Jennifer

“And so it seems to me now right that the two people who mean most to my life, the old man who gazed entranced at the butterflies in my parents’ garden and the child Mary, should have been physically the most parted from me. With both there was only the one meeting, yet they are now more to me than even Ambrose or Jenny. I never grieved that I did not see the old man again and I will set myself to learn not to grieve because I shall not see Mary again. The broken relationship, touched by God, is whole and perfect as it could not have been if there had been the normal sequence of human misunderstandings. I am so thankful for all I have learned here, for the treasure hid in a field. It’s not the final treasure, it’s merely a shadow of coming knowledge, not knowledge itself.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Scent of Water

“Who indeed knows the secret of the earthly pilgrimage? Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die? Who knows what keeps us living and struggling, while all things break about us? Who knows why the warm flesh of a child is such comfort, when one’s own child is lost and cannot be recovered? Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle, is beyond all human wisdom. Oh God, my God, do not Thou forsake me. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, if Thou art with me….”
― Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country

“contention, and whatsoever may injure charity and lessen brotherly love. Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy on those that crave Thy mercy; give grace to them that stand in need thereof; and grant that we may be worthy to enjoy Thy grace, and attain to everlasting life. Amen.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Heart of the Family

“You do the duty of the tasks at hand,” he lectured himself in a whisper, prompting the man sitting opposite to lift his eyes from the Times. “You keep faith with your responsibilities and your vocation, and you love the souls you’ve brought into the world, and the souls God brings into your life. You work and you pray. You try to turn everything into prayer, and you practice hope. You keep your eyes trained on the true horizon.” Anyway, that was his theory—one that he believed was true. The praxis was more difficult.”
― Michael D. O'Brien, The Sabbatical: A Novel