Lillian Daniel > Quotes

“Church is a school for sinners, not a club of saints.”
― Lillian Daniel, When "Spiritual but Not Religious" Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church

“It is not coincidence that Jesus said both, "Love your neighbor," and, "Love your enemy," because often they are the same person.”
― Lillian Daniel, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers

“Even when ministry is hard, it's more fun than any other job I can imagine. Where else can you preach, teach, meet with a lead abatement specialist, and get arrested for civil disobedience all in the same week?”
― Lillian Daniel, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers

“Being privately spiritual but not religious just doesn't interest me. There is nothing challenging about having deep thoughts all by oneself. What is interesting is doing this work in community, where other people might call you on stuff or, heaven forbid, disagree with you. When life with God gets rich and provocative is when you dig deeply into a tradition that you did not invent all for yourself.”
― Lillian Daniel, When "Spiritual but Not Religious" Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church

“There's never a perfect time to celebrate. But there is a limited time in life to celebrate.”
― Lillian Daniel, When "Spiritual but Not Religious" Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church

“Let God be mysterious. Let your worship be welcoming.”
― Lillian Daniel, Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don't Belong To: Spirituality without Stereotypes, Religion without Ranting

“I remember sitting at the back of the sanctuary, reviewing my notes for my very first seminary-intern sermon. It was to be a mighty word from God that would correct all the hypocrisy, greed, and faithlessness of the local church that was, nonetheless, supporting my education as they had supported that of so many others. As I mustered my courage to sock it to them, I overheard one woman lean across her walker and whisper loudly to her pew mate, 'Ah, our new intern is preaching. I see it's time for our annual scolding.”
― Lillian Daniel, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers

“Pastors are generalists. In fact, we are among the last generalists in a culture that draws people into ever-narrower areas of specialization.”
― Lillian Daniel, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers

“When you check out in fear, you may miss God's message.”
― Lillian Daniel, When "Spiritual but Not Religious" Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church

“That kind of thinking, that reluctance to ask God for what we really want, is arrogance posing as humility. It seems humble to not ask God for our own desires, and to put other larger matters first. But doing that.srems to imply that we have power in all this. As if by asking God to cure diabetes before asking for a raise, we might actually affect God's priorities.”
― Lillian Daniel, When "Spiritual but Not Religious" Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church

“Whenever [Jesus] did good things in the world, whenever he was healing and teaching, the people accused him of doing magic tricks and working with the devil.

It's easy to be critical of other people's skills, but much harder to see the Holy Spirit at work in the gifts and talents of others. It's not easy to keep those demons of petty jealousy at bay.”
― Lillian Daniel, When "Spiritual but Not Religious" Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church

“I knew I wanted to study the church, but I had no inkling what it might mean to lead one. I could barely put together the words to name a call to ministry. The best I could articulate was a rather vague 'call to divinity school.' Still, that acceptance letter gave me a new talking point at my parents' cocktail parties.”
― Lillian Daniel, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers

“How cruel it seemed to me that people in the grip of delusion often turned to God, only to dredge up some punishing version.”
― Lillian Daniel, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers

“That kind of thinking, that reluctance to ask God for what we really want, is arrogance posing as humility. It seems humble to not ask God for our own desires, and to put other larger matters first. But doing that seems to imply that we have power in all this. As if by asking God to cure diabetes before asking for a raise, we might actually affect God's priorities.”
― Lillian Daniel, When "Spiritual but Not Religious" Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church

“At my daughter's elementary school musical, the printed program modestly explained: "This musical was originally written for 15 actors, but it has been adapted to accommodate our cast of 206.”
― Lillian Daniel, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers