Eugene H. Peterson, Tell It Slant: A Conversation On The Language Of Jesus In His Stories And Prayers Quotes
The end is where we start from. T.S. Eliot
Without stories we end up with stereotypes -- a flat earth with flat cardboard figures that have no texture or depth, no INTERIOR.
Cross and resurrection are the South and North polls, true gospel polarities, of a single, undivided, salvation world. Remove either Paul and you've got salvation.
We need alert listeners to give dignity to those stretches in our lives when we are not aware of participating in anything we think might be embraced by the kingdom of God.
There is nothing more common than for people who want to talk about God to lose interest in the people they are talking to.
Preaching reveals God in action here and now -- for ME.
Unlike mere action, prayer is not subject to immediate evaluation or verification. If we are addicted to "results" we will quickly lose interest in prayer.
Spontaneities offer one kind of pleasure and taste of sanctity, repetitions another equally pleasurable and holy.
Prayer is a way of language practiced in the presence of God in which we become more than ourselves while remaining ourselves.
The church is the primary arena in which we learn that glory does not consist in what we do for God but in what God does for us.
Parables release the adrenaline of urgency into our bloodstream.
Money and machines anesthetize neediness. They put us in charge, in control. As long as the money holds out and the machines are in good repair, we don't need to pray.
When it comes to doing something about what is wrong in the world, Jesus is best known for his fondness for the minute, the invisible, the quiet, the slow – yeast, salt, seeds, light. And manure.
The temptations that use the raw material of good for evil can continue unrecognized for a long time without awareness.
Self-justification is a verbal defense for restoring the appearance of righteousness without doing anything about the substance.
Language consists in equal parts of speaking and silence.
God uses language to create and command us.
Apart from childhood and crisis, prayers have a way of being abstracted from the homely and distinctive details that are part and parcel of our ordinary and daily life.
We learn the language of prayer by immersing ourselves in the language that God uses to reveal Himself to us.
I had escaped the snare of certitude that I welcomed so avidly at first and entered, via the name of Jesus, the wide and comprehensive company of Jesus.