Charity

“William Cavanaugh believes that desire in a consumeristic society keeps us distracted from the desires of those who are truly hungry.8 It numbs us not only by encouraging us to want more and more but also by negating our God-given desire to work toward the common good. Consumeristic societies, like the one I live in, only exist by making the individual supreme. Everywhere we look there are people who are seen by God in an empire that despises and devalues them, even as it exploits them for profit. Learning not just to see but to learn from them is the only cure I know for finding our way out of the never-ending maze of the American Dream.”
― D.L. Mayfield, The Myth of the American Dream: Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety, and Power

“When a father leads his four-year-old son down a crowded street, he takes him by the hand and says, “Hold on to me.” He doesn’t say, “Memorize the map” or “Take your chances dodging the traffic” or “Let’s see if you can find your way home.” The good father gives the child one responsibility: “Hold on to my hand.”
― Max Lucado, Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World

“We think of a prospective spouse as primarily a lover (or a provider), and if he or she can be a friend on top of that, well isn’t that nice! We should be going at it the other way around. Screen first for friendship. Look for someone who understands you better than you do yourself, who makes you a better person just by being around them. And then explore whether that friendship could become a romance and a marriage. So many people go about their dating starting from the wrong end, and they end up in marriages that aren’t really about anything and aren’t going anywhere.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

“Jesus knew what it meant to never be at home in your own place.”
― D.L. Mayfield, Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith