“I think people are tired of religion and how it divides and damages people. You can name it whatever you want, Islam or Christianity, but if you have a system in which God is distant and angry all the time, and you're trying to please him through the right disciplines, it isn't going to work for everyone.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantTryingNamesChristianityDisciplinePleaseAngryTiredIslamDamageDividesGoing To Work Author:William P. Young
“I think one of the greatest losses to humanity was the domination of women. I think every religious system has found ways to be kind to them in a kind of subordinate way. Very patronizing, very colonial. But if you start looking at the fabric of society, even religious systems, they would fall apart if it wasn't for the embedded ability of the women who are involved.” IfsThinkingWayKindHumanityFallFoundWomenReligiousLossAbilityInvolvedBe KindFabricDominationFalling ApartSubordinatesEmbeddedPatronizing Author:William P. Young
“We've created a theology in the West of a God who is fundamentally self-centered. The imagery of God as distant, unapproachable, unreachable -- that's not a God who is relational. It is a God that gets to declare or judge when he gets pissed off. But there is no basis for love and relationships if God is a fundamentally self-centered being.” IfsSelfJudgingBasesWestTheologyImagerySelf CenteredPissed OffLove And RelationshipUnreachable Author:William P. Young
“You have to take the time to prepare the soil if you want to embrace the seed.” IfsWantEmbraceSeedsSoil Author:William P. Young
“I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day.” IfsWantGivingAblePiecesGive MeShackShack Book Author:William P. Young
“Perhaps there is supranatural: reason beyond the normal definitions of fact or data-based logic; something that only makes sense if you can see a bigger picture of reality. Maybe that is where faith fits in.” IfsReasonFactsRealityFitNormalLogicBiggerDefinitionsDataMake SenseBigger PictureShack Book Author:William P. Young
“...if anything matters then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will be the same again.” IfsWorldHeartImportantMatterPurposeUniverseKindnessForgivingAccomplishedReach OutUnseenShackShack Book Author:William P. Young
“You do understand," she continued, "that unless I had an object to love -- or, more accurately, a someone to love -- if I did not have such a relationship within myself, then I would not be capable of love at all? You would have a god who could not love. Or maybe worse, you would have a god who, when he chose, could love only as a limitation of his nature.” IfsObjectsCapableLimitation Author:William P. Young
“Mack was getting frustrated. He spoke louder, 'But, don't I have a right to...' To complete a sentence without being interrupted? Not in reality. But as long as you think you do, you will surely get ticked off when someone cuts you off, even if it is God.” IfsThinkingLongRealityCuttingSentencesSpokesFrustratedInterruptedMack Author:William P. Young
“Jesus picked up the conversation. "As the crowning glory of creation, you were made in Our image, unencumbered by structure and free to simply 'be' in relationship with Me and one another. If you had trully learned to regard one another's concerns as significant as your own, there would be no need for hierarchy.” IfsNeedsMadeWould BeJesusCreationConversationGloryConcernRegardStructureSignificantHierarchyCrowning Glory Author:William P. Young
“If you and I are friends, there is an expectancy that exists within our relationship. When we see each other or are apart, there is an expectancy of being together, of laughing and talking. The expectancy has no concrete definition; it is alive and dynamic and everything that emerges from our being together is a unique gift shared by no one else.” IfsTogetherTalkingLaughingAliveUniqueDefinitionsConcreteOur RelationshipExpectancyBeing TogetherUnique Gifts Author:William P. Young
“"Pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly"... "And if left unresolved you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place."” IfsWayFirstsAblePainLeftForgetWingsShackShack Book Author:William P. Young
“You... were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around... Living unloved is like clipping a bird's wing and removing its ability to fly... A bird is not defined by being grounded but by his ability to fly. Remember this, humans are defined not by their limitations, but by the intentions I have for them; not by what they seem to be, but by everything it means to be created in my image. Love is NOT the limitation; love is the flying. I AM love.” IfsWayHumansMeanSeemsRememberAbilityLove IsBirdWingsIntentionFlyingDefinedLimitationGroundedUnlovedShackImages Of Love Author:William P. Young
“Forgiveness is first for you, the forgiver...to release you from something that will eat you alive; that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly. Do you think this man cares about the pain and torment you have gone through? If anything, he feeds on that knowledge. Don't you want to cut that off? And in doing so, you'll release him from a burden that he carries whether he knows it or not--acknowledges it or not.” IfsThinkingKnowsMenWantFirstsCarePainJoyAbilityGoneCuttingAliveBurdenReleaseAcknowledgeCarrieTormentAbility To Love Author:William P. Young
“If a rainbow makes a sound, or a flower as it grows, that was the sound of her laughter.” IfsGrowsSoundLaughingFlowerLaughterRainbow Author:William P. Young
“Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions. Most emotions are responses to perception - what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too. So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms - what you believe. Just because you believe something firmly doesn't make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe.” IfsThinkingBelieveGivenEmotionSituationEmotionalWillingPerceptionResponseChecksParadigmTruthfulnessEmotional Response Author:William P. Young
“The world in many ways would be a much calmer and gentler place if women ruled. There would have been fewer children sacrificed to the gods of greed and power.” IfsWorldWayChildrenHas BeensWould BeGreedFewerCalmer Author:William P. Young
“It is so easy to get sucked into the if-only game, and playing it is a short and slippery slide into despair.” IfsGamesEasyDespairSlidesEasy To GetSlippery Author:William P. Young
“Most birds were created to fly. Being grounded for them is a limitation within their ability to fly, not the other way around. You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around. Living unloved is like clipping a bird’s wings and removing its ability to fly. Not something I want for you. Pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly. And if left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place.” IfsWayWantFirstsLongHandsAblePainLeftAbilityForgetBirdWingsLimitationGroundedUnlovedShackShack Book Author:William P. Young
“I am a verb. I am that I amNouns exist because there is a created universe and physical reality, but if the universe is only a mass of nouns, it is dead. Unless 'I am', there are no verbs, and verbs are what makes the universe alive” IfsRealityUniverseAliveMassVerbsNouns Author:William P. Young
