We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.
Interpretation
Influencing others positively requires demonstrating love and goodness rather than criticizing their beliefs.
In this quote, Madeleine L'Engle emphasizes the importance of embodying qualities that inspire others rather than confronting them with negativity or criticism. By leading through example and showcasing the beauty and truth of one's own beliefs, one can draw others to explore and understand those beliefs more genuinely and willingly.
In practice
A speaker at a conference about spiritual growth might use this quote to encourage attendees to lead by example in their communities.
Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous.
George MacDonald gives me renewed strength during times of trouble--times when I have seen people tempted to deny God--when he says, "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.
If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.
I never want to lose the story-loving child within me, or the adolescent, or the young woman, or the middle-aged one, because all together they help me to be fully alive on this journey, and show me that I must be willing to go where it takes me, even through the valley of the shadow.
The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.
When we believe in the impossible, it becomes possible, and we can do all kinds of extraordinary things.
Do we really think that the United States will have the protection of innocent Afghans in mind if it rains terror down on the Afghan infrastructure? We are supposedly fighting them because they immorally killed innocent civilians. That made them evil. If we do the same, are we any less immoral?
We all have the same God, we just serve him differently. Rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, oceans all have different names, but they all contain water. So do religions have different names, and they all contain truth, expressed in different ways forms and times. It doesn't matter whether you're a Muslim, a Christian, or a Jew. When you believe in God, you should believe that all people are part of one family. If you love God, you can't love only some of his children.
When people have points of reference that are humanizing, that demystifies difference.
We do not despise all those who have vices, but we do despise those that have no virtue.
Peace is present when things form part of a whole greater than their sum, as the diverse minerals in the ground collect to become the tree.
It's hard for me to view Baltimore outside the context of what Baltimore has always been in my mind: a violent place.
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