Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

— Scott Adams






It is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come, as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you. He wants you as you are. He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work. He wants you alone.
God has come to you to save the sinner. Be glad! This message is liberation through truth. You can hide nothing from God. The mask you wear will do you no good before Him. He wants to see you as you are. He wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to go on lying to yourself and your brothers, as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner. Thank God for that!
-Bonhoeffer









Empty space tends to create fear. As long as our minds, hearts and hands are occupied we can avoid confronting the painful questions, to which we never gave much attention and which we do not want to surface. “Being busy” has become a status symbol, and most people keep encouraging each other to keep their body and mind in constant motion. Occupation and not empty space is what most of us are looking for. When we are not occupied we become restless. We even become fearful when we do not know what we will do the next hour, the next day or the next year. Then occupation is called a blessing and emptiness a curse.
Many telephone conversations start with the words: “I know you are busy, but…” and we would confuse the speaker and even harm our reputation were we to say, “Oh no, I am completely free, today, tomorrow and the whole week.” Our client might well lose interest in one who has so little to do.
-Henri Nouwen

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