Religion is a very scary thing, because a pastor is in a position of power. And if you use that power badly, you ruin people's lives, and you ruin your own life.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
The Spirit works through community. Somebody will have a stupid, screwy idea. That's okay. The point of having creeds and confessions and traditions is to keep us in touch with the obvious errors.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Community is essential for holistic development, and diversity of thought is valuable.
Eugene H. Peterson emphasizes the idea that the Spirit operates effectively within a community. He highlights that varied perspectives, even those that may seem foolish, contribute to a collective understanding. The rituals and structures of a community serve as guidance to help individuals discern and recognize errors, fostering an environment of growth and learning through collaboration and mutual respect.
Themes
CommunitySpiritDiversityIdeasCollaboration
In practice
Example use cases
During a community meeting, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of all ideas being valued.
More from Eugene H. Peterson
All quotes βWhen we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn't go off and leave us- he enters into our trouble and saves us.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
If you don't take a Sabbath, something is wrong. You're doing too much, you're being too much in charge. You've got to quit, one day a week, and just watch what God is doing when you're not doing anything.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Exile (being where we don't want to be with people we don't want to be with) forces a decision: Will I focus my attention on what is wrong with the world and feel sorry for myself? Or will I focus my energies on how I can live at my best in this place I find myself?...'I will do my best with what is here.'
Eugene H. PetersonRead
The Latin words humus, soil/earth, and homo, human being, have a common derivation, from which we also get our word 'humble.' This is the Genesis origin of who we are: dust - dust that the Lord God used to make us a human being. If we cultivate a lively sense of our origin and nurture a sense of continuity with it, who knows, we may also acquire humility.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
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The evening news made her wonder if God was dead; the morning sun made her believe He wasn't.
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I am learning to see. I don't know why it is, but everything enters me more deeply and doesn't stop where it once used to. I have an interior that I never knew of... What's the use of telling someone that I am changing? If I'm changing, I am no longer who I was; and if I am something else, it's obvious that I have no acquaintances. And I can't possibly write to strangers.
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Sentimentality - that's what we call the sentiment we don't share.
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Renunciation mind has nothing to do with sacrificing. When we talk about renunciation, somwhow we get all scared because we think that we have to give up some goodies, somehing valuable, some important things. But there is nothing that is important; there is nothing that is solidly exisiting. All that you are give up is actually a vague identity . You realize thigs is not true; it's noe the ultimate. This how and why to develop renunciation
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Land. If you understand nothing else about the history of Indians in North America, you need to understand that the question that really matters is the question of land.
Thomas KingRead
I think that slavery is wrong, morally, socially and politically. I desire that it should be no further spread in these United States, and I should not object if it should gradually terminate in the whole Union.
Abraham LincolnRead