The people who live best tie themselves down.
They don’t ask: What cool thing can I do next? They ask: What is my responsibility here?
They respond to some problem or get called out of themselves by a deep love.
By planting themselves in one neighborhood, one organization or one mission, they earn trust.
They have the freedom to make a lasting difference.
It’s the chains we choose that set us free.
David Brooks
Idolatry has two faults. It is not only a slur on the true God; it is also an insult to true things.
The heaviest weight on the shoulders of the earth is still the age-old idolatry by which man has cheated himself of both Creator and creation.
Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb
Man’s real work is to look at the things of the world and to love them for what they are. That is, after all, what God does, and man was not made in God’s image for nothing.
Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb
Location is accidental to its deepest meaning. What really matters is not where we are, but who - what real beings - are with us.
Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb
Interest in results never conquers boredom with process.
Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb
The graces of the world are the looks of a woman in love; without the woman they could not be there at all; but without her lover they would not quicken into loveliness.
Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb
Daily Practices for a Rule of Life
Morning prayers before 6am.
Meaningful conversation with someone by asking good questions.
Good meal where I sat down and savored the food.
Walk a mile with Amos (our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel).
Focused my attention for 2 hours on “deep work” to not put out fires at work all day.
I have found great benefit in creating a “habit tracker” for these 5 Daily Practices. They are listed in my journal along with the days of the week to create a simple chart where I mark an “X” to visually track my daily practice. Weeks I live into these rhythms regularly are noticeably different than weeks I live “out of sync”.
Jared Ray Mackey
The false self is the tragic result of trying to steal something from God that we didn’t have to steal. Had we dared to trust God’s goodness, we would have discovered that everything we could ever most deeply long for would be ours in God.
David Benner, The Gift of Being Yourself
The story mostly follows the same formula: here’s why we started this company, here’s why it's working and here’s why it could be a hundred times bigger.
Mathilde Collin
I was so obsessed
with what was going on
inside the whale
that I missed
seeing the drama
inside Jonah.
Thomas John Carlisle
You, Jonah!
Wither shall I flee
From Thy presence?
present no problem
when one ignores
who owns
the sea
and the sky.
Thomas John Carlisle
You, Jonah!