Shannon

“Everyone gets an identity from something. Everyone must say to himself or herself, “I’m significant because of This” and “I’m acceptable because I’m welcomed by Them.” But then whatever This is and whoever They are, these things become virtual gods to us, and the deepest truths about who we are. They become things we must have under any circumstances. I recently spoke to a man who had been in meetings in which a financial institution decided to invest in a new technology. Privately, the individuals in the room admitted to him that they had real reservations about the effect of the technology on society. They thought it would eliminate many jobs for every one new job it produced, and that it might be bad for the youth who would primarily use it. But to walk away from the deal would have meant leaving billions of dollars on the table. And no one could imagine doing that. When financial success commands allegiance that is unconditional and that cannot be questioned, it functions as a religious object, a god, even a “salvation.”2”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God's Mercy

“It was as if, because of the very strangeness of my heritage and the worlds I straddled, I was from everywhere and nowhere at once, a combination of ill-fitting parts, like a platypus or some imaginary beast, confined to a fragile habitat, unsure of where I belonged. And I sensed, without fully understanding why or how, that unless I could stitch my life together and situate myself along some firm axis, I might end up in some basic way living my life alone.”
― Barack Obama, A Promised Land

“Missionary kids are called. But they are called to God Himself. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. After that it could be to a small town in England, a large city in North America, a tenured professorship at a university, a foreign service position with the state department. Rarely does our call look the same as that of our parents. Our journey often begins through the faith and calling of our parents, rooted in the past but grown and sustained through our own decisions of faith.”
― Marilyn R. Gardner, Between Worlds: Essays on Culture and Belonging

“Out of a desire to clear the air, you might be the first to acknowledge what you perceive to be the mistakes you made, might be the first to apologize because you’ve been made to feel as if you are the flaw in the equation. A concession can allow you to remain plagued with shame-based thoughts like, Maybe I am making too much of this. I shouldn’t have made such a fuss. They don’t deserve this. After all, I could have done more to prevent it.”
― Wade Mullen, Something's Not Right: Decoding the Hidden Tactics of Abuse--and Freeing Yourself from Its Power