” If you set out to seek freedom,
then learn above all things to
govern your soul and your senses,
for the fear that your passions
and longing may lead you away from
the path you should follow. Chaste
be your mind and your body, and both
in subjection, obediently, steadfastly
seeking the aim set before them; only
through discipline may a man learn to
be free.”
Dietrich Bonheoffer (1906-1945)
When a Roman soldier was told by his guide
that if he insisted on taking a certain journey
it would probably be fatal, he answered,
” It is necessary for me to go; it is not
necessary for me to live.”
This was depth. When we are convicted something
like that we shall come to something. The shallow
nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its
intuitions, its instincts, and very largely its
surroundings. The profound character looks beyond
all these, and moves steadily on, sailing past all
storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is
always on the other side, and waiting for the
afterwards which always brings the reversion of
sorrow, seeming defeat and failure. When God has
deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths.
His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts.
Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save
me from a shallow experience.
unknown
“…the hidden life
whose days are spent
in communion with God
in trying to reach
the source of power
is the life that moves
the world.
when we depend upon organizations,
we get what organizations can do,
when we depend upon education,
we get what education can do;
when we depend upon man,
we get what man can do;
but when we depend upon prayer,
we get what God can do…!”
A.C. Dixon (1854-1925)
,
Your Father is training you for a part the angels cannot sing,
and His conservatory is the school of sorrows. Others have said
that He sends sorrows to test you, yet this is not the case.
He sends sorrow to educate you, thereby providing you with the proper training for His heavenly choir. In the darkest night He is composing your song. In the valley He is tuning your voice. In the storm clouds He is deepening your range. In the rain showers He is sweetening your melody.
In the cold He is giving your notes expression. And as you pass at times from hope to fear, He is perfecting the message of your lyrics. O dear soul, do not despise your school of sorrow. It is bestowing on you a unique part in the heavenly song. George Matheson (1842-1906)
