The earth has grown old with its burden of care, But at Christmas it always is young.
Phillips BrooksRead
We never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. You must undertake something so great that you cannot accomplish it unaided.
Interpretation
True spirituality requires action and effort beyond mere desire.
Phillips Brooks emphasizes that simply wishing for spiritual growth is insufficient; one must engage in substantial endeavors that challenge their abilities and require assistance from others. This notion asserts that spiritual development is a journey that involves active participation and collaboration, rather than passive contemplation.
In practice
This quote can be used to inspire participants in a spiritual retreat.
The earth has grown old with its burden of care, But at Christmas it always is young.
The truest help we can render an afflicted man is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best energy, that he may be able to bear the burden.
To believe in the God over us and around us and not in the God within us - that would be a powerless and fruitless faith.
To say, 'well done' to any bit of good work is to take hold of the powers which have made the effort and strengthen them beyond our knowledge.
Think of life as a voyage. The truest liver of the truest life is like a voyager who, as he sails, is not indifferent to all the beauty of the sea around him.
It is almost as presumptuous to think you can do nothing as to think you can do everything.
In our world, where hundreds of things distract us from God, we have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him.
Allow the light and the healing presence of Christ to shine brightly through your lives. In that way, all those who come in contact with you will discover the loving kindness of God.
There is a loneliness more precious than life. There is a freedom more precious than the world. Infinitely more precious than life and the world is that moment when one is alone with God.
We need silence to be alone with God, to speak to him, to listen to him, to ponder his words deep in our hearts. We need to be alone with God in silence to be renewed and transformed. Silence gives us a new outlook on life. In it we are filled with the energy of God himself that makes us do all things with joy.
The blessing hands of Christ are like a roof that protects us. But at the same time, they are a gesture of opening up, tearing the world open so that heaven my enter in, may become "present" within it.
The sky is my prayer, the birds are my prayer, the wind in the trees is my prayer, for God is all in all.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.