cool quotes

[freespirit2001]

"The true contemplative is not the one who prepares his mind for a particular message that he wants or expects to hear, but who remains empty because he knows that he can never expect or anticipate the word that will transform his darkness into light."

---Thomas Merton

 

[freespirit2001]

"Even the blind can see that economic development means the murder of thousands of people---that big business rules through the power of the lying spirit, and that governments wage war by means of deception. A capitalistic society can be maintained only by lies; if people were to recognize this, there would be a total revolt against the greatest deception in the history of mankind. But we are a long way from revolting. Most pious and even many working people think, "Rich and poor have to be." They ignore the fact that it is impossible to amass any kind of fortune without cheating, without depriving and hurting others and destroying their lives. They fail to realize that big business, concentrated in a few hands, can steer hundreds of thousands toward certain ruin through unemployment."

---Eberhard Arnold

 

[freespirit2001]

"Let us look at the past 10 years. What land and sea did not witness warfare? What region was not soaked in Christian blood? The cruelty of Christians surpasses that of pagans and beasts. We must look for peace by purging the very sources of war---false ambitions and evil desires. As long as individuals serve their own personal self-interests the common good will suffer. Let them examine the self-evident fact that this world is the fatherland of the entire human race."

---Erasmus

 

[freespirit2001]

"Skeptical scrutiny is the means in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense."

---Carl Sagan

 

[freespirit2001]

"We will always be mired in error. The most each generation can hope for is to reduce the error bars a little, and to add to the body of knowledge to which error bars apply. The error bar is a pervasive, visible self-assessment of the reliability of our knowledge. You can often see error bars in public opinion polls...Imagine a society in which every speech in the Congressional Record, every television commercial, every sermon had an accompanying error bar or its equivalent."

---Carl Sagan

 

[freespirit2001]

"You should never have your best trousers on when you turn out to fight for freedom and truth."

Henrik Ibsen, "An Enemy of the People"

 

[2Timothy2]

Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, “My beloved did eat and drink, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked.” Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world.

- Clement, from his epistle to the Corithians

 

[prettyrose436]

Eowyn- "...I do not fear either pain or death."
Aragorn- "What do you fear, lady?"
"A cage," she said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire."
~Lord of the Rings

 

[tulc]

[font=Arial,Helvetica]Lady Yesterday[/font][font=Arial,Helvetica]
[/font]

[font=Arial,Helvetica]If I made a wish for every sacred star[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]Falling just outside of Heaven's window[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]If I had the songs from David's old guitar[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]And the dreams I'd left behind me on my pillow[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]And if I gave them all to you[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]If I took the fall for you[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]Could you make it spring?[/font]

[font=Arial,Helvetica]Lady Yesterday[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]You smiled just like a lover and a friend[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]Lady Yesterday[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]You danced like it was yesterday again[/font]

[font=Arial,Helvetica]They say that love's a paper boat upon the sea[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]They say that love is a reflection on the river[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]They say that love's a thing that's never meant to be[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]They say that love's a thing that's meant to be forever[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]And if I gave it all to you[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]If I took the fall for you[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]Could you make it spring?[/font]

[font=Arial,Helvetica]Lady Yesterday[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]You smiled just like a lover and a friend[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]Lady Yesterday[/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica]You danced like it was yesterday again[/font]

[font=Arial,Helvetica]Oh, you danced like it was yesterday again
-[/font][font=Arial,Helvetica]Kinky Friedman[/font]

 

[Love&Pain]

[glow=yellow] "Do not be afraid of growing slowly. Be afraid of standing still." -Chinese Proverb [/glow]​

 

[tulc]

When the Lord Closes the Door (He Opens a Little Window)

When I find myself alone in my house and in my head
And I blow the candles out and I take myself to bed
And I'm old enough to realize, ah, young enough to know
When the Lord closes the door, he opens a little window.

When sleep closes my eyes and sends me searching for you
And I'm feelin' blue as the sky without your love to carry me through
And I'm weak enough to be afraid but strong enough to let it show.
When the Lord closes the door, he opens a little window.

Baby I'm a gypsy boy, I'll ride the night until
I come to you like moonlight through your raggle-taggle window sill.

When you find yourself alone in your house and in your head
And you blow the candles out and you take yourself to bed
And you're old enough to realize, ah, young enough to know
When the Lord closes the door, he opens a little window
-Kinky Friedman & Jeff Shelby

 

[freespirit2001]

[shadow=MediumTurquoise]AUTUMN GEMS[/shadow]

The air is crystal clear before the sun,
With its thousands Mexican Fire Opal hues,
Rises on jasper mountains
A misty setting for new-day prayers.

In aquamarine sky, touches of golden-edged clouds
Move slowly form the west to the east.
Leaving traces of shiny sparkles
Like mica flakes in aventurine rocks.

Under small tourmaline rosemary bushes,
Diamond dew-beads moisturize
Peridot grass and reeds,
Enabling agate snails to weave
Shiny paths into silvery lace.

Near warm citrine yellow beaches,
Small hematitie fish play hide-and-seek
With rippling gentle waves,
While the dark, chilly, deep-sapphire sea
cradles pearls in their alga covered oysters.

Juicy mandarin oranges and amethyst grapes
Peaking between andalusite leaves.
And shady groves in full blossom
Lavishly spread their scent into onyx nights.

And after the Opal moon escorted by topaz stars
Will glide down the Miky Way,
Pink Morganite cheeks with pearly smiles
Will hand you poppies red like rubies

Saying---Our hearts are widely open---Please come.

A poem by Yehuda Kassif

While I was studying gems stones on the thread (below of Beautiful Stones...)about the Holy City of God, the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21, this poem reminded me as if of a dream of being in this Holy City of God for a day....

Beautiful Stones:...www.christianforums.com/t1181840-beautiful-stones-.html&page=6

 

[Ouch]

"The Bible is covered in...soy sauce!!!"
-Alex Bommarito

 

[psalms 91]

go ye forth into all the world

 

[johan777]

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. ​

Attitude, to me is more important than facts.

It is more important than the past, than an education,

than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes,

than what other people think or say or do.



It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.

It will make or break a company.a church.a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day

regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past.we cannot change the fact

that people will act in a certain way.



We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the string we have,

and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me

and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you.we are in charge of our attitudes.

Charles Swindol

 

[freespirit2001]

"WHY SHOULD WE BE IN SUCH DESPERATE
HASTE TO SUCCEED, AND SUCH DESPERATE ENTERPRISES?
IF A MAN DOES NOT KEEP UP WITH HIS COMPANIONS, PERHAPS IT IS BECAUSE HE HEARS A DIFFERENT DRUMMER.
LET HIM STEP TO THE MUSIC WHICH HE HEARS,
HOWEVER MEASURED AND FAR AWAY.
IT IS NOT IMPORTANT THAT HE SHOULD MATURE AS SOON AS AN APPLE TREE OR AN OAK.
SHALL HE TURN HIS SPRING INTO A SUMMER?
IF THE CONDITION OF THINGS WHICH WERE MADE FOR IS NOT YET, WHAT WERE ANY REALITY WHICH WE CAN SUBSTITUTE.
WE WILL NOT BE SHIPWRECKED ON A VAIN REALITY.
SHALL WE WITH PAINS ERECT A HEAVEN OF BLUE GLASS OVER OURSELVES, THOUGH WHEN IT IS DONE WE SHALL BE SURE TO GAZE STILL AT THE TRUE ETHEREAL HEAVEN FAR ABOVE, AS IF THE FORMER WERE NOT?"

Thoreau, Conclusion: Walden

 

[freespirit2001]

"I consider dogmatic belief and dogmatic denial very childish forms of conceit in a world of infinitely whirling complexity."

Robert Anton Wilson

 

[2Timothy2]

People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.
- Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

 

[brinny]

Since it so quietly began to snow,
new distances have awakened within me.
I would like to go to every person now
and say: I wasn't like you had thought;
Perhaps they didn't feel pity for me;
they have their own pursuits.
The darkness lessens, the trees
are turning whiter around me.
One remains there standing in the loneliness,
and desire and tears pass away, its steps
disappear in the snow, at the end of the night
awaits the white morning, showered in sunlight. —
~Gerrit Achterberg

 

[johan777]

God's work done God's way will never lack God's supply.

Hudson Taylor