Aimee Keller

“In sin, we come unplugged. When we refuse the givenness of life and withdraw from the present moment, we’re left to wander the world undead. Zombie-like, we wander from one moment to the next with no other goal than to get somewhere else, be someone else, see something else—anywhere, anyone, anything other than what is given here and now. We’re busy. We’ve got goals and projects. We’ve got plans. We’ve got fantasies. We’ve got daydreams. We’ve got regrets and memories. We’ve got opinions. We’ve got distractions. We’ve got games and songs and movies and a thousand TV shows. We’ve got anything and everything other than a first-hand awareness of our own lived experience of the present moment.”
― Adam S. Miller, Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mormon Theology

“Also, don’t be that fool who runs around yelling: “The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Once upon a time the world was good! The old days were so much better! The world is about to end!” This is nonsense. There is nothing new under the sun. The world is as it has ever been: full of hungry, selfish, ignorant people who can’t see what’s right in front of them. Wisdom, like a windfall, can be good if you find it. It can help you see things for what they are. It can help protect you from your own foolishness. But wisdom has its limits. Consider”
― Adam S. Miller, Nothing New Under the Sun: A Blunt Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes

“People just want to feel full. Hunger, though, is eternal. On this score, what advantage do the wise have over fools? What advantage comes from knowing how to get ahead? It’s better to learn how to be content with what’s right in front of your eyes than to perpetually stoke your cravings with plans and fantasies. Nothing’s more futile than daydreams. Wishing things were different can’t change the fact that things happen as they must. Wishing for a different world can’t change the fact that God knew from the start how everything would end. It’s useless to argue with God about your fate. God’s plans are unfathomable. The more time you spend propping up your fantasies with fancy words and careful arguments, the less you’ll actually accomplish. What made you think more words would help? Words can’t fix this! You can barely tie your shoes, why would you think that you—you of all people!—would be the one who finally, actually, understood the world and knew what was best in life? No. Life is short. Wisdom is rare. The future is obscure.”
― Adam S. Miller, Nothing New Under the Sun: A Blunt Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes

“Grace isn’t God’s improvised response to sin. Sin is our ongoing refusal of God’s already given grace.”
― Adam S. Miller, Grace Is Not God's Backup Plan: An Urgent Paraphrase of Paul's Letter to the Romans