Noah

“In a world where success is the measure and justification of all things the figure of Him who was sentenced and crucified remains a stranger and is at best the object of pity. The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success. It is not ideas or opinions which decide, but deeds. Success alone justifies wrongs done. . . . With a frankness and off-handedness which no other earthly power could permit itself, history appeals in its own cause to the dictum that the end justifies the means. . . . The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success for its standard.”
― Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

“Kenneth Clark referred to Leonardo’s “inhumanly sharp eye.” It’s a nice phrase, but misleading. Leonardo was human. The acuteness of his observational skill was not some superpower he possessed. Instead, it was a product of his own effort. That’s important, because it means that we can, if we wish, not just marvel at him but try to learn from him by pushing ourselves to look at things more curiously and intensely. In his notebook, he described his method—almost like a trick—for closely observing a scene or object: look carefully and separately at each detail. He compared it to looking at the page of a book, which is meaningless when taken in as a whole and instead needs to be looked at word by word. Deep observation must be done in steps: “If you wish to have a sound knowledge of the forms of objects, begin with the details of them, and do not go on to the second step until you have the first well fixed in memory.”
― Walter Isaacson, Leonardo da Vinci

“Don’t come to Jesus and try to be intellectually stimulating to Him. There’s nothing you could say that would cause Him to respond, “Wow, that’s a neat insight!” You may as well abort all attempts to be cerebral with Jesus; He simply doesn’t try to engage us at that level. Just come and love Him. He’s looking for heartfelt sincerity, for visceral passion, for authentic relationship.”
― Bob Sorge, Secrets of the Secret Place

“Sin is like a cancer; God’s presence is like radiation on that cancer.”
― Bob Sorge, Secrets of the Secret Place