“The Psalms offer us a way of joining in a chorus of praise and prayer that has been going on for millennia and across all cultures. Not to try to inhabit them, while continuing to invent non-psalmic 'worship' based on our own feelings of the moment, risks being like a spoiled child who, taken to the summit of Table Mountain with the city and the ocean spread out before him, refuses to gaze at the view because he is playing with his Game Boy” WayTryingChildrenHas BeensMomentsFeelingsCultureGamesPrayerViewsCitiesBoysTakenRiskOffersMountainOceanWorshipPraiseTablesRefuseSpreadContinuingSummitJoiningSpoiledChorusPsalmsSpoiled ChildrenJoining In Author:N. T. Wright
“The airy sky has taken its place leaning against the wall. It is like a prayer to what is empty And what is empty turns its face to us and whispers: 'I am not empty, I am open'.” FacesTurnsPrayerTakenSkyWallEmptyEmptinessDetachmentNumbnessAiry Book:The Half-Finished Heaven: Selected Poems Source: The Half-Finished Heaven: Selected Poems
“In prayer we call ourselves 'worms of the dust', but it is only on a sort of tacit understanding that the remark shall not be taken at par.” UnderstandingPrayerTakenDustWormsRemarksTacit Book:Delphi Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated) Source: Delphi Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated)
“It goes beyond mere 'acknowledgment' of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context. In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.” MatterGovernmentPurposeIndividualLeftSidesReligiousPrayerTakenAtheismCitizensExerciseConscienceFunctionMerePositive AtheismInstanceSoleSecularAcknowledgment Author:Barbara Brandriff Crabb
“Zealous groups threaten to infringe civil liberties when they seek government support to impose their own religious views on nonadherents. This has taken many forms, including attempts to introduce organized prayer in public schools, to outlaw birth control and abortion, and to use public tax revenues to finance religious schools.” UseGovernmentSchoolFormReligiousPrayerViewsLibertySupportTakenGroupsAtheismBirthTaxesIncludingPositive AtheismFinanceOrganizedAbortionIntroducingRevenuePublic SchoolCivil LibertiesBirth ControlOutlawZealousReligious Views Author:Norman Dorsen
“What shall we do with...the Jews?...I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings...are to be taken from them.” WritingBookHumorReligiousPrayerTakenJewAdvise Author:Martin Luther
“It has taken countless hours of prayer, study, conversation and emotional turmoil to bring me to the place where I am finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the Church.” ChristianHoursChurchPrayerStudyTakenAcceptanceEmotionalReadyCoupleGayConversationTurmoilGay CouplesEmotional Turmoil Author:Tony Campolo