Respect for Silence

“There are times when, out of respect for silence, even good words are not spoken.”
-Benedict of Nursia

Perfection

“We show ourselves to be more perfect by aspiring to a still higher perfection.”
-Bernard of Clairvaux

"Come Back!"

“When the Word departs, the soul can only blurt out its one unrelenting desire: ‘Come back!’”
-Bernard of Clairvaux

My Favorite St. Francis Quote

“Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”
-Francis of Assisi

Union with God

“Contemplation is a mystical union that cannot be described.”
-Gregory Palamas

The Virtue of Mercy

“The virtue of mercy means giving aid to all in need and approaching offenders with compassion.”
-Gregory Palamas

True Purity

“It is repentance that made us clean, compassion that made us ready and true desire for God that made us worthy.”
-Julian of Norwich

Hospitality to All

“The brothers should be careful not to make any place their own or argue about it, whether it be a hermitage or any other place. And whoever comes to them, whether friend or foe, thief or robber, they should receive with kindness.”
-Francis of Assisi

Look Into Their Eyes

“There should never be a brother, anywhere in the world, who sins and then, having looked into your eyes, goes away without receiving mercy, if mercy is what he seeks.”
-Francis of Assisi

Walking on Water

“There are two ways to live: You can walk on dry land with utter legitimacy and respectability, measuring, weighting and planning ahead. Or you can walk on the waters, and then it becomes impossible to measure or plan ahead because the only thing necessary is to believe at every moment. An instant of doubt, and you start to sink.”
-Maria Skobtsova

Other-worldliness

“The more we go out into the world and give ourselves to the world, the less we are of the world, because what is of the world does not give itself to the world.”
-Maria Skobtsova

"There Is But One Law"

“Our relationship to other people should not be a sort of extra burden added to our own crosses, not some pious exercise or duty or act of virtue. There is just one law here. Only this determines our relationship: seeing the image of God in the other and then adopting him as a son. This is where duty, virtue, and pious exercise all fade away.”
-Maria Skobtsova

"Shut Out Everything But God"

Little man, come and turn aside for a while from your daily work, escape for a moment from your turbulent thinking. Put aside your weighty cares, let your burdensome distractions wait, free yourself a while for God and rest for a time in Him. Enter the recesses of your soul, shut out everything but God and what can help you seek Him. Then, when you have closed the door, seek Him. Now, my whole heart, say to God, “I seek your face, Lord it is your face that I seek.”
-Anselm

The Never Ending Cycle

Never cease being generous. As soon as you run out of stuff to give, God will grant you more than you distribute yourself. Then you will have to have others assist you in giving. In that way, you are saving not only yourself, but all who assist you, gaining nothing for themselves.

Hoover or Bonneville?

Damn this world and the boxes they put people in!

Damn its judgments and stereotypes!

And damn us if we give into them.

Positive Rebellion

Be subversive for the good. Question the unquestionable. Every time someone says “You can’t do that,” think to yourself, “why not?” Every time you find yourself fitting into the stream, ask yourself, “Is this where justice is?” And when you find everyone saying good things about you, find out what’s wrong with you.

Good and Bad Leadership

Be very picky about the leaders that you follow. Make sure they aren’t greedy, hypocritical, irrational, boastful, judgmental, or rash.

The best leader is the one who knows human hearts but who has mercy on other people anyway; the one who brings out the best in the worst people; the one who lives out what they say and so benefits other people; the one who brings peace with them in the midst of quarrels; the one who uses his or her own anger for building.

The Limitation of God

Never doubt that God could do anything through prayer. The only limitation God has is the righteous one who says, “Well, God can’t do THAT.”

Not Judging The Criminal

Never judge by appearances. The rowdiest, cussingest, disgustingest person could also be the one with the kindest heart. And God can redeem even the meanest, hardest-hearted SOB.

Churches are Disqualified

God’s spirit never abides in any organization, only in the humble individual.

Endurance

Keep doing good, no matter what the consequence, and you will eventually change the world.

Saints are Lonely

The one who does good to everyone will eventually fail and do evil. At this point, everyone they helped will turn away from them and they will only have God who forgives everyone who cries out to Him. For this reason, in the end, God is the only friend of the righteous.

"We Got Another Ton of Food Today..."

The one who gives all their wealth to the poor obtains from God even greater wealth so that he can continue to give to the poor.

More stuff means more giving and more giving means more stuff which means more giving. This is a good problem. Yeah, "good", sure. But tiring.

Better To Give Than Receive

The truly humble person never seeks anything for themselves—but God will make sure that they gain all they need and more.

Slow Suicide

How rare is the person who is truly concerned about the well-being of everyone! And how exhausted they must be! It is truly a form of suicide—but one that God will reward with life.

Who Am I? And How Many of Me Are There?

Every person is fundamentally schizophrenic—of two or more minds. Rare is the person who is so clear-minded to know who they really are in all of their aspects. To know oneself is to know through which lenses one sees the world.

Think on These Things...

What a man thinks, he does. What he does, he is. Character is ultimately based on thought. Thus, what creates our thought creates us.

Surrender

The best person is the one who sacrifices themselves at God’s command. The worst person is the one who claims to speak for God but spouts their own opinions and seeks harm. Religion is both the greatest boon and the worst deception.

Mean People Suck-- Even When It's Me

No matter how evil someone else is, it is no excuse for you to act in an evil way yourself. We will not be judged based on what someone else does, but only on our own actions. Only the actions we do for the benefit of others—including God—will be considered good.

"All You Need Is Love"... Yeah, right

“Humane”, “right”, and “loving” are all in the eye of the beholder. It’s easy to say “Love, love, love” as a world principle. It’s harder for everyone to agree what love is. It’s better just to trust what God says about these things and leave the arguments behind.

Gossip

Gossip is the hidden destructive force of society—they are the bombs on a besieged city. Relationships are torn, contracts broken, commitments neglected, communities eaten up from within, all because of a negative word wrongly placed. Never say a negative thing about another unless it is to build that person up.

Could You Help Get This Beam Out Of My Eye?

Always give everyone the benefit of the doubt. If someone seems to have done something evil, but you don’t have proof, don’t assume— either check it out, or let it go.

I'm Not Prejudiced! Well, Except for...

Everyone has prejudices, everyone makes judgments of people. This means that we need to be more conscious of our judgments, and make determinations based on truth and not on impressions.

According to Meyers-Briggs, I'm Like This...

Most people don’t understand themselves any better than we understand ourselves. So often it is better to observe people than to ask what they are like.

"Sure I Understand You... I Think..."

Constantly work on communication and social connections. Our social abilities are never something we can just take for granted. One day a communication technique will work and the next day it won’t. So always ask how people want to be communicated to. But believe how they react better than what they say.

Why Won't You Trust Me?

Trust is something that is earned, not given. If trust is broken, it must be earned again to the proportion of each break. We do not earn trust by doing nice things. We earn trust by proving faithfulness in related areas. The one who proves faithful in an insignificant matter is the one who will be trusted in a more significant matter.

Mother Teresa on Leadership

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." - Mother Teresa