I don't want to end up a bureaucrat in the time-management business for God or a librarian cataloguing timeless truths. Salvation is kicking in the womb of creation right now, any time now. Pay attention. Eugene H. Peterson More Quotes by Eugene H. Peterson More Quotes From Eugene H. Peterson The Bible makes it clear that every time that there is a story of faith, it is completely original. God's creative genius is endless. Eugene H. Peterson faith god bible Jesus almost never talked in terms of explaining. He was always using enigmatic stories and difficult metaphors. He was always pulling people into some kind of participation. Eugene H. Peterson people art jesus The silence that makes it possible to hear God speak also makes it possible for us to hear the world's words for what they really are - tinny and unconvincing lies. Eugene H. Peterson silence god lying It's essential for us to develop an imagination that is participatory. Art is the primary way in which this happens. It's the primary way in which we become what we see or hear. Eugene H. Peterson essentials imagination art It is easier to find guides, someone to tell you what to do, than someone to be with you in a discerning, prayerful companionship as you work it out yourself. This is what spiritual direction is. Eugene H. Peterson companionship easier spiritual Stories are verbal acts of hospitality. Eugene H. Peterson hospitality stories People are not problems to be solved. They are mysteries to be explored. Eugene H. Peterson mystery problem people The religious leader is the most untrustworthy of leaders; in no other station do we have so many opportunities for pride, covetousness and lust, and with so many excellent disguises to keep such ignobility from being found out and called to account. Eugene H. Peterson pride religious opportunity If you keep the Sabbath, you start to see creation not as somewhere to get away from your ordinary life, but a place to frame an attentiveness to your life. Eugene H. Peterson sabbath creation ordinary There's nobody who doesn't have problems with the church, because there's sin in the church. But there's no other place to be a Christian except the church. Eugene H. Peterson church problem christian Real faith is refined in the fires and storms of pain. Eugene H. Peterson pain religious faith Church is the textured context in which we grow up in Christ to maturity. But church is difficult. Sooner or later, though, if we are serious about growing up in Christ, we have to deal with church. I say sooner. Eugene H. Peterson growing-up maturity church The Latin words humus, soil/earth, and homo, human being, have a common derivation, from which we also get our word 'humble.' This is the Genesis origin of who we are: dust - dust that the Lord God used to make us a human being. If we cultivate a lively sense of our origin and nurture a sense of continuity with it, who knows, we may also acquire humility. Eugene H. Peterson humility humble latin Every call to worship is a call into the Real World.... I encounter such constant and widespread lying about reality each day and meet with such skilled and systematic distortion of the truth that I'm always in danger of losing my grip on reality. The reality, of course, is that God is sovereign and Christ is savior. The reality is that prayer is my mother tongue and the eucharist my basic food. The reality is that baptism, not Myers-Briggs, defines who I am. Eugene H. Peterson real prayer mother God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves. Eugene H. Peterson plot stories Pity can be nearsighted and condescending; shared suffering can be dignifying and life-changing. Eugene H. Peterson pity life-changing suffering The most important thing a pastor does is stand in a pulpit every Sunday and say, 'Let us worship God.' If that ceases to be the primary thing I do in terms of my energy, my imagination, and the way I structure my life, then I no longer function as a pastor. Eugene H. Peterson sunday important imagination The Bible is not a script for a funeral service, but it is the record of God always bringing life where we expected to find death. Everywhere it is the story of resurrection. Eugene H. Peterson records funeral stories It is not easy to convey a sense of wonder, let alone resurrection wonder, to another. It’s the very nature of wonder to catch us off guard, to circumvent expectations and assumptions. Wonder can’t be packaged, and it can’t be worked up. It requires some sense of being there and some sense of engagement. Eugene H. Peterson engagement expectations jesus Repentance is a realization that what God wants from you and what you want from God are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, thinking the same old thoughts. Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace. Repentance is the most practical of all words and the most practical of all acts. It is a feet-on-the-ground-kind-of-word. It puts a person in touch with the reality that God creates. Eugene H. Peterson reality jesus thinking
