quote journal

a couple years ago my good friend, who will doodle on anything, gave me a journal she had bought in china which she decorated for me. on the front she wrote a quote by Anton Chekhov: "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." you see, we were both english ed majors, and in one of ourexcellent classes all of our fellow english ed nerds would teach mock lessons. and they were all brilliant because we're all brilliant (i miss those people). one of our peers taught on the concept of showing and not telling in creative writing, and i think we all became better writers because of his lesson.

all this unnecessary story to say that this journal is now my quote journal. i find that the best books have the best quotes, and i try to pick out great quotes in all the books i read (unless the book isn't good) based on at least one of the following criteria:

1. it says something good or profound that i may or may not agree with

2. it's just a beautifully written line

3. it says something that applies to me

4. it says something that makes me think

so i'm gonna share some of these quotes. not all of them right now because there are so many. today i think i'll share from one of my most recently read books - blue like jazz by don miller. i recommend this book to all christians because it's well written, easy to read, anecdotal, and thoughtful; that is to say, it challenges your christian walk because it offers his thoughts on what christians are and what they should be. i'm reading his next book, searching for God knows what, and it's even more challenging to me than blue like jazz. he totally takes God out of the box that we put Him in.

so, without further ado, here are the quotes:

I didn't love God because I didn't know God.

...The problem is not out there; the problem is the needy beast of a thing that lives in my chest...it did me no good to protest America's responsibility in global poverty when I wasn't even giving money to my church...Do I want social justice for the oppressed, or do I just want to be known as a socially active person?

I don't think, however, there are many people who can stay happy for long periods of time [speaking of spiritual "highs"]. Joy is a temporal thing...I made the mistake of wanting spiritual feelings to endure and remain romantic...What was more frustrating than the loss of exhilaration was the return of my struggles with sin.

...what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do...Andrew very kindly explained that if I do not introduce people to Jesus, then I don't believe Jesus is an important person.

...I want my spirituality to rid me of hate, not give me reason for it. [on a pastor who made a comment that he hated Bill Clinton]

It comforts me to think that if we are created beings, the thing that created us would have to be greater than us, so much greater, in fact, that we would not be able to understand it.

...when we reduce Christian spirituality to math we defile the Holy.

...even though there are so many students having sex and tripping on drugs and whatever, there is also this foundational understanding that other people exist and they are important. [on students from Reed University who did not make fun of a student that Christians most likely would have made fun of]