A Temple of Remembrance

"Let my body dwell in poverty, and my hands be as the hands of the toiler, but let my soul be as a temple of remembrance where the treasures of knowledge enter and the inner sanctuary is hope." -George Eliot

"For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" (Jesus in Matthew 5:46)

Earthen Vessel

"Though we are new creatures in Christ, we still live in the framework of ordinary human lives." Heavenly treasure in earthen vessels...

He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust -Psalm 103:14

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens -2 Corinthians 5:1

Christ is to dwell within and find His expression not through my subjugation and disappearance--but through my redeemed humanity. In me there is an incorruptible weight of glory.. that is housed in a temporal creation... a seed in a pot, which will eventually be transplanted to its home in the restored Eden.

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing -2 Corinthians 2:15

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us -2 Corinthians 4:7

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies -Romans 8:22-23

A Higher and Better War

"I know how much you grieve over those who are under your care: those you try to help and fail, those you cannot help. Have faith in God and remember that He will in His own way and in His own time complete what we so poorly attempt. Often we do not achieve for others the good that we intend but achieve something, something that goes on from our effort. Good is an overflow. Where we generously and sincerely intend it, we are engaged in a work of creation which may be mysterious even to ourselves--and because it is mysterious we may be afraid of it. But this should not make us draw back. God can always show us, if we will, a higher and better war; and we can only learn to love by loving. Remember that all our failures are ultimately failures in love. Imperfect love must not be condemned and rejected but made perfect. The way is always forward, never back." -Iris Murdoch (The Bell)