"Without Christ no one
can comfort himself."

-Martin Luther
Today I want to honor Martin Luther who, we might say,
kicked off the Protestant Reformation. On October 31st, 1517
he nailed a list of 95 indictments against the institutional Church
of his day on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
A movement throughout Europe was officialy born to return to the
teaching and authority of Scripture, and to recover the gospel
message of salvation by grace through faith in Christ.
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men"

Oh No!

I wants to make your flesh creep.

-Charles Dickens
This is my Halloween post. Tomorrow I want to
celebrate Reformation Day by paying homage to
one of the great Protestant Reformers.

For whatever was written
in former days was written
for our instruction, that through
endurance and through the
encouragement of the Scriptures
we might have hope.
-Romans 15:4

4What did the Calvinist say
after he fell down the stairs?
4Glad that's over with.

-this is a real milk-out-the-nose crack up
for certain dorky theological types (like me).

holywrit

4Read, mark, learn,
and inwardly digest.

-Book of Common Prayer

There is no season when such pleasant
and sunny spots may be lighted on,
and produce such a pleasant effect
on the feelings as now in October.

-Nathaniel Hawthorne

A person's a person
no matter how small.

-Dr. Seuss

Well, it's a marvelous night for a Moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes,
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies.

-Van Morrison, Moondance

The face of a child can say it all,
especially the mouth part of the face.

-Jack Handey

Then Jesus told
his disciples a parable
to show them that they
should always pray
and not give up.

-Luke 18:1

"I might be in the basement.
I'll go upstairs and check."

-M. C. Escher

"Life is either
a daring adventure
or nothing."

-Helen Keller
A favorite quotation of my adventurous daughters. Again, the power of this thought is overwhelming as we reflect on who said it. Her senses of sight and sound were taken from her by acute illness at nineteen months. And yet, in her approach to living out her days, Helen Keller developed a robust love of life and wisdom. She was able and even eager to say, "I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work, and my God."

4A minute's success
pays the failure of years.

-Robert Browning

4Just play,
have fun,
enjoy the game.

-Michael Jordan

4God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

-St. Augustine
This is such an important and reassuring truth to grasp. And yet I don't think our main struggle, in terms of our identity, has to do with our sense of individual importance. Culturally we emphasize self-esteem and individualism. It is vital for us, as followers of Christ, to view ourselves as God views us. We must approach Him on His terms. Therefore our links to Adam, to Christ, and to the Church are important and inescapable. We are part of a group. We need to spend time pondering and recognizing who we are corporately if we are to break out of the lopsided philosophical mold we've been squeezed into. The renewing of our minds to think God's thoughts after Him is true liberation.

4Money can't buy happiness,
but it can provide a more
pleasant form of misery.

-Spike Mulligan

No creature is
hidden from His sight,
but all are naked
and exposed to the eyes
of Him to whom we must
give an account.

-Hebrews 4:13

4One sees great things from the valley,
only small things from the peak.

-G. K. Chesterton

4It's hard to be brave
when you're only a
Very Small Animal.

-A. A. Milne

4Anything will give up its secrets
if you love it enough.

-George Washington Carver
This is my all time favorite quotation. It resonates because it contains the promise of discovery (in any realm) from a humble and brilliant man who proved the premise. George Washington Carver eagerly investigated the mysteries of "ordinary" things driven by a deep respect for the Maker of all things. His childlike sense of wonder and fascination with the natural world was accompanied by the dedication of a scientist. Peanut butter was one of about 300 discoveries and applications he developed in his investigation of the peanut. Soybeans, sweet potatoes, and pecans were also the subjects of his perpetual and zealous inquiry. Refusing to seek patents he made his inventions and the developments of his research available to all, willingly sharing what he was convinced God had revealed to him. On his tombstone is written: "He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world."

photo by Brae Howard

4Pretty much all the honest
truth-telling there is in the world
is done by children.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes

soyouthink

4We're fools whether we dance or not,
so we might as well dance.

-Japanese Proverb

4You know you're getting old when you
stoop down to tie your shoelaces and wonder
what else you can do while you're down here.

-George Burns

The secret things
belong to the Lord our God,
but the things revealed
belong to us and to
our children forever,
that we may do
all the words of this law.

-Deuteronomy 29:29

conquering lamb

4Muhammad established a religion
by putting his enemies to death;
Jesus Christ by commanding his followers
to lay down their lives.

-Blaise Pascal

4You can say any foolish thing to a dog,
and the dog will give you this look that says,
"My gosh, you're right!
I never would have thought of that!"

-Dave Barry

wax on

4We are what we repeatedly do.

-Aristotle

happy color

4There is not one blade of grass,
there is no color in this world that
is not intended to make us rejoice.

-John Calvin

zzzzz

4A professor is one who talks in someone else's sleep.

-W. H. Auden

4Always bear in mind that your own
resolution to succeed is more important
than any other one thing.

-Abraham Lincoln

Be swift to hear,
slow to speak,
slow to wrath.

-James 1:19