Henri Nouwen

"I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her vulnerable self."

Rufus Jones

"I pin my hopes to quiet processes and small circles, in which vital and transforming events take place."

Joan Chittister

"Like the seasons, whether we want this present moment or not, it has a place in our growth that in the end will flower forth in ways we cannot now see."

Joan Chittister

"Life is lived in stages and phases.
  Life can not be defined until you get to the end of it."

Soren Kierkegaard

"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

John Calvin

"Though human beings are carried away by their ambition, yet when we come into the presence of God, all presumption ought to be laid aside."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

The world does not need more naysayers.  It needs a Nathan, who will draw people to acknowledge their sin so they can truly see and know the awesome love God has for sinners; so much so that He sent His Son to reconcile all of us to Him. 

Pat DeWitt Thomas

"The restoration in relationship between God and human beings is the hallmark of Christianity."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

I think a lot about the ongoing sentiments of the difference between Religion and Spirituality.  I have heard over and over again people saying that they are Spiritual but not Religious.  In my life they are both important and need each other.   I see Religion as the boat and the sail.  I see Spirituality as the wind filling the sail and creating the waves on the sea to move the boat; invisible, unknowable, but truly there.
Both the boat and the wind are necessary.


Khalil Gibran

"Say not, 'I have found the one true path of the Spirit!'
  Say rather, 'I have met the Spirit walking on my path.'
  For the Spirit walks on all paths."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

"Like the younger prodigal son I took my inheritance and squandered it in reckless living.  All I want now is to go home, with empty hands and a soul purified by obedience, and BE in my Father's Presence forever." 

Derek Thomas

"The nature of Christian discipleship is a pilgrimage from this world to another."

Andrew Murray

"Believing is the exercise of a soul surrendered to the influence of the Word and the Spirit."

Andrew Murray

"Faith is the ear which has heard God say what He will do and the eye which has seen Him doing it."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

"There is a faith that is being brought forth these days that is comfy, cozy, and catered to, but does not include the cross.  There is no need for sacrifice, servant-hood, or submission to God.  This is not faith; it is a fallacy.  It is deadly to mind, soul, and spirit."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
John 14:23


First love, and then obedience; this is what makes me a hospitable place for God and Jesus to come and dwell in me; to make their home in me.  There are no words that can contain how I feel when I read that, reflect on that, and believe that.

A.W. Tozer

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us...Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.  For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

"My story made me what I am; now it's time to BE who I am."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

"Today's technological toys can fill the boredom of the mind but they can't quench the thirst of the soul." 

Lama Surya Das

"A spiritual notebook filled with ideas and quotations from the holy men and women who  have walked before us - or who have walked alongside of us - can help remind us of what's important and what we are doing and why."

Dave Branon

              "The faith of others encourages; 
                 a faith of our own transforms.
Having someone in our lives to guide us toward faith and Christlikeness can be good and helpful.  Even better is getting to know the Lord ourselves and learning to rely on the Holy Spirit to be our guide.  That is making our faith personal."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

"I am created in God's image.  Spiritual Practice and Spiritual Formation help me image God to others in a pure and sacred way.  It's not about me.  It's about Him."

Pat DeWitt Thomas

"We live in a world filled with the perils of a provided for people.  People who are sure they have the answer, but don't know what the question is."

Rich Mullins

"Before we had stifled the cross into a symbol, before we had softened grace into a sentiment, before we had systematized the power and mystery of God's greatest revelation of Himself into a set of dogmas, we were the children that we must become again."

John C. Maxwell

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

John O'Donohue

"Our world is becoming more busy and noisy.  We are pushing silence out of our lives at a rate that suggests a fear of what it has to say to us about us."

Julian of Norwich

"All will be well, all will be well, and every manner of things will be well."

Richard Rohr

"As we continue to mature, we come to a sure sense that there is a deep okayness to life."

John O'Donohue

"I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding."