Mary Cummings

“In the old testament the rituals of grief mirror the rituals of repentance [....] In light of this, I've asked myself what repentance and grief have in common. If nothing else, both bereavement and contrition bring you to the end of yourself. Sin and sorrow are humiliating. They reveal how weak you are in your own flesh. Both require us to turn in a different direction, to abandon our own plans and move toward God.”
― Amanda Held Opelt, A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing

“In the American Regret Survey, twenty-year-olds had equal numbers of action and inaction regrets. But as people grew older, inaction regrets began to dominate. By age fifty, inaction regrets were twice as common as action regrets. Indeed, according to the data, age was by far the strongest predictor of regrets of inaction. When the universe of opportunities before them has dwindled (as it has with older folks), people seem to regret what they haven't done.”
― Daniel H. Pink, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward

“Most of us will not have to die for our faith, though it might come to that, even for those living in the West. But we will all face moments when we will have to choose between Christ and something else that vies for our ultimate allegiance.”
― Gerald Sittser

“Far from condoning sin, his love has found a way to expose it (because he is light) and to consume it (because he is fire) without destroying the sinner, but rather saving him.”
― John R. W. Scott