Sometimes I find myself saying things--words of counsel or comfort--or maybe words come to me when I'm meditating or praying over some problem or soul-pain of my own, and I think "I must remember that." I have written some of them down. I am not always wise (I am often very foolish), but I think these words are wise. This list is, of course, a work in progress.
Never take offense when a charitable interpretation of motive is at all plausible.
It is hard to need, but God gave us weaknesses for a reason. Do not despise your own weakness, but strive to overcome it if you can.
Be grateful for charity; do not refuse a gift given in kindness, but pay it forward when you can.
Sometimes the people close to you are not lovable. Love them anyway. Sometimes you are not lovable. Allow yourself to be loved anyway. Love is a gift; it can't be earned. Strive to live up to it anyway.
Neither time, nor distance, nor the works of men can frustrate the purposes of God.
You are not alone, and you are not the only one struggling. Your problems are no bigger (but also no smaller) than your neighbor's. To know and to feel that is charity.
Committing is hard, because it means closing the door on other possibilities. But not to choose is even more restrictive: it is the suspension of possibility, the refusal of opportunity. To reject choice is death.
Kindness is more important than rules. Integrity is more important than comfort. Love is more important than strength. Wisdom is more important than being right. Learning is more important than seeming smart.
True faith is not blind, but understands the fallibility of human sight.
Here are some words of wisdom from others. None of these are from the scriptures, because that would need an entire list in itself.
"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and... bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant." —The 11th Doctor, "Vincent and the Doctor"
"Darkness exists, but [do not] dwell there. Light also exists." —Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Hope of God's Light"
"If today we fail to be wise and generous and good, tomorrow we may succeed, and if not, we may fail at a higher level." —Jim W. Corder, Selected Essays of Jim W. Corder
"Faith and obedience are one and the same spirit: what in the heart we call faith, in the will we call obedience." —George MacDonald, The Curate's Awakening
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." —Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, Act 1, Scene IV.
"There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.... Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses." —C. S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"
"Ideas create idols; only wonder leads to knowing." —attributed to St. Gregory of Nyssa
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." —Hanlon's Razor
Image Source: Imgur, "The 33 Most Beautiful Abandoned Places in the World"
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