Jean

“The path to health, for an individual or a society, must begin by taking pain into account. Instead, we silence pain when we should be straining our ears to hear it; we eat too fast and too much and take a seltzer; we work too long and too hard and take a tranquilizer. The three best selling drugs in the United States are a hypertension drug, a medication for ulcers, and a tranquilizer. These pain-mufflers are readily available because even the medical profession seems to look upon pain as the illness rather than the symptom.”
― Paul Brand and Philip Yancey

“Though there were many auspicious signs that preceded and accompanied Jesus's birth that might have prepared us for something kingly and special, the birth of Jesus was of the humblest peasant parentage in an unimportant town and in the lowest conceivable of buildings, a stable. After his birth he moved from there to a despised portion of the country, Galilee, to an unsavory town, Nazareth. As he grew up, he took a blue-collar job as a carpenter. He achieved a measure of notice as an adult when he was a rabbi with several men and women following him, but even then he went out of his way to reject marks of status by touching lepers, washing the feet of his followers, befriending little children, letting women become prominent in his entourage, and finally being crucified under the most humiliating circumstances.
Everything about Jesus spoke of servitude.”
― Eugene H. Peterson, As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God

“The message of the gospel is that God invades us with new life, and the life changes what we presently are. He is not a means by which we solve problems. He is not a means to avoid problems. He creates new life. He is not a problem solver but a person creator.”
― Eugene H. Peterson, Every Step an Arrival: A 90-Day Devotional for Exploring God's Word

“A Prayer While You Wait.
May God visit you with patience in your season of waiting. May the barren landscape of your adversity become the fertile soil of new growth. May the God of grace revive your spirit and give you back your laughter. May you find God with you in your pain and trustworthy as you wait. May the one who restores what's been taken, meet you in the desert and journey with you to the other side.
Amen.”
― Cam Taylor, Detour: A Roadmap For When Life Gets Rerouted