Here is a selection of independent quotations from books I am reading. I hope they offer as much food for thought for you as they have for me!
“There, then, is the role of the amateur: to look the world back to grace. There, too, is the necessity of his work: His tribe must be in short supply; his job has gone begging. The world looks as if it has been left in the custody of a pack of trolls.” (Capon, Supper of the Lamb, 4)
“Stefano says, ‘Two French people are a partnership. Three Englishmen make a team. Four Italians are five different political parties. We never agree’.” (Rick Steves, Postcards from Europe, loc 2878)
“There seem, in fact, to be only two views we can hold about awe. Either it is a mere twist in the human mind, corresponding to nothing objective and serving no biological function, yet showing no tendency to disappear from that mind at its fullest development in poet, philosopher, or saint: or else it is a direct experience of the really supernatural, to which the name Revelation might properly be given” (Lewis, Problem of Pain, 9)
“There is a difference between receiving wisdom and feeling wise. It may well be that when we pray for wisdom, we feel none the wiser for having done so. But that is not the same as saying we have not received wisdom. Verse 5 is a promise. When we ask with the sincerity of heart that James urges on us, “it will be given”. This means that God’s wisdom will direct us in the decisions we then go on to make. We may not feel any more confident, but God will protect us from folly. Whether or not we feel or perceive it at the time, God will have given us wisdom.” (Allberry, James for You)