CQOD: 04/28/06 -- Hammarskjöld: light shows our darkness

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 28, 2006

Commemoration of Peter Chanel, Religious, Missionary in the South Pacific, Martyr, 1841

Meditation:
    And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
    -- Genesis 4:9 (KJV)

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Quotation:
    We can reach the point where it becomes possible for us to recognize and understand Original Sin, that dark counter-center of evil in our nature—that is to say, though it is not our nature, it is of it—that something within us which rejoices when disaster befalls the very cause we are trying to serve, or misfortune overtakes even those we love. Life in God is not an escape from this, but a way to gain full insight concerning it. It is not our depravity which forces a fictitious religious explanation upon us, but the experience of religious reality which forces the “Night Side” out into the light. It is when we stand in the righteous all-seeing light of love that we can dare to look at, admit, and consciously suffer under this something in us which wills disaster, misfortune, defeat to everything outside the sphere of our narrowest self interest.
    ... Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Markings [1964]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Too easily, Lord, I excuse my own sin.

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CQOD: 04/27/06 -- Rossetti: Love is strong as death

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 27, 2006

Feast of Christina Rossetti, Poet, 1894

Meditation:
    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
    He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
    -- Psalm 23:1-3 (KJV)

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Quotation:
    “I have not sought Thee, I have not found Thee,
        I have not thirsted for Thee:
    And now cold billows of death surround me,
    Buffeting billows of death astound me,
        Wilt Thou look upon, wilt Thou see
        Thy perishing me?”

    “Yea, I have sought thee, yea, I have found thee,
        Yea, I have thirsted for thee,
    Yea, long ago with love’s bands I bound thee:
    Now the Everlasting Arms surround thee,
        Through death’s darkness I look and see
        And clasp thee to Me.”
    ... Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, without You, my case is hopeless; with You, I am safe.

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CQOD: 04/26/06 -- Joad: the only good explanation

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 26, 2006Meditation:
    And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
    -- Genesis 3:2-6 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    To take the fact of evil seriously is to take the fact of morality seriously.... I am unable to see how the fact of the moral consciousness, and, in particular, the fact of the opposition between “is” and “ought,” between desire and duty, can be explained in terms of purely natural causation... [They] can be explained only on the assumption that, in addition to the natural, there is also a non-natural order of the universe which is immanent in and on occasion intrudes actively into the natural.
    ... C. E. M. Joad (1891-1953), The Recovery of Belief [1952]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I too have eaten the forbidden fruit and know evil within myself.

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CQOD: 04/25/06 -- Patmore: all that God can give

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 25, 2006

Feast of Mark the Evangelist

Meditation:
    Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
    -- John 15:13 (KJV)

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Quotation:
    To love another as oneself is only the halfway house to Heaven, though it seems as far as it was prudent to bid man go. The “greater love than this” of which our Lord speaks, though He does not command it, is to give oneself for one’s friends. And when one does this, or is ready to do this, prayer even for “us” seems too selfish—and it is unnecessary, for we then possess all that God Himself can give us. The easy renunciation of self for the Beloved becomes the very breath of life.
    ... Coventry Patmore (1823-1896)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I might know the reality of sacrifice for the Body.

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CQOD: 04/24/06 -- Brunner: utopianism vs. hope

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 24, 2006

Commemoration of Mellitus, First Bishop of London, 624

Meditation:
    But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you...
    -- 1 Peter 3:14-15 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Utopias of historical progress cannot seduce those who believe in Christ. Utopias are the straws to which those cling who have no real hope; utopias are as unattractive as they are incredible, for those who know what real hope is. Utopias are not a consequence of true hope but a poor substitute for it and therefore a hindrance and not a help. The hope that is in Jesus Christ is different from all utopias of universal progress. It is based on the revelation of the crucified one. It is, therefore, not an uncertain speculation about the future but a certainty based upon what God has already revealed. One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without knowing for certain that God’s victory over all powers of destruction, including death, is the end towards which the time process moves as its own end.
    ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Scandal of Christianity [1951]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I partake in Your victory.

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CQOD: 04/23/06 -- Underhill: partaking of Christ's nature

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 23, 2006

Feast of George, Martyr, Patron of England, c.304
Commemoration of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1988

Meditation:
    So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
    -- Matthew 10:26-27 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    The Christian’s life is lived in the open, not in a pious cubby-hole. As Christ gives Himself to feed us, so we have to incarnate something of His all-loving, all-sacrificing soul. If we do not, then we have not really received Him. That is the plain truth. It has been said that there are many ways and degrees of receiving the Blessed Sacrament. It really depends on how wide we open our hearts. A spiritually selfish communion is not a communion at all.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Light of Christ [1944]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I live to know and follow Your example.

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CQOD: 04/22/06 -- Lubbock: goodness and pleasure

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 22, 2006Meditation:
    Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
    -- Philippians 4:4 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Many worthy people, and many good books, with no doubt the best intentions, ... have represented a life of sin as a life of pleasure; they have pictured virtue as self-sacrifice, austerity as religion. Even in everyday life we meet with worthy people who seem to think that whatever is pleasant must be wrong, that the true spirit of religion is crabbed, sour, and gloomy; that the bright, sunny, radiant nature which surrounds us is an evil and not a blessing,—a temptation devised by the Spirit of Evil and not one of the greatest delights showered on us in such profusion by the Author of all Good.
    ... Sir John Lubbock (1834-1913), The Use of Life [1894]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Grant me a joyful heart, Lord, to give thanks for all the good things You give in life.

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CQOD: 04/21/06 -- Anselm: from grace to holiness

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 21, 2006

Feast of Anselm, Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1109

Meditation:
    And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
    -- Luke 11:9-10 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and seeking find Thee; and so finding Thee may love Thee; and loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed us.
    ... St. Anselm (1033-1109)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I found You, seeking me.

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CQOD: 04/20/06 -- Troutman: why we can pray

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 20, 2006Meditation:
    For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
    -- Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    The criterion for our intercessory prayer is not our earnestness, nor our faithfulness, nor even our faith in God, but simply God Himself. He has taken the initiative from the beginning, and has built our prayers into the structure of the universe. He then asks us to present these requests to Him that He may show His gracious hand.
    ... Charles H. Troutman (1914-1990)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank you for being the Answer to prayer.

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CQOD: 04/19/06 -- Fénelon: seeing faults

Christian Quotation of the Day

April 19, 2006

Commemoration of Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1012

Meditation:
    Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.
    -- Luke 6:41-42 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    So long as we are full of self, we are shocked at the faults of others. Let us think often of our own sin, and we shall be lenient to the sins of others.
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I tremble to ask this, but show me my hypocrisy.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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