posted November 24, 2009 01:21 AM         

We are forgiven when we confess,
not because we ever deserved to be judged,
but, because it is then that we affirm, or reaffirm,
our submission to the tutelage of God;
and the very first lesson He would have us learn,
is the lesson of forgiveness.

Mercy is God's justice;
for whosoever is unfit to receive
(and so reflect) God's love will,
secretly or openly, desire His judgement,
and weep to find himself forgiven.

Where God cannot lead you,
the devil can whip you.

Led by God, or forced by Satan,
we all make the same journey.

All strive.
But only those who strive
for what is holy, succeed.
Strive as to succeed.

Whatever is not a revelation of God's love,
is a distraction from it.

Peace is not the absence,
but the fruit, of struggle.

All year long we curse this tree,
only to bless it when the harvest comes.

As difficult as it is to be disciplined by another,
it is a thousand times harder to discipline oneself.

Who does not regret the lightest transgression,
cannot truly repent of even the heaviest sin.

We would never forget to put on our clothes, but somehow we forget to "put on" the armor of Christ, and we go into the world spiritually naked; subject to the chill of every temptation, and vulnerable to spiritual disease. We spend time every day trying to appear beautiful or handsome to others, but we don't prepare our souls to reflect the true comeliness of God. Who would deny that we are fallen?

Goodness is (also) a feeling.

"It is not I", said the saint,
"but only the company I've kept,
and the books I've read, which
have brought me any grace."

How easy it is, to read,
and reflect on the beauty of,
the holiest thoughts.
And, again, how easy it is
to forget them.

The zeal of the convert:
Only those who have been outside a nation,
may know what it is to enter into it;
only those who have been without a thing,
may make the decision to have it;
and only those who have not been told,
may learn, for themselves, to believe.

posted November 24, 2009 09:01 AM         

quote:

---

Only those who have been outside a nation,
may know what it is to enter into it;
only those who have been without a thing,
may make the decision to have it;
and only those who have not been told,
may learn, for themselves, to believe.

---

Absolutely!

Why learn and not choose to believe?

posted November 24, 2009 01:46 PM         

"Choose" is good, but I like the idea
that faith is something we learn --
or learn the value of; not because
we were taught to believe, but because
there is intrinsic sense in believing.

But, then, I'm writing about a
very specific form of belief here.

And, just so there's no confusion:
I'm writing for a specific type of
spiritual aspirant; I'm not saying
that the only valuable thing, or
the only "right" choice, is faith,
or that only faith makes sense.