Quips, Quotes & Questions 10-11-14

Each one of these items -- quotes, Bible passages or links -- are worthy of separate posts in and of themselves. How impossibly grateful I am for the wealth of thought-provoking words that pass through my life each week. If you have some spare moments, linger over each one and allow them to penetrate your soul.

Indeed, obedience must be given with genuine good will, because God loves a cheerful giver. If obedience is given with a bad will and with murmuring not only in words but even in bitterness of heart, then even though the command may be externally fulfilled it will not be accepted by God, for he can see the resistance in the heart of a murmurer. One who behaves in such a way not only fails to receive the reward of grace but actually incurs the punishment deserved by murmurers. Only repentance and reparation can save such a one from this punishment.
Benedict of Nursia, in his Rule for monastic communities

Childlikeness is lost in life and recovered in holiness.

    ... Alexander Yelchaninov (1881-1934)

I dwell in the high and holy place,

    and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,

to revive the spirit of the humble,

    and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Isaiah 57:15

Is not this the fast that I choose:

    to loose the bonds of injustice,

    to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

    and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

    and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

    and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,

    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

    you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

Isaiah 58:6-9

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. 

Philippians 1:28-29

It is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the
importance of Christian morality, unless they are prepared to
take their stand upon the fundamentals of Christian theology.
It is a lie to say that dogma does not matter; it matters
enormously. It is fatal to let people suppose that Christianity
is only a mode of feeling; it is vitally necessary to insist
that it is first and foremost a rational explanation of the
universe.
    Dorothy Sayers

Incredible NYTimes interview of Marilynne Robinson, a gifted author whose
"novels are in conversation with -- at times tacitly, at times explicitly -- the stories of the Bible."

Yes, I'm a shameless cat lover. But this story should warm anyone's heart:
http://www.boredpanda.com/thula-therapy-cat-autistic-artist-iris-grace/

(The painting posted at the top of this post was made by Iris...
I'm still swooning over the artwork and the story behind it all)