Well, can you?

Some words for you this week:

Man is certainly stark mad.
He cannot make a worm
and yet he will be making gods
by the dozens.
Montaigne

It’s a funny thought, isn’t it? We who cannot make a low creature like a worm persist in thinking we can make gods.

The lowest ebb
is the turn of the tide.
Longfellow

Good old Henry Wadsworth. Tuck that one away for when you are at the lowest ebb. The tide is about to turn!

Courage is what it takes
to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes
to sit down and listen.
Churchill

Courage to speak; courage to listen. Never thought about courage perhaps being needed to “sit down and listen.” Thoughts?

The difference between
the right word
and the almost right word
is like the difference
between lightning
and the lightning bug.
Mark Twain

When the kids were in high school, they used a literature course called “Lightning Lit,” the name of which was based on that quote.

For God has not given us
a spirit of fear,
but of power
and of love
and of a sound mind.
St. Paul, 2 Timothy 1:7

Remember this! (I’m telling myself)

This worm of a post will be deleted in the morning.

‘Twas a dark and rainy day today. Time to let some sunshine in…

For You will light my lamp;
The LORD will enlighten my darkness.
Psalm 18:28

I long to accomplish a great and noble task,
but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks
as if they were great and noble.
Helen Keller

Deep in their roots,
all flowers keep the light.
Theodore Roethke

A complaining spirit can make unhappiness out of anything,
and a long-suffering patience can find joy anywhere.
Douglas Wilson

But the secret to joy
is to keep seeking God
where we doubt He is.
Ann Voskamp

The morns are meeker than they were –
The nuts are getting brown –
The berry’s cheek is plumper –
The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf –
The field a scarlet gown –
Lest I sh’d be old-fashioned
I’ll put a trinket on.
Emily Dickinson

The blog is meeker than it was…time to put a trinket on or delete this in the morning.

People say and write interesting things. Profound things. Funny things. Memorable things. Inspiring things. Whenever I copy a quote into my commonplace book, I’m aware that those few things I come across are just the teeny tiny tip of a very large iceberg. Here are a few more.

Stories give us something concrete to visualize: it is one thing to be told that bravery is important; it is another to see Frodo stand at the Council of Elrond and volunteer to take the Ring into Mordor. We need stories to show us what the good life looks like.
Leslie Anne Bustard, Strong Allies

So true. I remember reading The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew as a child. It made me want to be a better daughter and sibling more than any number of lectures could have.

I have now concentrated all my prayers into one,
and that prayer is this,
that I may die to self
and
live wholly to Him.
C.H. Spurgeon

Why use a lot of words when you can distill it all into one simple prayer?

The church is not a club or a content platform.
It is the miracle of bones coming together,
joints connecting,
breath entering dry lungs.
The Spirit does not hover over individual hearts
like vapor over isolated tea cups.
He fills a body.
A living, awkward, breathing, bruised body.
And when the body gathers,
Christ is present in a way that He is not
when you are alone.
Pastor Rich Bitterman

What do you think?

And now, in honor of Voddie Baucham (1969-2025):

We cannot continue to send our children
to Caesar for their education
and be surprised
when they come home as Romans.
Voddie Baucham

Sometimes God is glorified
when sick saints get well.
But more often than not,
God is glorified
when sick saints die well.
Voddie Baucham

This is another brother in Christ that I look forward to meeting in glory. Rest in peace, Pastor Baucham.

I’d love for you to share some quotes in the comments section that caught your eye and made you think.

If I told you that I was going to delete this in the morning, would you believe me?

More quotes to ponder:

Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:9

Do not spoil the wonder with haste!
JRR Tolkien

Lots of reasons not to be hasty, apparently.

If I find in myself a desire
which no experience in this world
can satisfy,
the most probable explanation
is that I was made
for another world.
CS Lewis

Every experience God gives us
is the perfect preparation
for the future only He can see.
Corrie Ten Boom

Comparison
is the thief
of joy.
Theodore Roosevelt

Nobody ever outgrows Scripture;
the book widens and deepens
with our years.
Charles Spurgeon

That ought to be enough to chew on for now. Get those brain cells working!

This is the part where I say I will probably delete this in the morning. There – I said it.

More quotes to ponder…

When I rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird.
When I fall,
let me fall without regret
like a leaf.
Wendell Berry

The summer has been splendid,
but it has lasted long enough.
This morning, I viewed the falling leaves
with cheerfulness.
A.A. Milne

Don’t ever imagine that anything is too small to pray about.
If it concerns you, it concerns God.
Elisabeth Elliot

O bed! O bed! O delicious bed!
That heaven on earth to weary head!
Thomas Hood

I wonder many times that a child of God
should ever have a sad heart,
considering what their Lord
is preparing for them.
Samuel Rutherford

O blog! O blog! O deleting blog! …in the morning

I’ve been going through a dry spell with my own writing, but I can still share things that others have written or said that are worth note. Take heed and be of good cheer, friends.

“All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness.” Psalm 25:1
So your path with its unexplained sorrow, and mine with its unexplained sharp flints and briers, and both with their unexpected perplexity of guidance, their sheer mystery, are just lovingkindness, nothing else.
Amy Carmichael

Glory is the weighty goodness of a thing being and doing what it was made by God to be and do.
Brian Sauve, Haunted Cosmos p. 173

Prayer is the surest remedy against the devil and besetting sin. That sin will never stand firm which is heartily prayed against.
J.C. Ryle

It’s not the load that breaks you down.
It’s the way you carry it.
C.S. Lewis

And in honor of Charlie Kirk:

When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group. What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have reasonable disagreement where violence is not an option.

You can tell a lot about a man based on the enemies you earn.

I want to be remembered for the courage of my faith.

Charlie Kirk

That’s the way I’ll remember him. Rest in peace, my brother in Christ.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning…

Have you been hankering for a harvest of quotes to put in your vase? Here ya go!

If you look to the world, you’ll be distressed,
If you look within, you’ll be depressed,
If you look to God, you’ll be at rest.
Corrie Ten Boom

That’s a keeper, isn’t it?

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.
An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.
GK Chesterton

Think about that the next time you have a flat tire.

We need to hear the gospel every day
because we forget it every day.
Martin Luther

Amen to that!

ChatGPT creates the illusion of intelligent thought,
but there’s actually nothing going on under the hood.
Grace Snell, World Magazine August 2025

Don’t forget that.

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Mary Oliver

Too simple? Give it a try!

This post wasn’t astonishing enough, so it will probably get deleted in the morning.

The first glimpses of fall weather have come: a slight chill in the air, the buzz saw sounds of the cicadas, a few green leaves giving way to red, flowers starting to say farewell… The glory of summer must now defer to the glory of autumn.

On that note, here are a few quotes for you to read and savor:

Faith may dance because Christ sings;
and we may come in the choir
and lift our hoarse and rough voices,
and chirp and sing,
and shout for joy with our Lord Jesus.
Samuel Rutherford

Often, the sweeter the first fruit of a habit,
the more bitter are its later fruits.
Frederic Bastiat, French Economist

How many things have I that others lack?
Can I bring my heart into a quiet, contented frame
to lack what others have?
Jeremiah Burroughs

The way God creates unity
is by making everyone different.
Daniel Ralph

The lesson for fathers (and mothers):
Be the smile of God to your children.
Joe Rigney

Lord, deliver me from the urge to open my mouth
when I should shut it.
Elisabeth Elliot

Enjoy these beautiful days, friends.

I’ll probably say farewell to this post in the morning.

Quotes for pondering:

Oh, the temptations that men of discontented spirits are subject to! The Devil loves to fish in troubled waters.
Jeremiah Burroughs

The optimist sees the opportunity in every danger;
the pessimist sees the danger in every opportunity.
Winston Churchill

If a man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him;
for you are worse than he thinks you to be.
Charles Spurgeon

To forgive is to set a prisoner free
and to discover the prisoner was you.
Corrie Ten Boom

You don’t have to give up your intellect to trust the Bible.
You have to give up your pride.
R.C. Sproul

“Books are people,” smiled Miss Marks, “In every book worth reading, the author is there to meet you, to establish contact with you. He takes you into his confidence and reveals his thoughts to you.”
D.E. Stevenson, The Four Graces page 10

Read that last quote and then consider how the Bible fits the description…

I’ll be throwing this post into troubled waters in the morning.

Some quotes to feed you this week:

I write to discover what I know.
I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.
Flannery O’Connor

This is so true about my writing as well. Good old FOC!

To study and not think is a waste.
To think and not study is dangerous.
Confucius

If Truth is on the battlefield,
let her and Falsehood grapple;
Who ever knew Truth put to worse
in a free and open encounter.
John Milton

All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those that wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
JRR Tolkien

For to know a man’s library is,
in some measure,
to know his mind.
Geraldine Brooks

Not all blog posts that glitter are gold and some must wither in the morning.

Half the world is composed of people
who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.
Robert Frost

I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book
and only reading it once.
C.S. Lewis

Vulgarity is no substitute for wit.
Violet Grantham, Downton Abbey

Confidence is silent.
Insecurities are LOUD.
Unknown

The world does not read the Bible,
The world reads Christians.
Charles Spurgeon

If we trust, we do not worry.
If we worry, we do not trust.
Amy Carmichael

Rats, I picked out a bunch of nifty fonts for those quotes, but apparently WordPress does not support them. You’ll just have to imagine them.

Feel free to share quotes you enjoy in the comments.

I’ll probably realize I have nothing to say and keep on saying it in the morning.