It’s not that there is never a mistake or an evil motivation, but that there is something else as well. Forgiveness is the door to experiencing that something else.
Forgiveness doesn’t excuse behavior; it looks past it to a greater truth.
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 18
We need to make the choice to be happy in a particular situation, just as it is, and at a given moment. It might not be a perfect moment, but it is ours; we are breathing; we are alive. We choose our happiness incrementally, moment by moment, hour by hour. Now.
— Alexandra Stoddard, Choosing Happiness: Keys to a Joyful Life, p. 1
I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that person could be me.
— Anna Quindlen, quoted in This Is Not the Life I Ordered, by Deborah Collins Stephens, Jackie Speier, Michealene Cristini Risley, and Jan Yanehiro
If there is anything that I hope you have learned from me is that God does speak to His children personally.
— Charlyne Steinkamp, Charlyne Cares, December 11, 2007
Remember to ask Jesus to stand between you and your spouse, and to say only things you would say to Jesus and to listen to everything through the heart of Jesus. When I have felt discouraged, thinking all this was unfair, I often hear Jesus from the cross saying, “And me, what have I done to deserve this?” Bear your cross with humility, patience, and confidence in the Lord.
— testimonial in Your Father Knows Best, compiled by Bob and Charlyne Steinkamp, p. 71
In the Love yourself step, recognize the core value of the person who offended you. He/she is far more complicated, complex, and humane than whatever he or she did to you. Appreciating the complexity of other people reinforces your own value….
Feel compassion, not for the behavior, but for the hurt.
— Steven Stosny, You Don’t Have to Take It Anymore, p. 206
Books are for use.
Every book its reader.
Every reader his book.
Save the time of the reader.
The library is a growing organism.
— Quoted by Michael Gorman in Our Singular Strengths: Meditations for Librarians
The heart expands not by taking more in, but by giving more away.
We can be generous people because we have been given generous gifts.
We’re greedy because we think there’s a limited supply.
There is an unlimited supply of the things our hearts really long for.
Live with expanding hearts.
— Pastor Ed Allen, December 2, 2007
Here I am moving from point A to point B to point C — in a fog. I turn to God and say, “How do I get to point D?” But God gently replies, “Take my hand and I will lead you out of the fog.” Then I get stubborn and say, “You didn’t answer my question!”
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 10
God speaks to us in a thousand voices, each with the same clear message: “I love you. Please trust me on this one.”
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 7