“I know that the Bible is a special kind of book, but I find it as seductive as any other. If I am not careful, I can begin to mistake the words on the page for the realities they describe. I can begin to love the dried ink marks on the page more than I love the encounters that gave rise to them.” IfsKnowsKindI CanBookRealityMistakeSpecialPagesMarkCarefulEncountersInkSeductive Book:Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith Source: Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
“With all the conceptual truths in the universe at His disposal [Jesus] did not give them something to think about together when He was gone. Instead, He gave them concrete things to do - specific ways of being together in their bodies - that would go on teaching them what they needed to know when He was no longer around to teach them Himself ... "Do this" He said - not believe this but do this - "in remembrance of me.” ThinkingKnowsWayGivingBelieveSaidBodyTogetherUniverseJesusTeachGoneTeachingGoes OnNeededThings To DoConcreteRemembranceBeing Together Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“I went to the little church in the country after ten years in the city. And part of my dream was to sit on people's front porches with glasses of iced tea, and all that happened. I was able to send birthday cards to everyone in the parish and able to know everyone who was there on Sunday by name. And that was what I'd been looking for.” PeopleKnowsYearsLittlesCountryDreamAbleNamesChurchCitiesHappenedFrontsTenGlassesCardsTeaSundayPorchParishBirthday CardFront PorchesIced Tea Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“The tradition piece is so embedded in me I don't know that I can see it any more, but the community piece is one I've been in danger of losing.” KnowsI CanCommunityPiecesDangerLosingTraditionEmbedded Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“To be in the mainline is to have a history and not simply to be an amalgam, a community church of who knows what that came from who knows where.” KnowsCommunityChurch Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“The value for me being in a mainline tradition is history and memory, which is not just Christian tradition but denominational tradition, and characters, you know, with real distinct flavors of ways to be Christian.” KnowsWayRealCharacterChristianValuesMemoriesTraditionFlavorHistory And Memory Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“If churches saw their mission in the same way, there is no telling what might happen. What if people were invited to come tell what they already know of God instead of to learn what they are supposed to believe? What if they were blessed for what they are doing in the world instead of chastened for not doing more at church? What if church felt more like a way station than a destination? What if the church’s job were to move people out the door instead of trying to keep them in, by convincing them that God needed them more in the world than in the church?” PeopleIfsKnowsWorldWayTryingBelieveMightHappensJobsMovingFeltChurchSawsDoorsNeededBlessedMissionsWhat IfDestinationStationsInvitedConvincing Book:Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith Source: Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
“Salvation is a word for the divine spaciousness that comes to human beings in all the tight places where their lives are at risk, regardless of how they got there or whether they know God's name. Sometimes it comes as an extended human hand and sometimes as a bolt from the blue, but either way it opens a door in what looked for all the world like a wall. This is the way of life, and God alone knows how it works.” KnowsWorldWayHumansSometimesHandsNamesHuman BeingsKnow HowRiskDoorsDivineWallBlueSalvationKnowing GodBoltsHuman HandsSpaciousness Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and who are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God's will from their own. Temple police are always a bad sign. When chaplains start wearing guns and hanging out at the sheriff's office, watch out. Someone is about to have no king but Caesar” IfsKnowsMindUseLawOrderJesusForceWatchesAtheismKingsOfficeGunClaimsPolicePreparedGods WillTemplesHanging OutAnarchyConformLaw And OrderSheriffsChaplains Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“Prayer is happening, and it is not necessarily something that I am doing. God is happening, and I am lucky enough to know that I am in The Midst.” KnowsEnoughPrayerLuckyHappeningsMidst Book:An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith Source: An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith
“It does seem to me that at least some of us have made an idol of exhaustion. The only time we know we have done enough is when we are running on empty and when the ones we love most are the ones we see the least.” KnowsDoeMadeDoneEnoughSeemsRunningEmptyIdolsOnly TimeExhaustion Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“We are born seekers, calling strange names into the darkness from our earliest days because we know we are not meant to be alone, and because we know that we await someone whom we cannot always see.” KnowsNamesBornDarknessStrangeCallingMeant To BeSeekersMeant To Be Alone Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
