On faith

Sunday, January 25, 2026
    Feast of the Conversion of Paul
Meditation:
    People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
    
    —Mark 10:13-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Faith is sometimes equated with credulity, but it can be so equated only when the profound mistake is made of thinking of faith as primarily a matter of intellectual assent. As the New Testament uses the word, faith is trust, acceptance, commitment, vision. It is not a belief in this or that creed, it is a quality which lies rather in the realm of intuition than the intellect. Faith has indeed an element of true simplicity; it is one of the qualities—perhaps the fundamental quality—of the child-like spirit without which no man can enter the Kingdom of God.
    ... Anonymous, attributed to Charles Wesley
    See also Mark 10:13-16; Matt. 18:3; Luke 18:17; Job 19:25-26; Heb. 11:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, find the child in me, that I may believe. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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de Sales: devotion to our calling

Saturday, January 24, 2026
    Feast of François de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher, 1622
Meditation:
    For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
    —Romans 12:4-8 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Our business is to love what God would have [us do]. He wills our vocation as it is: let us love that, and not trifle away our time in hankering after other people’s vocation.
    ... François de Sales (1567-1622), A Selection from the Spiritual Letters of St. Francis de Sales [1622], New York: E. P. Dutton, 1876, p. 56 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 4:1,4-6; 2 Thess. 1:11; 2 Pet. 1:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me peace about my calling, and teach me to trust you in the calling of others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brooks: Christian faith not yet tried

Friday, January 23, 2026
    Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893
Meditation:
    Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.
    —Romans 8:5-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No man dares to condemn the Christian faith today, because the Christian faith has not been tried. Not until men get rid of the thought that it is a poor machine, an expedient for saving them from suffering and pain; not until they get the grand idea of it as the great power of God present in and through the lives of men, not until then does Christianity enter upon its true trial...
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Addresses, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895, p. 23 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:5-9; Matt. 5:14-16; John 3:19-21; 14:6,27; Gal. 5:22-23; 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You know our faults, yet you give us Your shining light for the world to see. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Underhill: view from the summit

Thursday, January 22, 2026
Meditation:
Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
    —Psalm 90:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This, of course, is what religion is about: this adherence to God, this confident dependence on that which is unchanging. This is the more abundant life, which in its own particular language and own particular way, it calls us to live. Because it is our part in the one life in the whole universe of spirits, our share in the great drive towards Reality, the tendency of all life to seek God, Who made it for Himself, and now incites and guides it, we are already adapted to it, just as a fish is adapted to live in the sea. This view of our situation fills us with a certain awed and humble gladness. It delivers us from all niggling fuss about ourselves, prevents us from feeling self-important about our own little spiritual adventures; and yet makes them worth while as part of one great spiritual adventure.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Spiritual Life, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1937, reprinted, Morehouse Publishing, 1985, p. 22-23 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 90:2; John 10:10; Jas. 1:17; 1 John 4:1; Rev. 1:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your grace has made us part of Your eternal plan. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Edwards: unity

Wednesday, January 21, 2026
    Feast of Agnes, Child Martyr at Rome, 304
Meditation:
    Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
    —2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Paul] Tillich can show us that the unity which we seek as Christians must involve our denominations in changes even greater than those which many of us now expect. His insistence on taking seriously the gropings of all men for the truth about their lives must be allowed to remind the ecumenical movement that the word oikoumene is Greek not for “the Church” but for “the whole inhabited world.” The ecumenical movement is more than Christian patriarchs kissing. Christian unity means the unity of mankind in finding and obeying God. Tillich can teach us that the Church must not shut its door to celebrate a family reunion while a single child of God remains outside.
    ... David L. Edwards (1929-2018), “A New Stirring in English Christianity”, in The Honest to God Debate, David L. Edwards, ed., London, SCM Press, 1963, p. 35-36 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 13:11; Gen. 11:7-9; Ps. 133; Isa. 6:3; Matt. 23:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we await the day when all Your people are gathered. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: the Incarnation incredible?

Tuesday, January 20, 2026
    Commemoration of Richard Rolle of Hampole, Writer, Hermit, Mystic, 1349
Meditation:
    And looking upon Jesus as he walked, [John] saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
    —John 1:36 (AV)
Quotation:
    If the [Incarnation] happened, it was the central event in the history of the Earth—the very thing that the whole story has been about. Since it happened only once, it is by Hume’s standards infinitely improbable. But then, the whole history of the Earth has also happened only once: is it therefore incredible? Hence the difficulty, which weighs upon Christian and atheist alike, of estimating the probability of the Incarnation. It is like asking whether the existence of nature herself is intrinsically probable. That is why it is easier to argue, on historical grounds, that the Incarnation actually occurred than to show, on philosophical grounds, the probability of its occurrence.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Miracles, New York: Macmillan, 1947, p. 174 (see the book)
    See also John 1:36; Mark 9:24; Luke 17:5-6; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 2:8-10; Heb. 12:2; 1 John 4:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have spoken; therefore, it is true. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brooks: pass it on

Monday, January 19, 2026
    Commemoration of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 1095
Meditation:
    Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
    —Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
Quotation:
    I do not believe any man ever yet genuinely, humbly, thoroughly gave himself to Christ without some other finding Christ through him.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1878, p. 16-17 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:16; Acts 2:46-47; 9:40-42; 1 Cor. 9:20-22; 10:32; Heb. 10:24;
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have always led me. May I be useful in Your work in others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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