Sam D. Kim > Quotes

“Faith isn’t opposed to doubt; it is actually part of the process. In fact, you could go so far as to say that faith apart from doubt isn’t faith at all. Faith is born out of the crucible of doubt.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“...the invitation of the gospel is a promise of safe harbor for all those who doubt and weep and those who are barely holding on and ripping at the seams. Jesus invites all those who are weary to come to him and fall apart and find rest.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“Faith is the echo and eternity is the origin.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“At the heart of God there are no liberals or conservatives, blue states or red states. There aren’t even Christians or atheists. He sees only Lost and Found. These are the only labels that heaven counts.”
― Sam D. Kim , A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“The psalmist writes in Psalm 42:7 that the “deep calls unto the deep. Sometimes many confuse this inconsolable longing as a form of chronic anxiety, or something gone wrong when it is a holy haunting for the presence of God. The deep calling unto the deep is no other than the voice of God echoing from eternity. Faith is the echo and eternity is the origin.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“As part of NASA’s Child Star program, a student asked NASA scientists a question so seemingly rudimentary that the assistance of a “literal” rocket scientist in answering it felt more than a little unnecessary. “What is gravity?” the student asked. Shockingly, the NASA scientists shrugged: NASA scientist 1: “We don’t really know: We can define what it is as a field of influence because we know how it operates in the universe.” NASA scientist 2: “Actually, some scientists think that it is made up of particles called gravitons which travel at the speed of light.” NASA scientist 1: “However, if we are to be honest, we do not know what gravity ‘is’ in any fundamental way—we only know how it behaves.”19”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap but a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“faith is often messy and tumultuous. What has typically been valued in Christian spirituality is an unhealthy dependency on certainty that leaves little room for ambiguity. As a result, the church in the west is now facing a sprawling migrant crisis of its own making, with millions of spiritual refugees displaced somewhere between apostasy and heresy, and who find asylum by default in agnosticism.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap but a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“In many ways, I now realize that it was far easier for God to remove the stone that was guarding Jesus' tomb than the pride guarding my own heart. For the former could not resist, but the latter can. Miracles in themselves cannot resolve all the doubts or produce faith in the way that many assume. A miracle did not do so for me, nor did it do so for the disciples. I know Thomas adamantly declared that he would only believe if he felt Jesus' hands and feet, but Jesus complying with his request wasn't a miracle; it was instead an act of love.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” Psalm 139:1-12 (NIV)”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap but a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“The psalmist writes in Psalm 42:7 that the “deep calls unto the deep. Sometimes many confuse this inconsolable longing as a form of chronic anxiety, or something gone wrong when it is a holy haunting for the presence of God. The deep calling unto the deep is no other than the voice of God echoing from eternity.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“Spiritual growth is in many ways like the tumultuous changes that occur during physical adolescence, except this time the change is taking place in the inner workings of the soul rather than the body. This is why I've coined this transformative process 'Spiritual Puberty'.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“At our core, the need to belong is what makes us human.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap but a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another

“Like the iconic song by the Beatles, the journey of faith is a "long and winding road" and not a straight path. Faith isn't monolithic or one-size-fits-all. It isn't linear, but is instead sinuous. Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. God is a great artist and the Bible tells us he is painting a masterpiece and we are his canvas; except he isn't finished yet. Thus, we might not be able to connect the dots in our lives just yet, since dots often only make sense in reverse.”
― Sam D. Kim, A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn't a Leap But a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another