faith

"We worship…the powers that speak to our souls, if it seems they do. We do so knowing there is more to the world, and the half-world, and perhaps worlds beyond, than we can grasp. We always knew that. We can’t even stop children from dying, how would we presume to understand the truth of things? Behind things? Does the presence of one power deny another? [p. 176]"

"Belief creates the actual fact."

"Love taught me to die with dignity that I might come forth anew in splendor. Born once of flesh, then again of fire, I was reborn a third time to the sound of my name humming haikus in heaven’s mouth."

"Pursue your dreams. You will be amazed about what you can achieve."

"I wouldn't burden any decent system of faith by participating in it... I'm not agnostic. Just nonpartisan. Theological Switzerland, that's me."

"If you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another name?"

"We tend to be preoccupied by our problems when we have a heightened sense of vulnerability and a diminished sense of power. Today, see each problem as an invitation to prayer."

"In the beginning there was faith - which is childish; trust - which is vain; and illusion - which is dangerous."

"We are not on this planet to ask forgiveness of our deities"

"When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly."

"To truly try means to accept God's love, his healing, to accept the world can be ugly, but your heart doesn't have to be. It takes courage, Finley the warrior. You haven't held on to your anger and bitterness in search of healing, but as a banner of your hurt. Because it's real and visible and strong, "she said. "But so is God's love and so are those arms he's holding out for you."

"In tough and desperate times when your creativity begs to be birthed, loose the confines of the ground; stand up in your faith and walk atop the waves…"

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.(John 11:25-26)"

"(About changing faith) At our best, Christians embrace it, leaving enough space within orthodoxy for God to surprise us every now and then."

"Always have faith in yourself and the universe, for one will not get you anywhere without the other. Both must be equally strong to reach your desires, for they are the wings that will lift you to your dreams."

"There had to be dark and muddy waters so that the sun could have something to background it's flashing glory."

"Leaving your religion and having to invent your own system of values is a big deal, after all."

"Day after day, day after day,We stuck, nor breath nor motion;As idle as a painted shipUpon a painted ocean."

"I have lost the consolation of faith/ though not the ambition to worship"

"What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts."