Here and there even in our world, and now and then, even in ourselves, we catch glimpeses of a New Creation, which, fleeting as those glipmses are apt to be, give us hope both for this life and for whatever life may await us later on. Frederick Buechner More Quotes by Frederick Buechner More Quotes From Frederick Buechner We find by losing. We hold fast by letting go. We become something new by ceasing to be something old. This seems to be close to the heart of that mystery. I know no more now than I ever did about the far side of death as the last letting-go of all, but now I know that I do not need to know, and that I do not need to be afraid of not knowing. God knows. That is all that matters. Frederick Buechner letting-go heart death Beneath our clothes, our reputations, our pretensions, beneath our religion or lack of it, we are all vulnerable both to the storm without and the storm within. Frederick Buechner storm reputation clothes God doesn't reveal his grand design. He reveals Himself. Frederick Buechner design Listen to your life. All moments are key moments. Frederick Buechner inspirational-life keys spiritual To be commanded to love God at all, let alone in the wilderness, is like being commanded to be well when we are sick, to sing for joy when we are dying of thirst, to run when our legs are broken. But this is the first and great commandment nonetheless. Even in the wilderness - especially in the wilderness - you shall love him. Frederick Buechner sick faith running For as long as you remember me, I am never entirely lost. Frederick Buechner lost remember long Faith is stepping out into the unknown with nothing to guide us but a hand just beyond our grasp. Frederick Buechner guides hands You can survive on your own; you can grow strong on your own; you can prevail on your own; but you cannot become human on your own. Frederick Buechner grows strong humans If the truth is worth telling, it is worth making a fool of yourself to tell it. Frederick Buechner making-a-fool-of-yourself truth-is fool Being a good steward of your pain. . . . It involves being alive to your life. It involves taking the risk of being open, of reaching out, of keeping in touch with the pain as well as the joy of what happens because at no time more than at a painful time do we live out of the depths of who we are instead of out of the shallows. Frederick Buechner risk pain joy The birth of Jesus made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it. Frederick Buechner understanding way jesus Lord, I believe; help my unbelief' is the best any of us can do really, but thank God it is enough. Frederick Buechner religious faith god To be a saint is to be a little out of one's mind, which is a very good thing to be a little out of from time to time. It is to live a life that is always giving itself away and yet is always full. Frederick Buechner saint mind giving Beneath the worst the world can do, there is always the glimmer of the best. Frederick Buechner worst can-do world When [our secrets] are sad and hurtful secrets, like my father's death, we can in a way honor the hurt by letting ourselves feel it as we never let ourselves feel it before, and then, having felt it, by laying it aside; we can start to take care of ourselves the way we take care of people we love. Frederick Buechner hurt father people the story of any one of us is in some measure the story of us all Frederick Buechner stories In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. You are aware of the beating of your heart. The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment. Frederick Buechner extraordinary-moments names heart Turn around and believe that the good news that we are loved is better than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and toward it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world the gladdest thing of all. Amen, and come Lord Jesus. Frederick Buechner news believe jesus In honesty you have to admit to a wise man that prayer is not for the wise, not for the prudent, not for the sophisticated. Instead it is for those who recognize that in face of their deepest needs, all their wisdom is quite helpless. It is for those who are willing to persist in doing something that is both childish and crucial. Frederick Buechner honesty prayer wise Maybe at the heart of all our traveling is the dream of someday, somehow, getting Home. Frederick Buechner dream home heart
