Holly

“What I learned at divinity school, and later, seminary, is that there was a story about Jesus that won out. There was a version of Christ that was created in the 4th century. Emperor Constantine in 313, by a single edict, converted Christianity from this struggling, persecuted, and forbidden religion—the one Perpetua died for—to a state religion redefined by men.”
― Meggan Watterson, Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel & the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet

“Those stories show that power is not always revealed in action. Nuri Bey could easily have overpowered his wife and discovered her secrets, but by preserving her privacy he maintains his power. In general, we keep our power when we protect the power of others.”
― Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul: Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life

“62. O Zeus, our Father! Thou would’st deliver men from all the evils that oppress them 63. If thou wouldst show them the daimon of whom they make use. 64. But take courage; the race of man is divine.”
― Pythagoras, The Pythagorean Golden Verses & Hierocles' Commentary: An Ancient Handbook of Mystic Philosophy

“Start practicing contemplation and watch how this spiritual exercise makes a difference in your life. When contemplation is genuine, it’s nothing but a sudden impulse coming out of nowhere and flying up to God like a spark from a burning coal.8 It’s awesome to count how many times your soul stirs like that in an hour, but, of these, you may only have one instance when you suddenly realize you’ve completely forgotten every attachment you have on earth. You’ll also notice that, because of our human frailty, each impulse rising to God immediately falls to earth in the form of a thought about something you’ve done or something that is still on your list to do. But so what? Right after that, it rises up again as fast as it did before.”
― Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing with the Book of Privy Counsel: A New Translation