In the school of the Spirit, man learns wisdom through humility, knowledge by forgetting, how to speak by silence, how to live by dying.”
Johannes Tauler (c.1300-1361)
Direction
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him
And He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Me, my, mine…
Father, I want to know You, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part from them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from You the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that You may enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shall You make the place of Your feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for You Yourself will be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
A prayer by A.W. Tozer, from The Pursuit of God
Budding & blooming
Happy birthday and thank you, A.W.
It is not what a man does that determines wether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act. All he does is good and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For such a man, living will be a priestly ministration. As he performs his never-so-simple task, he will hear the voice of the seraphim saying "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isaiah. 6:3)
A.W. Tozer - The Pursuit of God (with thanks to N.K.)
In His love
To know the Cross is not merely to know our own sufferings. For the Cross is the sign of salvation, and no man is saved in his own sufferings. To know the Cross is to know that we are saved by the sufferings of Christ; more, it is to know the love of Christ who underwent suffering and death in order to save us. It is, then, to know Christ. For to know His love is not merely to know the story of His love, but to experience in our spirit that we are loved by Him, and that in His love the Father manifests His own love for us, through His spirit poured forth in our hearts.
Thomas Merton – No Man is an Island
As it ever was
Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
Galatians 4:16
Love allows the will to see
“The will is an active force; it is not naturally an organ of perception. In order for it to be able to perceive it should not – it must not – become passive, for then it would fall asleep or fade away, because its very nature is activity, and in ceasing to be active it would cease to be will; no, it should change centre of gravitation, ie transform “my will” into “thy will”.
It is the inner act of love alone that can accomplish the change of centre that the will uses or around which it gravitates. Instead of gravitating around the centre “me”, it can orientate itself around the centre “you”. This transformation, effected by love, is what one calls obedience.
Now, it is through obedience that the will is able to perceive. What it is able to perceive or be infused with is revelation from above, which inspires, directs and strengthens.”
Valentin Tomberg, Letter XII, Meditations on the Tarot.
Winter walks in the old land
The cross is ready and waiting
"God wants you to experience tribulations without comfort so you can fully surrender yourself to Him, and grow more humble through suffering. Those who suffer like Christ will feel in their hearts the passion of Christ. The Cross stands ready and waiting for you everywhere. You can't escape from it, wherever you go you take yourself with you and always find yourself. Look upwards or downwards, inwards or outwards and you will find the Cross everywhere. So, if you wish to attain inner peace and win the eternal crown, you must be patient in all things." - Thomas á Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
Being a walking question mark 