Doubts
To the wise, doubts can be the best credentials of another’s heart; they are worth ten times the faith of most. For it is truth, and higher truth, such honest doubters are always seeking.
— George MacDonald, Wisdom to Live By, p. 145
Renewed Vitality
Faith is attractive. Far from having the joyless, resigned quality that we may fear from it, faith brings to the believer a renewed vitality, a sense of camaraderie and adventure. Seen through the eyes of faith, the world is a safe place. Life is a great unfolding adventure. Strangers are friends that we have not yet met. Optimism prevails. Seen through the eyes of faith, there is nothing to fear in this world. When challenges arise, we will have the inner strength to meet them. Walking through the valley of shadows, we will have the confidence in our God’s benevolent protection. We will not, perhaps, be shielded from all harm, but we will be given the wherewithal to meet any adversity.
— Julia Cameron, Faith and Will, p. 47
Another Look at Endings
The truth is that although endings always involve us in pain, whatever comes into our lives and transforms us is to be celebrated. We don’t curse the person who brings us a bouquet of flowers because a few days later the flowers wilt and we have to throw them away. We celebrate the gift and think it is appropriate to say, “Thank you.” We’re glad to have had a chance to enjoy the bouquet as long as it lasted….
Whenever a relationship is given to us, we need to be grateful and rejoice. Even when a relationship ends, we should celebrate the fact that something has been exchanged that has been of value to both people. When we come to the end of our journey together, we should acknowledge that we are being delivered to the next place in our lives much more safe or whole, more at ease, or more expanded and complete as persons than we were when we entered the relationship. The selves who made the union are in much better condition at its end, even though the suffering and confusion of the ending often make this difficult to see.
If we look only at the relationship, then we must grieve; but if we look at the individuals who loved one another, then we can celebrate. Along with saying that the relationship has ended — something is gone — we should tell ourselves that something wonderful has been accomplished. What we have at the end of a relationship is two transformed human beings, people who have changed so much that they are now ready for the next miraculous stage of their personal development.
— Daphne Rose Kingma, Coming Apart,, p. 54-55
Find Joy
If you find yourself on a roller coaster, turn it into the ride of your life.
— Melody Beattie, Journey to the Heart, p. 298
Strength
Strength does not come after one climbs the ladder or the mountain, nor after one “makes it” — whatever that “it” represents. Strengthening oneself is essential to the process of striving — especially before and during — as well as after. It is my belief that attention to and devotion to the nature of soul represents the quintessential strength.
— Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With the Wolves, p. 516
Complaint Against God
Complaint against God is far nearer to God than indifference about him.
— George MacDonald, Wisdom to Live By, p. 133
Beautiful Individuality
Who will I be if I seek only to do God’s will? Will I become homogenized, somehow diluted? A look at the natural world is reassuring here. Each flower — the crocus, the lotus, the delphinium, to name only a few — has its own unique essence. Roses, daffodils, daisies, peopnies, chrysanthemums — each has its individual beauty. Dogs, too, come in all shapes and sizes: Rottweilers, cocker spaniels, Rhodesian ridgebacks, Pomeranians, German shepherds, Irish setters, Jack Russell terriers, golden Labradors. The natural world, surrendered to God from the very beginning, is filled with diversity. Each creature is its own imprint, a unique manifestation of the glory of God. So, too, we are unique. That uniqueness does not diminish as we move toward God in surrender.
As we move toward God, our natural individuality becomes more vivid.
— Julia Cameron, Faith and Will, p. 44
Legalism
It is much easier to persuade men that God cares for certain observances, than that he cares for simple honesty and truth and gentleness and lovingkindness.
— George MacDonald, Wisdom to Live By, p. 130
Surrender
In order to find a silver lining, we must be willing to look for one. At the very least, we must be willing to recognize one when it appears. We must be willing to be comforted in order to be comforted. We must maintain an openness to spiritual realities. We must be teachable in order that we may be taught. It is for this reason that the great prayer is “Thy will be done.” The surrendering of our independent spirits to a higher good makes it possible to find a path through darkness. “Thy will be done, O Lord. Thy will be done.” This is the prayer of the dark night of the soul. This is the prayer of surrender.
— Julia Cameron, Faith and Will, p. 43
The First Knock
Doubts are the messengers of the Living One to rouse the honest heart. They are the first knock at our door of things that are not yet, but have to be, understood.
— George MacDonald, Wisdom to Live By, p. 125