0500

“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

"To be a Christian is to live dangerously, honestly, freely—to step in the name of love as if you may..."

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:35:31 -0500

“To be a Christian is to live dangerously, honestly, freely—to step in the name of love as if you may land on nothing, yet to keep stepping because the something that sustains you no empire can give you and no empire can take away.”

- Cornel West, Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism (via godthings).

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And..."

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:05:00 -0400

“

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

”

- Steve Jobs, 2005 Commencement Address at Stanford University (video)

"To love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our..."

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:46:06 -0400

“To love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.”

- Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving.

"There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient."

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:06:56 -0400

“There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient.”

- Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (via invisibleforeigner)

"Love is possible only if two persons communicate with each other from the center of their existence,..."

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 13:11:06 -0400

“Love is possible only if two persons communicate with each other from the center of their existence, hence if each one of them experiences himself from the center of his existence. Only in this ‘central experience’ is human reality, only here is aliveness, only here is the basis for love. Love, experienced thus, is a constant challenge; it is not a resting place, but a moving, growing, working together; even whether there is harmony or conflict, joy or sadness, is secondary to the fundamental fact that two people experience themselves from the essence of their existence, that they are one with each other by being one with themselves.”

- Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving.

"To love somebody is not just a strong feeling - it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise."

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:56:06 -0400

“To love somebody is not just a strong feeling - it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise.”

- Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving.

"Infantile love follows the principle: “I love because I am loved.” Mature love follows..."

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:56:05 -0400

“Infantile love follows the principle: “I love because I am loved.” Mature love follows the principle: “I am loved because I love.” Immature love says: “I love you because I need you.” Mature love says: “I need you because I love you””

- Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving.

"Psychology as a science has its limitations, and, as the logical consequence of theology is..."

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:21:05 -0400

“Psychology as a science has its limitations, and, as the logical consequence of theology is mysticism, so the ultimate consequence of psychology is love.”

- Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving.

"Love is active penetration of the other person, in which my desire to know is stilled by union. In..."

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:51:06 -0400

“Love is active penetration of the other person, in which my desire to know is stilled by union. In the act of fusion, I know you, I know myself, I know everybody - and I “know” nothing. I know in the only way knowledge of that which is alive is possible for man - by experience of union.”

- Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving

"If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus. If you want to know what it means to be human, look..."

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:08:32 -0400

“If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus. If you want to know what it means to be human, look at Jesus. If you want to know what love is, look at Jesus. If you want to know what grief is, look at Jesus. And go on looking until you’re not just a spectator, but you’re actually part of the drama which has him as the central character.”

- N.T. Wright (via firstbreath90)

"Not until a person has become so wretched that his only wish, his only consolation, is to die – not..."

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:01:06 -0400

“Not until a person has become so wretched that his only wish, his only consolation, is to die – not until then does Christianity truly begin.”

- Soren Kierkegaard.

"Imitation is not a requirement of the law, for then we would have the burden of law again. No,..."

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:01:05 -0400

“Imitation is not a requirement of the law, for then we would have the burden of law again. No, imitation begins with the joy over being loved – and then comes the striving to please. Christ comes to the world as the example, constantly enjoining: Imitate me. We humans prefer to adore him instead. Genuine faith is never satisfied with the religious way of doing things – Sabbath worship or an hour or a half-hour of each day. Christianity is nothing else but faith right in the middle of actual life and weekdays.”

- Soren Kierkegaard.

"Christianity’s history is one of alienation from God through the gradual strengthening of..."

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:05:06 -0400

“Christianity’s history is one of alienation from God through the gradual strengthening of appearance. Or it might be said Christianity’s history is one of the progressive removal of God – tactfully and politely by building churches and monumental buildings, by a monstrous doctrinal system, with an incalculable host of preachers and professors. Established Christianity is about as far away from God as one can possibly get.”

- Soren Kierkegaard.