I once listened to an Indian on television say that God was in the wind and the water, and I wondered at how beautiful that was because it meant you could swim in Him or have Him brush your face in a breeze. I am early in my story, but I believe I will stretch out into eternity, and in heaven I will reflect upon these early days, these days when it seemed God was down a dirt road, walking toward me. Years ago He was a swinging speck in the distance; now He is close enough I can hear His singing. Soon I will see the lines on His face.

- excerpt from Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller

When I was a girl, my life was music that was always getting louder. Everything moved me. A dog following a stranger. That made me feel so much. A calendar that showed the wrong month. I could have cried over it. I did. Where the smoke from a chimney ended. How an overturned bottle rested on the edge of a table.

I spent my life learning to feel less.

Everyday I feel less.

Is that growing old? Or is it something worse?

You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness.

- excerpt from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

“And what if you hadn’t met me?” he would ask her. “I don’t know, but you’re here, you see . . .” For some reason the answer made the question worthless, it showed the logical basis of ordinary common sense. After that Oliveira would feel better able to resist his bookish prejudices, and paradoxically La Maga would fight off her disdain for scholarly knowledge. Thus they went along, Punch and Judy, attracting each other and repelling, as love must do if it is not to end up as calendar art or a pop tune. But love, that word . . .

- Hopscotch, Julio Cortazar

not so long ago happiness was having you as the last thing on my mind, and going to sleep knowing i was the last thing on your mind, too.

it has been a long and tearful struggle, both internally and with God. i am rethinking my priorities, my allegiances, and my idea of ‘happiness’. a wise person once said it is not a thing to be pursued and grasped. much like a lovely, elusive butterfly. the danger is that it can become a frustrating wild-goose chase. the danger, for me, was that for so long i was not able to give up my claim to my right to myself- my right to my own self-centred idea of happiness.

and as for you. you were the happiness that came to me, but never was mine to keep.

There comes a time when we have to choose who or what will control us. Will it be God, our own limited personality, or another imperfect substitute?
- excerpt from footnotes from The Life Application Study Bible

It struck me today that a big part of life really is about the continuous process of making choices. From the smallest to the largest. And in every choice if I could perceive how His will comes into play, then on paper the decision ought to be clear-cut enough. In which case it would then boil down to a question of conscious obedience, as well as faith to let go and let God.

Watching this video moved me almost to tears and I’ll burst if I don’t share it with someone.. The emotion is just so raw and the improvisation wild and bold, but not without structure. The more airy, atmospheric bits are excellent as well in a very understated kind of way. Many label this as a marriage between classical and jazz – think along the lines of Chopin/Debussy/Satie meets Bill Evans/Keith Jarrett sort of thing. Enjoy the video, the interview at the end is also very worth watching. There are 7 parts to this documentary which you can find on Youtube.

I can be very involved in it, and also one part of my brain can be thinking about some really banal stupid shit, like I have to go the bathroom… or you know, did I leave my wallet in the hotel..

- Brad Mehldau, on what happens in him when he plays

And this is a pause worth savouring, because the world will soon be complicated again.

-excerpt from if nobody speaks of remarkable things by jon mcgregor

Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

The words “weight of glory” conjure up images of the ancient pan scale. Remember the blindfolded lady of justice? She holds a pan scale- two pans, one on either side of the needle. The weight of a purchase would be determined by placing weights on one side and the purchase on the other.

God does the same with your struggles. On one side he stacks all your burdens. Famines. Firings. Parents who forgot you. Bosses who ignored you. Bad breaks, bad health, bad days. Stack them up, and watch one side of the pan scale plummet.

Now witness God’s response. Does he remove them? Eliminate the burdens? No, rather than take them, he offsets them. He places an eternal weight of glory on the other side. Endless joy. Measureless peace. An eternity of him. Watch what happens as he sets eternity on your scale.

Everything changes! The burdens lift. The heavy becomes light when weighed against eternity. If life is “just a moment,” can’t we endure any challenge for a moment?

We can be sick for just a moment.

We can be lonely for just a moment.

We can be persecuted for just a moment.

We can struggle for just a moment.

Can’t we?

Can’t we wait for our peace? It’s not about us anyway. And it’s certainly not about now.

- excerpt from “It’s Not About Me” by Max Lucado

God unfolds His will progressively, and it must be followed progressively. Each step must be according to God’s particular way for you. God does not reveal His will by floodlighting the area in front of you.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

The picture here is that of a shepherd carrying an oil lamp, as he makes his way home in the night time darkness across the craggy hillsides. As he takes one step, the light swings forward just in time for him to see where he is to put his next step. And so he goes on, step by step. That is how the will of God unfolds for you.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

- Colin Dye, senior pastor of Kensington Temple

And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever.

That’s what stories are for.

Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are.

Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.

- Excerpt from ‘The Things They Carried’, a novel by Tim O’Brien.