Emily

“The rescue of drowning men is, then, a duty worth dying for, but not worth living for.”
― C.S. Lewis, How to Be a Christian: Reflections and Essays

“Sometimes, it can be helpful to have a silent meal to help us practice mindful eating. That way, we can focus our attention on our breath, the food, and the company around us in order to become fully present in the here and now.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Eat

“The Great Divorce where the main character witnesses the spectacle of a heavenly parade with shining angels, saints, and animals flowing and dancing around a luminous woman who was so beautiful she was almost “unbearable” to behold. At first the observer thinks she must be Eve or Mary, the mother of Jesus. But he is told that, no, it is Sarah Smith, who lived as a suburban London housewife. In heaven, though, she is counted as one of the “great ones.” How did she get this status? Because in her ordinary life, she became mother to every young man, woman, boy, girl, dog, or cat she encountered, loving them all in a way that made them more loveable and more eager to love others.”
― C.S. Lewis, How to Be a Christian: Reflections and Essays

“Prayer means the shedding of thoughts.”33 “The mind during prayer,” writes Ignatius, “must be carefully kept formless, rejecting all imagination . . . Images, if the mind admits them, become a curtain and a wall which separate the soul from God.”
― Ignatius Brianchaninov, On the Prayer of Jesus: The Classic Guide to the Practice of Unceasing Prayer Found in The Way of a Pilgrim