C. S. Lewis, replying to the charge that he doesn’t ‘care much for’ the Sermon on the Mount:
As to ‘caring for’ the Sermon on the Mount, if ‘caring for’ here means ‘liking’ or enjoying, I suppose no one ‘cares for’ it. Who can like being knocked flat on his face by a sledge-hammer? I can hardly imagine a more deadly spiritual condition than that of the man who can read that passage with tranquil pleasure. This is indeed to be ‘at ease in Zion’. Such a man is not yet ripe for the Bible.
The White Bridge (c. 1875-1890) by John Henry Twachtman:
Wild Cherry Tree (c. 1901) by John Henry Twachtman:
In all true Christian asceticism, [there is] respect for the thing rejected which, I think, we never find in pagan asceticism. Marriage is good, though not for me; wine is good, though I must not drink it; feasts are good, though today we fast.
Valley in the Mountains (c. 1930s) by Louis Hovey Sharp:
Pasadena Light by Louis Hovey Sharp:
Annie Dillard (HT: Austin Kleon):
One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.
David F. Ford, commenting on John 13:34-35:
Love among the “little children,” in the Christian family, is to be the primary sign that we really are disciples of Jesus—in other words, that we are learning from him, imitating him, following him, being inspired by him. The mission of the church is inseparable from the sort of community the church is.
