Words I Live By

This is my 43rd year of journaling. In those journals I have a record of almost every day: what happened, what I learned, where I blew it, how God has poured one undeserved blessing after another into my life. In the course of journal-writing, I have accumulated thousands of quotes and insights from other writers and thinkers. When they have moved my heart, I have written them down. Often I skim the pages of my journals and retrieve the thoughts that once brought me inspiration or rebuke. To borrow the words of the cereal commercial, I have “tasted them again for the first time.”

Here are a few of those, in no particular order. These statements have helped realign my soul.

The prayer that John Stott has used to begin many of his mornings: “Good morning, heavenly Father; good morning Lord Jesus; good morning Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, I worship you as the creator and sustainer of the universe. Lord Jesus, I worship you, Savior and Lord of the world. Holy Spirit, I worship you, sanctifier of the people of God. Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more. Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you. Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me. Amen.”
Philo of Alexandria (first century, A.D.): “The grateful soul of a wise man is the true altar of God.”
Reinhold Niebuhr: “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope …. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”
Sir William Ousler: “The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head. Often the best part of your work will have nothing to do with potions and powders, but with the exercise of an influence of the strong upon the weak, of the righteous upon the wicked, of the wise upon the foolish. To you, as the trusted family counselor, the father will come with his anxieties, the mother with her hidden grief, the daughter with her trials, and the son with his follies. Fully one-third of the work you do will be entered in other books than yours.”
John Wesley: “Though I am always in a haste, I am never in a hurry, because I never undertake more work than I can go through with perfect calmness of spirit.”
An unknown worshipper in a Welsh church back in 1859: “[The pastor, having read some Scripture, made a few passing remarks thereon, (and) an influence was felt by all present, which we had never experienced in the like manner before. There was a beauty, a loveliness about the Holy Word which we had never hitherto perceived. New light seemed to be thrown upon it. It electrified us, and caused us to weep for joy. The feeling became general. All present were under its influence. The hardest hearts were forced to succumb … and then we sang, aye, sang with the spirit, and repeated the hymn again and again—we could not leave off. Every heart seemed inspired to continue, and the last two lines were sung for full a quarter of an hour.” (Note to myself: talk about repeating the ends of songs!)
Jim Collins: “Every institution, no matter how great, is vulnerable to decline. Anyone can fall, and most eventually do. But decline, it turns out, is largely self-inflicted, and the path to recovery lies largely within our own hands. We are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our history, or even our staggering defeats along the way. As long as we never get entirely knocked out of the game, hope always remains. The mighty can fall, but they can often rise again.
Jospeh Millner of Hull, 1789: It is an affecting consideration to reflect what a number of clergymen there are whose lives demonstrate them to be totally void of any religious sensibility whatever, with whom “to pray and to sermonize” is the same thing as to till the ground or to navigate the seas, a mere secular trade, and unconnected with any concern for their own salvation or that of the flocks committed to their charge.
Henri Nouwen: “How much longer will I live? …. Only one thing seems clear to me. Every day should be well-lived. What a simple truth! Still, it is worthy my attention. Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will be many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.”
Augustine: Our whole business in this life is to restore to health the eyes of the heart, whereby God may be seen.
Epictetus the Pagan: “What else can I, a lame old man, do but sing hymns to God? If, indeed, I were a nightingale, I would be singing as a nightingale; if a swan, as a swan. But, as it is, I am a rational being, therefore I must be singing hymns of praise to God. This is my task; I do it, and will not desert this post, as long as it may be given me to fill it; and I exhort you to join with me in this same song. (Discourses 1.16,21)

Bottom line observations about these quotes: