That's the sacred intent of life, of God--to move us continuously toward growth, toward recovering all that is lost and orphaned within us and restoring the divine image imprinted on our soul. Sue Monk Kidd More Quotes by Sue Monk Kidd More Quotes From Sue Monk Kidd It takes a bee 10,000,000 trips to collect enough nectar to make 1 pound of honey. Sue Monk Kidd poundsbeeshoney A moment of grace. There rose up within me a profound sense of being loved. I felt "gathered together" and encircled by a Presence completely loving, as if I were enveloped by the music of a love song created just for me. It was not overwhelming or even emotional. Just a warm knowing that I was in God's loving embrace...centered and unified there. [Love]encounters cannot be analyzed, only shared. If you take a butterfly, Robert Frost said, and pin it down into a box, you no longer have a butterfly. Sue Monk Kidd butterflyemotionalsong If someone should ask me, 'What does the soul do?' I would say, It does two things. It loves. And it creates. Those are its primary acts. Sue Monk Kidd souldoetwo I think many people need, even require, a narrative version of their life. I seem to be one of them. Writing memoir is, in some ways, a work of wholeness. Sue Monk Kidd writingpeoplethinking So I taught Sunday school and brought dishes to all manner of potlucks and tried to adjust the things I heard from the pulpit to my increasingly incongruent faith. Sue Monk Kidd taughtsundayschool The only way I have ever understood, broken free, emerged, healed, forgiven, flourished, and grown powerful is by asking the hardest questions and then living into the answers through opening up to my own terror and transmuting it into creativity. I have gotten nowhere by retreating into hand-me-down sureties or resisting the tensions that truth ignited. Sue Monk Kidd creativitypowerfulhands There is no place so awake and alive as the edge of becoming. But more than that, birthing the kind of woman who can authentically say, 'My soul is my own,' and then embody it in her life, her spirituality, and her community is worth the risk and hardship. Sue Monk Kidd riskcommunitysoul There is no place so AWAKE and ALIVE as the edge of becoming. Sue Monk Kidd awakebecomingalive Journal became a sanctuary where I could pour out in honesty my pain and joy. It recorded my footsteps and helped me understand where I was standing, where I had been, and even where God pointed. Sue Monk Kidd honestypainjoy The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters. Sue Monk Kidd hardestwhat-mattersearth It only meant that my natural inclination was to draw my "energy" from within instead of seeking it outside myself, plus my mom was an introvcert, and so were a lot of normal people. The problem was I was shy on top of that. And we all know how the world loves a shy introvert. Sue Monk Kidd world-lovemompeople Nothing is fair in this world. You might as well get that straight right now Sue Monk Kidd fairnessmightworld I hadn't been out to the hives before, so to start off she gave me a lesson in what she called 'bee yard etiquette'. She reminded me that the world was really one bee yard, and the same rules work fine in both places. Don't be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don't be an idiot; wear long sleeves and pants. Don't swat. Don't even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates while whistling melts a bee's temper. Act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved. Sue Monk Kidd beeslongthinking Every living creature on the earth is special. You want to be the one that puts an end to one of them? Sue Monk Kidd special-youearthwant Nobody around here had ever seen a lady beekeeper till her. She liked to tell everybody that women made the best beekeepers, 'cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting. It comes from years of loving children and husbands. Sue Monk Kidd womenhusbandchildren How could I choose someone who would force me to give up my own small reach for meaning? I chose myself, and without consolation. Sue Monk Kidd consolationforcegiving-up I felt someone should personally thank every rock out there for the human misery it had absorbed. We should kiss them one by one & say, we are sorry, but something strong & lasting had to do this for May, & you are the chosen ones. God bless your rock hearts. Sue Monk Kidd strongsorryheart There's a gap somehow between empathy and activism. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of 'soul force' - something that emanates from a deep truth inside of us and empowers us to act. Once you identify your inner genius, you will be able to take action, whether it's writing a check or digging a well. Sue Monk Kidd empathykingswriting Unraveling external selves and coming home to our real identity is the true meaning of soul work. Sue Monk Kidd realselfhome I realize that I can be with someone, but on a deeper level I'm not available to them at all. I have attention deficit disorder of the soul. Sue Monk Kidd levelssoulattention
