Reading today in a little book entitled THE ESSENTIAL WISDOM OF THE SAINTS. i have read it before, but was not particularly impressed by the contents--i mean there was no DEEP spirituality manifested by the quotes, and i was rather blasé about the whole experience.
However, i grabbed it because of its small size and portability and started re-reading it today. WOW!-i missed a bunch of stuff the first time around! i went nuts with my highlighter this time as opposed to very few marks the first time around. Perhaps Lent has gotten me focused finally, and it seemed that almost every quote has some kind of application to "my condition", as the Quakers would say.
FOR EXAMPLE:
"Many appear full of mildness and sweetness as long as everything goes their own way; but the moment any contradiction or adversity arises, they are in a flame, and begin to rage like a burning mountain Such people as these are like re-hot coals hidden under ashes. This is not the mildness which Our Lord undertook to teach us in order to make us like unto Himself."
How well this describes me! i often "pride" myself on how much progress i have made in overcoming my anger and self-centeredness. But the reality is, as in the above quote, i am not in situations where i don't get my way or are not contradicted. The minute these situations occur, i revert immediately to the "same-old/same-old." LORD HAVE MERCY!
However, i grabbed it because of its small size and portability and started re-reading it today. WOW!-i missed a bunch of stuff the first time around! i went nuts with my highlighter this time as opposed to very few marks the first time around. Perhaps Lent has gotten me focused finally, and it seemed that almost every quote has some kind of application to "my condition", as the Quakers would say.
FOR EXAMPLE:
"Many appear full of mildness and sweetness as long as everything goes their own way; but the moment any contradiction or adversity arises, they are in a flame, and begin to rage like a burning mountain Such people as these are like re-hot coals hidden under ashes. This is not the mildness which Our Lord undertook to teach us in order to make us like unto Himself."
--Saint Bernard
How well this describes me! i often "pride" myself on how much progress i have made in overcoming my anger and self-centeredness. But the reality is, as in the above quote, i am not in situations where i don't get my way or are not contradicted. The minute these situations occur, i revert immediately to the "same-old/same-old." LORD HAVE MERCY!