"A character is like an acrostic or Alexandrian stanza: read it forward, backward or across, it still spells the same thing. In this pleasing contrite life in the woods which God allows me, let me record day by day my honest thought without prospect or retrospect, and, I can not doubt, it will be found symmetrical, though I mean it not and see it not. My book should smell of pines and resound with the hum of insects. The swallow over my window should interweave that thread or straw he carries in his bill into my web also. Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment."

Elbert Hubbard.

It's a sobering thought, and one that should keep us always seeking to improve ourselves, because our children will surely be influenced far more by our character than our words.

Photo by Wojciech Grzanka

People Watch

"Sorry this is not about enjoy smoking but he enjoy every life being a poor farmer."
Comments by the photographer Rarindra Prakarsa.

Gracious Christians

A gracious Christian is like gold. Now cast gold into the fire, or into the water; cast it upon the dunghill, or into the kennel; cast it among the poor, or among the rich; among the religious, or among the superstitious, yet still it is gold, still it retains its purity and excellency. So cast a gracious Christian, who is the only golden Christian in the world, into what condition you will, and into what company you will, yet still he will retain his purity, his innocence.
Lapidaries tell us of the Chelydonian stone that it will retain its virtue and luster only as long as it is enclosed in gold: a fit emblem for a hypocrite, who is only good while he is enclosed in golden prosperity, safety, and happiness. An unsound Christian, like green timber, shrinks when the sun of persecution shines hot upon him.
Unsound hearts, they will be righteous among the righteous, and licentious among the licentious. They will be as the company is amongst which they are cast. With the good they will be good, and with the bad they will be bad; with the zealous they will be zealous; and with the superstitious they will be superstitious; and with the lukewarm they will be lukewarm. They are like the chameleon, ready to change their hue with every one they converse with; or they are like actors in plays, that will play any part; they are as fit for one society as another; such as acting princely parts, wear royal apparel, keep state, and demean themselves gravely and soberly, so long as they are in public view upon stage, but they pass presently into another habit, and retain neither their princely behavior nor apparel, but are most beggarly, base, and debauched, either in private among themselves, or among their companions like themselves.”

Thomas Brooks - Photo by Franz Sauer

Luxuries

When it comes to what are called luxuries, the very rich have undoubtedly an advantage over other people, if one can imagine the possession and use of a luxury to be in any sense and advantage. Thus, the very rich can procure for themselves all sorts of rare and delicious foods and drinks. They can have fruits and vegetables out of season, and fish and game brought from afar. They can drink the finest champagne, or claret, or Rhine wine, or cordial, without ever considering the cost. Indeed, they may prefer a costly drink, and enjoy it more, just for the reason that it is costly.
These pleasures of the palate the man of moderate means can only enjoy in brief seasons or at long intervals. It may be doubted, however, whether the very rich man gets any more pleasure from his palate and his organs of smell in the course of a year than the man who is compelled to follow the change of the season in the selection of his foods and drinks. Strawberries in January are not so good as strawberries in June, and strawberries for two months of the year, changing to raspberries, currants, blueberries, and blackberries, may give more gratification on the whole than strawberries for six months of the year.

The very rich man can order from some florist a profusion of flowers for all the rooms in his house through the entire season. These beautiful objects will adorn the very rich man’s rooms the year around, and their fragrance will penetrate every part of his house. He and his family will enjoy them; but it is doubtful whether he will get so much pleasure out of all this hired decoration as the owner of one little garden and one little glass box window will get out of his few beds, pots and vases filled with only seasonable blooms, all of which he has worked over and cared for himself. At any rate it is a different kind of pleasure, and not so keen and inexhaustible. Money indeed can buy these beautiful objects, but money cannot buy the capacity to enjoy them. That capacity may or may not go with the possession of money.

George Eliot -Photo by rinaldo romani

"That obedience that springs from faith is the obedience of a son, not of a slave;it is a free, voluntary, obedience, and not a legal, servile, and forced obedience: Ps. 106:3, 'Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness;' Also in Ps. 27:8, 'When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.' Now, no sooner had God given forth a word of command for the psalmist to seek him, and to seek his favor, but presently his heart did echo to that command: 'Thy face, Lord, will I seek.' Every gracious soul hath the duplicate of God's law in his heart, and is willingly cast into the mould of his word: Romans 6:17, 'Ye have obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine that hath been delivered to you'. They did not only obey, but they obeyed from the heart, their hearts were in their obedience: Ps. 40:8, 'I delight to do thy will, O my God! yea, thy law is within my heart,' these note the tenderest of affections. Oh! but now a true child of God, he has the law of God written, not only in his understanding, but also in his heart and affections, Ezek.36:25-27; and this is that which makes his obedience to be pleasing and delightful to him; so that if he might be free from the injunctions and directions of the word, like with the servant in the law, he would not value such a liberty, Exod. 21:4-6.

There is a principle within him agreeable to the precept without him, which makes all religious performances to be easy and pleasurable to him. Look, as the eye delights in seeing, and the ear in hearing, so a gracious heart (except when it is under a cloud of desertion, or in the school of temptation, or under some grievous tormenting afflictions, or sadly worsted by some prevalent corruption) delights in obeying. Actions of nature, you know, are actions of delight; and so are all those actions that spring from a new nature, a divine nature."

One thing I like about the Puritan writings is they are so practical; note how as he reveals the heart of devotion, he does not fail to include the realities of seasons of distress, temptation, afflictions, etc. I have found this to be lacking in the pulpits where I have attended. The lack of it can make those in the midst of a season of discouragement feel even worse.

Thomas Brooks - Photo of willing service by Gaby Gobou.

I heard on the radio the other day, a story about some men talking about the type of translation of the Bible that each liked. The first said he liked the King James Version; it was poetic, the highest English and easy to memorize. The second said he liked the New American Standard for its accuracy of translation to the original text. The third liked the NIV, and how it is read with such ease and captures the Biblical thought so well. Then an older man said, 'he liked his grandmothers translation'. The others asked which one it was. He simply said, 'her translation of it into life.'

Photo by Lars Gunnar Svard

"It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated critical hour."

Henry David Thoreau - photo by rinaldo romani

"The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night............ Morning is when I am awake and there is a dawn in me." Henry David Thoreau.

I like this thought; and I have always loved the morning hours, but till I read this piece I have been unable to define my emotions. I think this captures it as nearly as words can. The morning is when my senses are alive, both physically and spiritually. The Bible speaks clearer in morning light than at any other time of the day. If I were to write a letter or poem, the words come in the morning hours that somehow hide from me at other times.

Photo by Indranil Kar

"That silence is one of the great arts of conversation is allowed by Cicero himself, who says there is not only an art, but an eloquence in it." Hannah More.

I love this picture because it captures the fondness and enjoyment of friendships. Developing this kind of friendship is difficult for most of us and often our Christian faith unnecessarily divides, instead of bonds us to others. I think we all need to feel appreciated and approved of in order to open up and take the risks that friendship demands. As Christians, although we should have the fragrance of Christ's love and acceptance, we can often be judgmental and appear as though we have all the answers. The pride of man will not be drawn to that, be it stranger or family member. If our agenda is to teach them, correct them, or come across as we have the answers to their life, I doubt we will be embraced and any true ministry will be subverted. "Honor all men", is good advice in approaching others.

Photo by Mehmet Akin

"It is only a poor sort of happiness that could ever come by caring very much about our own narrow pleasures. We can only have the highest happiness, such as goes along with being a great man, by having wide thoughts, and much feeling for the rest of the world as well as ourselves; and this sort of happiness often brings so much pain with it, that we can only tell it from pain by its being what we would choose before everything else, because our souls see it is good."

George Eliot - Photo by Corbis Bettmann

"Be sure to maintain a secret trade with God.

You know many men come to be very rich in the world by a secret trade. Take it, friends, as an experienced truth, there is no such way under heaven, to be rich in spirituals, as by driving of a secret trade heaven-wards. It is true, it is good for men to attend upon this and that public administration; for in all divine administrations God shews his beauty and glory. Ay, but such that delight to be more upon the public stage than in the closet, will never be rich in spirituals. They may grow rich in notions, but they will never grow rich in gracious experiences. Ps. 63:2,3; 27:4; 84:10 Oh! God loves to see a poor Christian shut his closet door, and then to open his bosom, and pour out his soul before him. God hath very choice discoveries for souls that drive a secret trade; the best wine, the best dainties and delicates are for such. And I never knew any man or woman in my life, that was richer in grace, than those that were much in closet communion with God. Oh! let God hear often of you in secret. Christ is much delighted and taken with secret prayer; Song of Solomon 2:14, 'O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs,' that art got into a hole, 'let me hear thy voice, let me see thy countenance; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is lovely.' Secret meals are very fattening, and secret duties are very soul-enriching. Christians! set more close to this work, and if you don't thrive by it, trust me no more."

Thomas Brooks - photo by Jose A. Gallego

"How wonderful is the human voice! It is indeed the organ of the soul! The intellect of man sits enthroned visibly on his forehead and in his eye; and the heart of man is written on his countenance. But the soul reveals itself in the voice only, as God revealed himself to the prophet of old, in "the still, small voice," and in a voice from the burning bush. The soul of man is audible, not visible. A sound alone betrays the flowing of the eternal fountain, invisible to man!

Longfellow - photo from Internet

"The only way in which one human being can properly attempt to influence another is the encouraging him to think for himself, instead of endeavoring to instil ready-made opinions into his head." Sir Leslie Stephen

Photo Marian Cano

When I first ran across this picture and studied it, I began to ask myself, 'who am I in this photo?' I started by considering worship; then just enthusiasm in general; then rearing children and the uproar it can cause; then I couldn't help but apply it to the legalist in religion.

The two prominent girls, with hands reaching out, are fully engaged in what ever it is that is going on. The balance of the spectators are each taking a different posture. I should be more like the two reaching girls, less like the woman in the rear.

Photo by Tomasz Pluciennik

Virtue and genuine graces in themselves speak what no words can utter." Shakespeare.

"All the performances of human art, at which we look with praise or wonder, are instances of the resistless force of perseverance; it is by this that the quarry becomes a pyramid, and that distant countries are united with canals. If a man was to compare the effect of a single stroke of the pick-ax, or of one impression of the spade with the general design and last result, he would be overwhelmed by the sense of their disproportion; yet those petty operations, incessantly continued, in time surmount the greatest difficulties and mountains are levelled, and oceans bounded, by the slender force of human beings." -- Johnson

Photo by Damir Sencar

There are two kinds of people on the earth today,

Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.

Not the rich and the poor, for to counts a man's wealth,

You must first know the state of his conscience and health.

Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span

Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years

Brings each man his laughter and each man his tears.

No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,

Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.

Wherever you go, you will find the world's masses

Are always divided in just these two classes.

And oddly enough, you will find, too, I wean,

There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load

Of over taxed lifters who toil down the road?

Or are you a leaner, who lets others bear

Your portion of labor and worry and care? Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Lifting the veil of ignorance statue at Tuskegee College.

"A race like an individual, lifts itself up by lifting others up." - Booker T. Washington

"First, That though many weak gracious souls do not enjoy communion with God in joy and delight, yet they do enjoy communion with God in sorrow and tears.

Hos. 12:4 : Isa 38:3; Ps. 51:17 A man may have communion with God in a heart-humbling, a heart-melting, and a heart-abasing way, when he hath not communion with God in a heart-reviving, a heart-cheering, and a heart-comforting way. It is a very great mistake among many weak, tender-spirited Christians, to think that they have no communion with God in duties, except they meet with God embracing and kissing, cheering and comforting up their souls. And oh that all Christians would remember this once for all, viz. that a Christian may have as real communion with God in a heart-humbling way, as he can have in a heart-comforting way, John 20:11-19 A Christian may have as choice communion with God when his eyes are full of tears, as he can have when his heart is full of joy."

Thomas Brooks - Photo by Emrach Icten

Whether much faith or little faith, it is saving faith.

"Some Christians are apt to judge of themselves, and to try themselves, by such rules or evidences as are competent only to those that are strong men in Christ, and that have grown to a high pitch of grace, of holiness, of communion with God, of spiritual enjoyments and heavenly attainments, and sweet and blessed ravishments of soul; and by hearing of these, they come to doubt the work of the blessed Spirit in them, and to perplex and disquiet their own souls with needless fears, doubts, and jealousies......

So, when considering the evidences to try and determine our spiritual and eternal estates, there are two rules for ever to be minded and remembered; and the first is this, That he that propounds evidences of grace, which are only proper for eminent Christians, and presents them as though they should belong to all true Christians, he will certainly grieve and sadden those precious lambs of Christ whom should not be grieved or saddened.

Look, as there is strong faith and a weak faith, so there are evidences that are proper to a strong faith and evidences that are proper to a weak faith. Now, he that cannot find in himself the evidences of a strong faith, he must not conclude that he has no faith; for he may have in him the evidences of a weak faith, which with time will grow. In Christ's school, house and church, there are several sorts and ranks of Christians, such as babes, children, young men, and old men; and accordingly ministers, in their preaching and writing, should sort their evidences so that babes and children may not be found bleeding, grieving, and weeping, when they should be found joying and rejoicing." Thomas Brooks

When I was a young Christian I was commonly disheartened by older Christians that made me doubt as if God had really done a work of grace in me, when compared to their "holy" conversations. It seemed as though it were almost a competition. When, with a little care and caution, they could have been great encouragement, and instead left me "bleeding, grieving, and weeping."

Photo by Nour Eddine El Ghoumari

In reading Kay Warren’s book on Dangerous Surrender, she explains the title by saying that when we venture to be involved with people in great need we are opening ourselves up to be gloriously ruined and seriously disturbed. She illustrates that where she describes her emotional state after seeing first hand the extreme poverty, disease and also the suffering of orphans who lost their parents to AIDS in Africa.---

“I wanted nothing more than to fall on the ground and scream and sob – wailing to God on this little girls behalf. All I could see was a future without the guiding love and support of the parents who had brought her into the world. Where was the daddy who would be her protector? Where was the father who would swing her into the air and listen for her squeals of delight? Where was the daddy who would stand proudly at her wedding, giving her in marriage? Where was the mommy who would cuddle her in the night and sing her back to sleep when she had a bad dream? Where was the mommy who would teach her how to be a woman? I barely contained my sobs until I got back to our van, where I cried and cried. My friend and colleague Elizabeth and I clung to each other in terrible grief. Being seriously disturbed was becoming a way of life.”

After leaving Africa and coming home to the US she explains a little more about being “gloriously ruined.”

“Everything looked different; everyone seemed strange. I looked at my possessions differently. Suddenly a full refrigerator was an insult. The crowded grocery store shelves were excessive. The displays of fashion at the mall were trivial. Television was disgusting and moronic. Politics made me sick. Church was superficial. I was a mess.
Elizabeth wrote me an email shortly after we got back from Malawi and South Africa. In it she told me, “Thanks a lot! I’m ruined --- gloriously ruined.” I nodded with sudden understanding. “That’s it – that describes what has happened to me.” I was ruined for life as I had known it before, but gloriously ruined! Life will always hold a “Before AIDS” and an “After AIDS” classification for me now. I’m simply not the person I used to be, although who I was before wasn’t a bad person. But I’ve been shaped by these new experiences, and I will never be the same. Moreover, I don’t want to be the same. I can’t have seen what I’ve seen, met the people I’ve met, experienced what I’ve experienced, only to turn away and return to life as usual. I now look at life through a different set of lenses.”

I think there are many applications to the words of Jesus where he says,
”Blessed are those that suffer for my names sake.” Surely the persecuted Christians are among those, martyrs, of course, defenders of the faith against opposition as well, but for many of us in the US, we will not suffer in those ways, but we will in the way that Kay Warren suffers. Choosing to sacrifice ourselves, our money and our time for the suffering in the world. Mourning over the suffering, and choosing to sacrifice for the good of those without, is a practical application for us.
Sara Groves song “I Saw What I Saw” is all about being gloriously ruined.

Photo by Peter Velter

"We look before and after,

And pine for what is not,

E'en our sincerest laughter

With some pain is fraught;

Our sweetest songs are those which tell

of saddest thought."

Shelly - photo by Piotr Kowalik