Once again sharing some striking quotes from Carolyn Weber's wonderful memoir, Surprised by Oxford. These are all reflections on grace and joy in the life of a Christian.
"'Christians often grow world-weary themselves, even God weary. We get 'used to Him', we become pretty chuffed with ourselves and our better-than-others supposed stance, our righteous worship, all our perfect acts. It's a hard habit to crack – especially for an overachiever – that overachieving means nothing in His eyes. And grace is even harder. Accepting it is one thing, but really believing it and living it out – yeah, living in it – is not. The cross reminds us of all this. A much-needed humbling memento mori among all the lilies if you will.'"
"'Grace takes a lifetime to really grasp," Regina responded. 'And then some. In fact, most of us don't ever 'get it' fully, I think.' She stood up, taking the books and setting them back on the shelf. 'But even the crumbs from His table are enough.'"
"Dorothy Sayers wrote, 'The greatest sin of the Christian is to be joyless,' the speaker began. 'As reflective and active Christians, one of our most important duties is to be joyful. This may sound like an oxymoron' – he chuckled – 'but it's a good reminder that 'all joy reminds,' and that, as recipients of grace, we have much to be joyful about."
"Don't underestimate the power and importance of celebration. It should be our perpetual way of life – we shouldn't be folks too rushed to say hello, or too beaten to bless, but a people recalling joy.'"
~Carolyn Weber, Surprised by Oxford
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"'Christians often grow world-weary themselves, even God weary."
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the book on willpower I read which talked about moral fatigue. I do think it is something we deal with. I am often sad that I have heard John 3:16 so often. I long to hear it with fresh ears.