Why is it that I so much want there not to be a god?
~ Thomas Nagel

If I am capable of grasping God objectively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I must believe.
~ Søren Kierkegaard

Individuel Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.
~ Winston Churchill

We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognise anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires.
~ Pope Benedict XVI

1. The fool understands the phrase “something than which nothing greater can be thought.”
2. Hence, “something than which nothing greater can be thought” exists at least in the fool’s mind.
3. It is greater to exist in reality than to exist in the mind alone.
4. So if “that than which nothing greater can be thought” existed only in the fool’s mind, it would be possible to think of something greater (the same thing existing in reality).
5. But this would be a contradiction, since it is impossible to think of something greater than “that than which nothing greater can be thought.”
6. Hence “something than which nothing greater can be thought” must exist both in the fool’s mind and in reality. God exists!
~ St. Anselm of Canterbury

Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame.
~ Romans 5:3-5

Many people want to serve God, but only as advisors.

Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.
~ James Dean

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.
~ Søren Kierkegaard

The longest way round is the shortest way home.
~ C.S. Lewis

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.
~ John F. Kennedy

Conditions for a good and lasting relationship: Faith, integrity and humility.

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;

I was made weak, that I might learn to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things;

I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy;

I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;

I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;

I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for;

but everything that I hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime;
therefore, we must be saved by hope.
Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
therefore, we must be saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone;
therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint;
therefore we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.
~ Reinhold Niebuhr

Dear God, Help me recognize my sins, so that I may accept them and ask for your forgiveness.

O, heavenly Father,
We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.
We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless.
We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.
May these remembrances stir us to service,
that thy gifts to us may be used for others.
Amen.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
~ Reinhold Niebuhr

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
~ St. Francis of Assisi

Penitence, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing.
~ John Petty, Coventry Cathedral provost on the Cathedral’s and the people of Coventry’s spirit towards Germany and the Germans after the World War II bombings of the city.

The principle of prayer is rooted in the fact of need, want, poverty. Our Lord makes poverty the first condition of spiritual blessedness.
~ William Porcher duBose