Living Water Quotes

"If any man thirst, let him come and drink from the rivers of living water" (cf. John 7:38). Where shall he who thirsts come? To heretics where the fountain and river of water is in no way life-giving? Or to the Church, which is One? ~ Cyprian

Passion is...it's fire. And fire is great, man. But we're made of water. Water is how we keep living. Water is what we need to survive. ~ Taylor Jenkins Reid

You have to dig a well before you can draw water from it. ~ Richie Norton

Fathers and teachers, what is hell? I think it is the suffering of one who can no longer love. Once, in the infinity of existence unmeasurable by time or space, a spiritual creature, upon its appearance on earth, is given the power to say: "I am and I love." Once, and only for a moment, is that creature given the knowledge of active, living love, and this is why that creature was given life on earth, and with it, time and space. And what happens? The privileged creature rejects that priceless gift, fails to appreciate it, does not even like it, sneers at it, and remains unmoved. When such a creature leaves the earth, sees Abraham, and talks with him as in the parable about Lazarus and the rich man--when he is already in sight of heaven and is allowed into the presence of the Lord, he is filled with suffering at the thought that he will appear before the Lord never having loved and will be brought into the presence of those who have loved him but whose love he has scorned. For now he sees clearly and says to himself: "I now have the knowledge and I am yearning for love; but now that my earthly life is over, there can be no self-abnegation, no sacrifice in love, and Abraham will not come to me again and bring me even a tiny drop of living water (that is, the gift of life on earth, the active life which I possessed before); since I will never again be given life and time, I will never be able to quench the fiery thirst for love that burns within me, because I scorned love while ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

John 7:37-39 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. ~ Witness Lee

Hello kerplunk, this is my dear friend pitter patter. ~ Chris Vonada

Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). The astonishing new reality in this mighty flow of the Spirit is how sovereignly God is bringing together streams of life that have been isolated from one another for a very long time. ~ Richard J. Foster

Can we do too much for the Lord? Certainly we all love Him. Therefore, I implore us, keep His commandments and become more like Him. Come unto Christ, eat the bread of life, drink the living water, and feast on His limitless love. He is our Savior, our Master, of whom I bear my humble witness. ~ F. Melvin Hammond

From time immemorial men have quenched their thirst with water without knowing anything about its chemical constituents. In like manner we do not need to be instructed in all the mysteries of doctrine, but we do need to receive the Living Water which Jesus Christ will give us and which alone can satisfy our souls. ~ Sadhu Sundar Singh

Sacraments are like hoses. They are the channels of the living water of God's grace. Our faith is like opening the faucet. We can open it a lot, a little, or not at all. ~ Peter Kreeft

Do you think I am an automaton? - a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal - as we are! ~ Charlotte Bronte

A platform without the Holy Spirit is like land without a spring. If we gain our Promise Land without Living Water, it will become desolate. ~ Alisa Hope Wagner

Those who come close to people in need do so first of all in a generous desire to help them and bring them relief; they often feel like saviours and put themselves on a pedestal. But once in contact with them, once touching them, establishing a loving and trusting relationship with them, the mystery unveils itself. At the heart of the insecurity of people in distress there is a presence of Jesus. And so they may discover the sacrament of the poor and enter the mystery of compassion.

People who are poor seem to break down the barriers of powerfulness, of wealth, of ability and of pride; they pierce the armour the human heart builds to protect itself; they reveal Jesus Christ. They reveal to those who have come to 'help' them their own poverty and vulnerability. These people also show their 'helpers' their capacity for love, the forces of love in their hearts. A poor person has a mysterious power: in his weakness he is able to open hardened hearts and reveal the sources of living water within them. It is the tiny hand of the fearless child which can slip through the bars of the prison of egoism. He is the one who can open the lock and set free. And God hides himself in the child. ~ Jean Vanier

The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:14 The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to "be filled" (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame - something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you "will flow rivers of living water" - irrepressible life (John 7:38). ~ Oswald Chambers

The kingdom of God works in all spheres of culture, whether church, family, education, government, arts, business, or media. It is time to stop operating under the mindset that these spheres ought to be separated into secular and Christian, hoarding all the 'sanctified spheres' into the church, thereby leaving the world struggling in a vacuum of death. When we suck all the living water into the church, the world is left to die of thirst. ~ Karla Perry

God is the source of life and light and joy to the universe. Like rays of light from the sun, like the streams of living water bursting from a living spring, blessings flow out from Him to all His creatures. And wherever the life of God is in the hearts of men, it will flow out to others in love and blessing. ~ Ellen G. White

They say
you get what you pay for.
Sometimes. But
what about bread of life?
What about a cup
of living water?
Could it be?
We paid nothing.
This is the sacrament of love! ~ Ben Palpant

I give eulogy to those who are meant to see. You see those who are meant to be by the seeds they sow, growing near the living water, sprouting into a tree. The fruits they reap are sweet like dripping honey, warm to the touch and sweet to the buds of taste. ~ Jose R. Coronado

Christ is the bread of life (John 6:35). Whatever we take into us as food will be assimilated into our being. This is very meaningful and significant. God is life to us in the form of food. We need to receive Him by eating Him. Once God enters into us, He becomes the flow of life within us. For proper eating we need food and drink. John 6 covers the bread of life for our eating, and John 7 covers the living water for our drinking. ~ Witness Lee

Instead of drifting away from God, you'll be firmly anchored, able to swim against the tide, offering living water to all you meet. ~ Craig Groeschel

You can drink from all sorts of wells, but unless the source of your water is the Living Water Himself, you will never be satisfied. ~ Beth Moore

God has a purpose, and for the fulfillment of His purpose He created man as a vessel to contain Him, making him with a human spirit. The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship in spirit (John 4:24). If we are going to worship God, we must use the proper organ. For example, we cannot drink water with our ears, but with our mouth. God is living water. If we want to drink Him as our living water, we must exercise our spirit to contact Him. When we exercise our spirit to contact God the Spirit, we are actually drinking of God as the living water (John 4:24, 14). Thus, God made man with a spirit to contact and worship Him. ~ Witness Lee

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.'" John 7:37-38 (NIV)

As soon as we were old enough to understand fairy tales, we were told to start looking for the one.

Someday my prince will come.
Someday I'll find my love.

As we got older, Prince Charming looked a bit different. Our teenage hearts thrilled when the latest vocal sensation sang about finding us and how our love would last forever.

Wherever we turned, we were told our soul mate was waiting. And we were led to believe we were "less than" if we didn't find the one who would complete us!

Even now, whether we're 15, 45 or 75, the equation hasn't changed: "Guy + Me = Valuable."

So, if the movies, books and songs are so right, how come when we find the one, we can still feel like we're missing something? Why are there married people who are lonely with an emptiness that marriage can't fill? Our hearts can get confused if our reality doesn't match fantasy and we wonder:

Maybe my one isn't really the one? Or, whether we're married or single, we might wonder, is the one for me still out there?

In this place of uncertainty our hearts can grow perplexed. If we find ourselves in this vulnerable place of questioning, and all of a sudden a guy who seems ~ Lynn Cowell

The fountain of living water never runs dry. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

The living water passages tell us we become vessels for God to pour himself into so we can pour him into others. ~ Mark Hall

Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton? - a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! ~ Charlotte Bronte

Grace has uprooted us from a barren wilderness of sin and transplanted us by streams of living water. ~ Steven J. Lawson

In a dry and thirsty land, my soul thirsts for the living God, the living water. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Only the living water can satisfied our thirst. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

You don't have to live with a dehydrated heart. Receive Christ's work on the Cross, the energy of his Spirit, his lordship over your life, his unending, unfailing love. Drink deeply and often. And out of you will flow rivers of living water. from Come Thirsty ~ Max Lucado

I think that the best kind of change, is the change that comes from the inside and begins it's way out until it emerges on the outside; a change that is born underneath then continues and spreads until it has reached the surface. That's a true change. A powerful change. And I have found that while we are emerging, changing into something glorious; it is actually us becoming who we really are. A water lily is born underneath the water, inside the soil at the bottom of the river or lake. And the water lily has always been a water lily for that whole time that it was sprouting out of the wet soil, reaching up through the dark water towards the sunlight, stretching and grasping for the surface; where it then buds and blooms on the outside in the sunshine. It doesn't bud and bloom on the surface and then try to reach down below into the soil. ~ C. JoyBell C.

The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet, there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to do this because they are overcomers. ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The living water that never runs dry,
The water of life, Lord, the saviour of the world. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Be rightly related to God, find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. ~ Oswald Chambers

The​ ​Gospels​ ​are​ ​full​ ​of​ ​testimonies​ ​of​ ​God's​ ​power​ ​from​ ​eyewitnesses​ ​who​ ​saw​ ​Jesus heal​ ​the​ ​sick​ ​and​ ​raise​ ​the​ ​dead.​ ​​ ​When​ ​the​ ​blind​ ​man​ ​received​ ​sight,​ ​he​ ​went​ ​and​ ​told​ ​others. When​ ​the​ ​Samaritan​ ​woman​ ​received​ ​living​ ​water​ ​from​ ​Jesus,​ ​she​ ​went​ ​back​ ​to​ ​tell​ ​what happened​ ​to​ ​her,​ ​and​ ​"many​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Samaritans​ ​from​ ​that​ ​town​ ​believed​ ​in​ ​Him​ ​because​ ​of​ ​the woman's​ ​testimony"​ ​(John​ ​4:39).​ ​​ ​Revelation​ ​12:11​ ​says​ ​we​ ​overcome​ ​the​ ​evil​ ​one​ ​by​ ​the​ ​word of​ ​our​ ​testimony.​ ​​ ​When​ ​the​ ​orphans​ ​​tell​,​ ​they​ ​experience​ ​God's​ ​power​ ​at​ ​work​ ​in​ ​them;​ ​when others​ ​​hear​,​ ​their​ ​faith​ ​is​ ​strengthened.​ ​​ ​When​ ​we​ ​gather​ ​to​ ​share​ ​our​ ​stories,​ ​I​ ​know​ ​the​ ​devil runs​ ​out​ ​the​ ​door​ ​when​ ​the​ ​smallest,​ ​weakest​ ​orphan​ ​stands​ ​up​ ​to​ ​attest​ ​to​ ​the​ ​goodness​ ​of God.​ ​(p178) ~ Eric Irivuzumugabe

God is infinite and without end, but the soul's desire is an abyss which cannot be filled except by a Good which is infinite; and the more ardently the soul longeth after God, the more she wills to long after him; for God is a Good without drawback, and a well of living water without bottom, and the soul is made in the image of God, and therefore it is created to know and love God. ~ Johannes Tauler

Firmly believe that the Lord is at all times everything to you. During prayer He is the power and the fulfillment in the Holy Spirit of each of your words. During pious conversation He is your living water, the ardent flow of your words at all times ? He is everything to you. Be free from care in the presence of your Lord. He has enclosed you with Himself upon all sides. He penetrates you wholly and knows all your thoughts, all your needs and inclinations, and if you live in Him with faith and love, then no evil shall befall you. 'The Lord is at hand; be careful for nothing' (Phil. 4:6). ~ John Of Kronstadt

Shame is the raincoat over the soul repelling the living water of Jesus that would otherwise establish us as the beloved of God. ~ Andrew Comiskey

I may ... pass for being a relatively successful man. People occasionally stare at me in the streets-that's fame. I can fairly easily earn enough to qualify for admission to the higher slopes of the Inland Revenue-that's success. Furnished with money and a little fame ... [I] may partake of trendy diversions-that's pleasure. It might happen once in a while that something I said or wrote ... represented a serious impact on our time-that's fulfillment. Yet I say to you, and I beg you to believe me, multiply these tiny triumphs by a million, add them all together, and they are nothing-less than nothing, a positive impediment-measured against one draught of that living water Christ offers to the spiritually thirsty.8 ~ Richard D. Phillips

We ought to test for the living water. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

The bloody organ we call the heart pumps life through our veins like Jesus offers hope for our souls. Are you thirsty for more? ~ Chris Vonada

One might think that those who feast most often on communion with God are least hungry. They turn often from the innocent pleasures of the world to linger more directly in the presence of God through the revelation of his Word. And there they eat the Bread of Heaven and drink the Living Water by meditation and faith. But, paradoxically, it is not so that they are the least hungry saints. The opposite is the case. The strongest, most mature Christians I have ever met are the hungriest for God. It might seem that those who eat most would be least hungry. But that's not the way it works with an inexhaustible fountain, and an infinite feast, and a glorious Lord. When you take your stand on the finished work of God in Christ, and begin to drink at the River of Life and eat the Bread of Heaven, and know that you have found the end of all your longings, ~ John Piper

Rivers of living water are to be poured out over the whole world, to ensure that people, like fishes caught in a net, can be restored to wholeness. ~ Hildegard Of Bingen

She left her water pot because she had now found a well of 'living water.' She had come to the well for literal water and that was what her mind was set on. But now that she had obtained salvation, she did not think any more about her water pot. It is always this way. Once our souls truly perceive Christ, once we know Him and receive Him as our personal Savior, we turn away from what we used to think about. Her mind was now fixed on Christ, and she had no thought of well, water, or water pot." Granted, even after we come to Christ and learn to drink of His living water, there can be a time when we must learn how to leave the other "water behind" and it is certainly not always an instantaneous exchange of water, like the woman at the well did. We are not saying that it always has to happen in this manner, but what we are saying is that as we drink of Christ's living water we are able to leave behind the sinful water. ~ Arthur W. Pink

My spirit thirst for the living water. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

In every single scenario that you step into, in life, it is like stepping into a body of water and you need to stop and really stand there to feel what's going on in that water - the temperature, the direction of the current, the particles in the water that brush up onto your skin, you need to close your eyes and inhale deeply to distinguish the scents that come from it. I have always done this, since I was a small girl, being aware of and feeling every atom that's in there. I'm a Water Bender. I bend the water; the water does not bend me. ~ C. JoyBell C.

The abundant life is a spiritual life. Too many sit at the banquet table of the gospel of Jesus Christ and merely nibble at the feast placed before them. They go through the motions - attending their meetings perhaps, glancing at scriptures, repeating familiar prayers - but their hearts are far away. If they are honest, they would admit to being more interested in the latest neighborhood rumors, stock market trends, and their favorite TV show than they are in the supernal wonders and sweet ministerings of the Holy Spirit. Do you wish to partake of this living water and experience that divine well springing up within you to everlasting life? Then be not afraid. Believe with all your hearts. Develop an unshakable faith in the Son of God. Let your hearts reach out in earnest prayer. Fill your minds with knowledge of Him. Forsake your weaknesses. Walk in holiness and harmony with the commandments. Drink deeply of the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ~ Joseph B. Wirthlin

In a world of unrest and fear, political turmoil and moral drift, I testify that Jesus is the Christ - that He is the living Bread and living Water - still, yet, and always the great Shield of safety in our lives. ~ Jeffrey R. Holland

That's where spiritual warfare begins - leaving our own methods of filling our gaping holes at the well and allowing Jesus to fill every thirsty, needy place with His Living Water. ~ Mary E. DeMuth

But just as water carried Moses to his destiny down the Nile, so water carried another baby from a woman's body into an expectant world. Wrapped now in flesh, the God who once hovered over the waters was plunged beneath them at the hands of a wild-eyed wilderness preacher. When God emerged, he spoke of living water that forever satisfies and of being born again. He went fishing and washed his friends' feet. He touched the ceremonially unclean. He spit in the dirt, cast demons into the ocean, and strolled across an angry sea. He got thirsty and he wept. ~ Rachel Held Evans

Please listen carefully. The key for experiencing the flow of God's living water in your life is ... Obedience. ~ Brother Yun

For anyone who knows what it is to weep over sin or loss or pain, Heaven offers a beautiful promise: one day God himself will wipe the tears from our eyes. And even better, one day he will transform those tears into laughter. The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7:17 ~ Randy Alcorn

Calling on the Lord's name solves all our problems. If you are filled with sorrow and worry, ... are disappointed, discouraged, or distracted, ... are weak [or] ... strong, [call on the Lord]. By calling you receive and take the living water. ~ Witness Lee

It's time for us to stop playing religious games with God. It's time to get serious. It's no longer good enough just to "believe" in Jesus; we need to become His disciples. Churches should not be places where we come and get the water inside of us drained out. Rather, churches should be staging posts from where living water flows out into the communities and nations of the world. ~ Brother Yun

The river itself portrays humanity precisely, with its tortuous windings, its accumulation of driftwood, its unsuspected depths, and its crystalline shallows, singing in the Summer sun. Barriers may be built across its path, but they bring only power, as the conquering of an obstacle is always sure to do. Sometimes when the rocks and stone-clad hills loom large ahead, and eternity itself would be needed to carve a passage, there is an easy way around. The discovery of it makes the river sing with gladness and turns the murmurous deeps to living water, bright with ripples and foam. ~ Myrtle Reed

[Mahatma] Ghandi said in a world with so many hungry people it just makes sense that God would come as food. God sent the living bread and the living water in a world where there is so much thirst and so much hunger. ~ Shane Claiborne

God, help me to see others not as enemies or as ungodly but rather as thirsty people. And give me the courage and compassion to offer your Living Water, which alone quenches deep thirst. ~ Henri Nouwen

You ought to thirst for the living water. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Seeds send down a runner beneath the surface. Before making an appearance above ground, the seed first grows beneath the surface. In the same way, we must first go deep in order to find the source of living water to sustain our lives. We must go deep into the Word of G-D lest we build ourselves on a foundation of shifting sand and get blown over in the first storm that comes into our lives. We must first grow beneath the surface. ~ Eric Walker

Not a great deal is known about the factors in childhood that doubtless underlie a person's choice of career - I'm talking now about a career to which one is passionately committed, in contradistinction to a career chosen merely as a means of earning a living. ~ Nathaniel Branden

Literature interprets the world, but it's also shaped by that world, and we're living through one of the greatest economic and technological transformations since
well, since the early 18th century. The novel won't stay the same: it has always been exquisitely sensitive to newness, hence the name. It's about to renew itself again, into something cheaper, wilder, trashier, more democratic and more deliriously fertile than ever. ~ Lev Grossman

There are so many sad and ugly things in the world that I feel I must try to counterbalance them with whatever beauty I can produce. Setting a pretty table in a world of pain might seem callous, given that people are starving and living in dreadful disease and poverty. But in trying to create islands of beauty and peace, I feel I am honoring the dreams of the world. ~ Isobelle Carmody

Nineteen and living a life not his own, he was sure enough of his worth to put his name to his work and let it stand for him. Did not even have a wife yet, according to Queen, so it was not love that set him to cutting the pine, but a trust and a longing. ~ Josephine Humphreys

Julia was like water in his hands. She'd slipped right through. Lovely and strange and unpredictable, she'd been everything he wasn't. Nothing he was used to. ~ Sarah Addison Allen

I had a pretty regular childhood, with a rad mum who taught me to love reading and thinking and laughing, and (as far as I was concerned) a regular dad who drove trucks for a living and did radio interviews on weekends and got stopped in the street a lot when we went out. ~ Brooke Fraser

Actually this is really funny - one time she accidentally forgot to leave a note and I had no idea she had even moved. I was living in the house with a beautiful Mexican family for three months before I realized they weren't my cousins visiting from out of town. They were so nice. They called me "Quien es, quien es," which I thought was a beautiful name. ~ Ellen DeGeneres

It being our duty to mortify ... we must be at work. He that is appointed to kill an enemy, if he leave striking before the other ceases living, does but half his work. ~ John Owen

people who hated cats were often control freaks who felt the world owed them a living. ~ Tom Cox

Do not allow this day to pass as an ordinary day, a day that you forget you ever had because it's similar to the day before & the day before that. During this compulsory free time, tune into your inner intelligence, wisdom & guidance to become more motivated, focused & ultimately happier. Believe me these days can give you a complete new direction & purpose. Let you plunge into your inner darkness to discover hidden gems, buried treasures, more of your huge potential & extraordinary capabilities. Let you use these days to learn more about the things you are passionate about & have abilities to do. Let you also use these days in building yourself more healthy, fit & strong. Your mental, physical & spiritual wellness was always so important. Let you prioritize it now. No more of that "I will do when I have some free time" shit. You have plenty of it now . Let you create better paths & opportunities for yourself. Let you encourage & push yourself to use your time more wisely now than ever before. Stay Hopeful & Keep Loving Your Life & Your World! ~ Rajesh Goyal

Learning to remain nonreactive is the name of the game. Does this mean living without passion? Absolutely not. Live, love, laugh, and learn - just don't be a sucker for drama. Live your life with enthusiasm and purpose, and don't be a pawn in someone else's vision for you. You drive. Better yet, let your Higher Self drive, and you relax. ~ Pedram Shojai

And if, to live for another is sweet, if it is lovely for a woman to live for a paralyzed husband, and if there is a song forever on her lips because she is all in all to him, what must it be when you are all in all for Jesus? Wherefore I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice
not a dead, but a living sacrifice-holy, acceptable unto God; and be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may know what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. How ~ F.B. Meyer

The World is my home & India is my living room. I'm independent in my living room to explore,hoping someday I will also be able to explore my own home. ~ Bikram Mahata

Since we are living in an open society with a space for tolerance and indulgence, we must monitor assiduously the permanent changes of habits and customs and the "normality barometer" should be determined and adjusted, time after time. ("On a doggy day") ~ Erik Pevernagie

At a certain point, the truth felt worse. Truth was a closed-casket funeral attended by its estranged living relatives, Lies, Safety, and Secrets. ~ Maggie Stiefvater

A successful actor is praised for never giving up his dreams to become someone else for a living but to dream to be an unmasked artist is a mortal sin in a consumerist society. Artists don't consume; they create things that can't be consumed with riches. You consume art by seeing, by listening, by feeling, never by buying. ~ Bruce Crown

I don't know what you've been smoking, Henri, or what world you're living in, but no one tell us what to do. ~ Kelly Keaton

Language is like drinking from one's own reflection in still water. We only take from it what we are at the time. ~ Simon Van Booy

I put the guitar back in the case. I can't even look at it anymore. Instead, I want to make brownies. I want an end result there's a recipe for. I want to combine eggs and water and oil and chocolate and flour and sugar and vanilla and get something fulfilling. ~ Deb Caletti

Just as it is the province of science to find out what the facts of life are, to classify them and use them to verify or discredit whatever theory may have been advanced concerning them, so it is the province of a living theology to be constantly seeking from God the wit and wisdom that will interpret anew and more truly the parable of life. ~ Lily Dougall

I know a woman
who keeps buying puzzles
chinese
puzzles
blocks
wires
pieces that finally fit
into some order.
she works it out
mathmatically
she solves all her
puzzles
lives down by the sea
puts sugar out for the ants
and believes
ultimately
in a better world.
her hair is white
she seldom combs it
her teeth are snaggled
and she wears loose shapeless
coveralls over a body most
women would wish they had.
for many years she irritated me
with what I considered her
eccentricities-
like soaking eggshells in water
(to feed the plants so that
they'd get calcium).
but finally when I think of her
life
and compare it to other lives
more dazzling, original
and beautiful
I realize that she has hurt fewer
people than anybody I know
(and by hurt I simply mean hurt).
she has had some terrible times,
times when maybe I should have
helped her more
for she is the mother of my only
child
and we were once great lovers,
but she has come through
like I said
she has hurt fewer people than
anybody I know,
and if you look at it like that,
well,
she has created a better world.
she has won.
Frances, this poem is for
you. ~ Charles Bukowski

Killing, resurrecting, living with a zombie. Even if she could accept all that, ~ Richard Laymon

I looked around for that welcoming light I'd heard about, but I didn't see it. Instead, everything around me seemed to glow and shimmer in the sunlight. I heard beautiful sounds-not the voices of dead loved ones, but the laughter and singing of my children when they were tiny. I saw James, young and shirtless, chasing them through Mama's garden. Off in the distance I saw Barbara Jean and Clarice, and even myself when we were kids, dancing to music pouring out of my old pink and violet portable record player. Here I was with my fingers brushing up against the frame of the picture I'd been painting for the last fifty-five years, and my beautiful, scarred husband, my happy children, and my laughing friends were right there with me. ~ Edward Kelsey Moore

Life has a peculiar feel when you look back on it that it doesn't have when you're actually living it. It's as though the whole thing were designed to be understood in hindsight, as though you'll never know the meaning of your experiences until you've had enough of them to provide reference. ~ Donald Miller

And so we have come full circle, and return to the essential question: who are you? From a scientific perspective, you are miraculous. You are stardust. You contain the same energy and matter that created the universe 13 billion years ago. You were once that energy - inside the infinitesimally small point of light that began all of life. Everything around you, everything you can see, touch, and taste, is made of this matter, this same universal energy: the water that shines, the tree that reaches, the bird in flight, the grass that grows. The saints and sages across the ages said it this way: you are brothers and sisters with all of creation. If who you are and how things work are one and the same, then who you are is love. ~ Tom Shadyac

People forget that keeping a band together is hard; man, it's really hard. All the cliches apply about living in each other's pockets; of it being a relationship, a marriage, a family. ~ Dean Wareham

When dealing with a living germ, we should also be aware that it can mutate. This is known to happen with live virus vaccines. The viruses have the ability to revert back to being harmful to us. ~ James Morcan

Dead souls have more to say than living ones. ~ Elie Wiesel

The question is: Would there be a market in Germany for certain types of employment if one were to allow the employed person to earn less than is necessary to maintain his standard of living? ~ Angela Merkel

If disaster, so be it, they said to themselves. There was nothing to be done except what could be done. The rest
like the salt water around them, which swallowed the snow without effort, remaining what it was implacably
was out of their hands, beyond. ~ David Guterson

I've always been super aware that we could all die at any moment. This ceiling could fall. I could trip and land on this pen I'm holding. I could choke on my cold pasta lunch. I could be attacked by that pigeon eying me from my window sill. I could be shot ... by a stranger ... who lost something in their heart. Remember death is real. It's not scary. Living is the thing to care about. Don't hold grudges. Smile and make others smile as often as possible. Don't let jerks run the world. ~ Colleen A.F. Venable

There are only three real causes of death, Will Henry. The first is accidents - diseases, famines, wars, or like what befell your parents. The second is old age. And the third is ourselves - our slow suicides. Show me a man who cannot control his appetites, and I will show a man living under a death sentence. ~ Rick Yancey

I feel free. Like some whimsical child in an enchanted forest, I feel free.
Amazed at the power of the colors that surround me, I feel free. The cool water that quenches my thirst also warms my skin as I bathe, my pores opening to the pleasure of the clear pools embracing my soul. The colors reflect on the mirrored glass that supports me. I can see beauty all around. Here I float, effortlessly, and here I will remain.
I feel free. I make my commitments and my agreements in complete liberation. I love freely, openly, within the bounds of my own moral compass. I give, and I take, learning to do each with equal excitement, with equal vigor.
The odd thing about receiving is how hard it can be. Yet, we owe it to those we love, who love us back, to do just that. Then, we can explore the vibrant colors of our enchanted forests together, and bathe one another in the refreshing springs of nature's own charity.
I love, and therefore am safe in all things. ~ Tom Grasso

Don't give in to excuses that can keep you from really living the best life God has for you. ~ Joyce Meyer

You are water, whirling water,
Yet still water trapped within,
Come, submerge yourself within us,
We who are the flowing stream. ~ Rumi

A god who cares more about a little water on the head than my daughter's character is not a deity I want her to spend eternity with. ~ Sara Paretsky