...the only thing that makes the Church endurable is that it is somehow the body of Christ and that on this we are fed. It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it but if you believe in the divinity of Christ, you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the complex relationship with faith and the Church, highlighting the necessity of both suffering and belief.
Flannery O'Connor's quote addresses the dual nature of the Church experience, suggesting that it can be both a source of nourishment and challenge. The inherent struggles within religious communities are part of the experience of faith, where believers must accept both the divine and the imperfections of organized religion. Ultimately, this quote emphasizes that true belief requires an appreciation for the world, despite its difficulties, as faith is tested through both suffering and spiritual sustenance.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the challenges of faith, this quote can illustrate the duality of the Church experience.
Let me make no bones about it: I write from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. Nothing is more repulsive to me than the idea of myself setting up a little universe of my own choosing and propounding a little immoralistic message. I write with a solid belief in all the Christian dogmas.
What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.
If you live today, you breath in nihilism ... it's the gas you breathe. If I hadn't had the Church to fight it with or to tell me the necessity of fighting it, I would be the stinkingest logical positivist you ever saw right now.
There won't be any biographies of me because, for only one reason, lives spent between the house and the chicken yard do not make exciting copy.
Knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are
He loved her because it was his nature to do so, but there were times when he could not endure her love for him. There were times when it became nothing but pure idiot mystery.
I think that the present is worth attention, one shouldn't sacrifice it to future conceptions of, of this future or that future.
The trouble with conspiracies, even those that are to everybody's advantage in the long run, is that they are open to abuse. If manipulators really had the powers claimed, they could win the lottery every week. I prefer to point out that they could also win a Nobel Prize for discovering fundamental physical forces hitherto unknown to science.
It's an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco. It must be a delightful city and possess all the attractions of the next world
It is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction.
Morality and values depend on the existence of conscious minds - and specifically on the fact that such minds can experience various forms of well-being and suffering in this universe.
She was without any power, because she was without any desire of command over herself.
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