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Frederick Buechner

Frederick Buechner Quotes

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Famous Frederick Buechner Quotes

“In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. You are aware of the beating of your heart. The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.”

HeartMayMomentsHappensNamesSoundSilenceBreathsExtraordinaryThat MomentDuskAdventExtraordinary ThingsMatchedExtraordinary MomentsMidwinter
Author:Frederick Buechner
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“God knows we have our own demons to be cast out, our own uncleanness to be cleansed. Neurotic anxiety happens to be my own particular demon, a floating sense of doom that has ruined many of what could have been, should have been, the happiest days of my life, and more than a few times in my life I have been raised from such ruins, which is another way of saying that more than a few times in my life I have been raised from death - death of the spirit anyway, death of the heart - by the healing power that Jesus calls us both to heal with and to be healed by.”

KnowsWayShouldHeartHas BeensHappensSpiritJesusMy OwnHealingParticularAnxietyShould HaveRaisedCastsHealRuinsDemonRuinedFloatingAnother WayCould Have BeenDoomGod KnowsHealedNeuroticShould Have Been
Author:Frederick Buechner
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“At least to look back over their own lives, as I have looked back over mine, for certain themes and patterns and signals that are so easy to miss when you're caught up in the process of living them. If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think he speaks to us largely through what happens to us, so listen to what has happened to you-for the sound, above all else, of his voice.”

IfsThinkingLooksHappensCertainSpeakEasyProcessSoundVoiceChurchHappenedMissingMinesPatternsCaughtOfficialsThemeCaught UpSignals
Author:Frederick Buechner
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“What gets me back to church, I think, is thinking maybe this time that question "Is it true?" will be answered, not just in terms of somebody saying, "Yes, it's true," but something will happen in a sermon or maybe shuffling up to the Eucharist, or in the old lady who's sitting beside me with a Bible - maybe something will happen which will show me that it's true. So I go back thinking, maybe this time I'll be lucky.”

ThinkingShowsHappensTermChurchLuckySittingShow MeSermonsEucharistOld LadySaying YesShuffling
Author:Frederick Buechner
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“The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”

IfsWorldLifeMeanHas BeensMightHappensAbleBeautifulUniversePartyGraceLove YouTerribleSeparationReach OutGrace Of GodTerrible ThingsWithout You
Author:Frederick Buechner
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“. . some moment happens in your life that you say yes right up to the roots of your hair, that makes it worth having been born just to have happen. laughing with somebody till the tears run down your cheeks. waking up to the first snow. being in bed with somebody you love... whether you thank god for such a moment or thank your lucky stars, it is a moment that is trying to open up your whole life. If you turn your back on such a moment and hurry along to business as usual, it may lose you the ball game. if you throw your arms around such a moment and hug it like crazy, it may save your soul.”

IfsTryingFirstsMaySoulWholeMomentsHappensRunningTurnsGamesStarsBornLosesLaughingCrazyTearsHairArmsLuckyBedRootsBallsWake UpWhole LifeSnowYour SoulWakingThank GodUsualCheeksHugBall GamesFirst SnowLucky Star
Book:Wishful thinking: a theological ABC.
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“When a child is born, a father is born. A mother is born, too of course, but at least for her it's a gradual process. Body and soul, she has nine months to get used to what's happening. She becomes what's happening. But for even the best-prepared father, it happens all at once. On the other side of a plate-glass window, a nurse is holding up something roughly the size of a loaf of bread for him to see for the first time.”

FirstsChildrenSoulBodyHappensUsedMotherCoursesFatherProcessSidesBornMonthsDadHappeningsDaughterFirst TimeWindowPreparedGlassesSizeNineBreadNursePlatesNine MonthsFather Child
Book:Whistling in the dark: an ABC theologized
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“Being a good steward of your pain. . . . It involves being alive to your life. It involves taking the risk of being open, of reaching out, of keeping in touch with the pain as well as the joy of what happens because at no time more than at a painful time do we live out of the depths of who we are instead of out of the shallows.”

WellsHappensPainJoyAliveRiskDepthPainfulWho We AreReachingReach OutStewardsPainful Times
Book:The Clown in the Belfry: Writings on Faith and Fiction
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