“Sometimes we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s length. Yet Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated and we experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people.” PeopleKnowsWantHumansKindSometimesRealityChristianSufferingJesusLordOur LivesArmsMiseryComplicatedFleshWoundsLengthMisfortunesTendernessShelterTemptedWant UNicheMaelstrom Book:The Joy of the Gospel Source: The Joy of the Gospel
“There is no security in a good disposition if the support of good principles--that is to say, of religion, of Christian faith--be wanting. It may be soured by misfortune, it may be corrupted by wealth, it may be blighted by neediness, it may lose all its original brightness, if destitute of that support.” IfsMayChristianLosesWealthPrinciplesSupportSecurityOriginalsMisfortunesDispositionBrightnessChristian FaithDestituteNeediness Book:The Doctor, &c Source: The Doctor, &c
“Events are never absolute, their outcome depends entirely upon the individual. Misfortune is a stepping stone for a genius, a piscina for a Christian, a treasure for a man of parts, and an abyss for a weakling.” MenChristianIndividualEventsDependsGeniusStonesAbsolutesTreasureCertaintyOutcomesMisfortunesAbyssStepping Stones Author:Honore de Balzac
“The arrogance of some Christians would close heaven to them if, to their misfortune, it existed.” IfsChristianHeavenArroganceMisfortunes Author:Simone de Beauvoir