23 quotes
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 own vulnerable self.
In the Name of Jesus (1989)
We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval.
Bread For the Journey (1996)
Prayer is not a pious decoration of life but the breath of human existence.
The Wounded Healer (1972)
Fear makes us run away from each other or cling to each other but does not create true intimacy.
When we walk in the Lord's presence, everything we see, hear, touch, or taste reminds us of Him. This is what is meant by a prayerful life.
The Living Reminder: Service and Prayer in Memory of Jesus Christ (1977)
Jesus was a revolutionary, who did not become an extremist, since he did not offer an ideology, but Himself.
The Wounded Healer (1972)
We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for.
In the Name of Jesus (1989)
People who pray stand receptive before the world. They no longer grab but caress, they no longer bite but kiss, they no longer examine but admire.
To pray means to open your hands before God.
With Open Hands (1972)
My hope is that the description of God's love in my life will give you the freedom and the courage to discover . . . God's love in yours.
Here and Now: Living in the Spirit (1994)
What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.
In the Name of Jesus (1989)
It is the unceasing recognition that God is wherever we are, always inviting us to come closer and to celebrate the divine gift of being alive.
With Open Hands (1972)
In all these moments, we gradually make our lives more of a prayer and we open our hands to be led by God even to places we would rather not go.
With Open Hands (1972)
Just as people can watch spellbound a circus artist tumbling through the air in a phosphorized costume, so they can listen to a preacher who uses the Word of God to draw attention to himself. But a sensational preacher stimulates the senses and leaves the spirit untouched. Instead of being the way to God, his 'being different' gets in the way.
In prayer, you encounter God not only in the small voice and the soft breeze, but also in the midst of the turmoil of the world, in the distress and joy of your neighbor and in the loneliness of your own heart.
With Open Hands (1972)
In our production-oriented society, being busy, having an occupation, has become one of the main ways, if not the main way, of identifying ourselves. Without an occupation, not just our economic security but our very identity is endangered.
Paraphrased: Spiritual identity means we are not what we do or what people say about us. And we are not what we have. We are the beloved daughters and sons of God.
Prayer leads you to see new paths and to hear new melodies in the air. Prayer is the breath of your life which gives you freedom to go and to stay where you wish and to find the many signs which point out the way to a new land.
With Open Hands (1972)
Although we tend to think about saints as holy and pious, and picture them with halos above their heads and ecstatic gazes, true saints are much more accessible. They are men and women like us, who live ordinary lives and struggle with ordinary problems. What makes them saints is their clear and unwavering focus on God and God’s people.
Bread For the Journey (1996)
The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.