more quotations and passages on God

God is a blank sheet upon which
nothing is found but what
you yourself have written.

Martin Luther

It is more worthy in the eyes of God . . . if a writer makes
three pages sharp and funny about the lives of geese than to make
three hundred fat and flabby about God or the American people.

Garrison Keillor

A dynamic person is one who really makes a difference in the world;
who does something that changes things or other people.
The magnitude of the work done may not be great, but the world
is different because that person has lived and worked. The real secret
of a dynamic personality is to believe that God works through you,
whatever you may be doing; to put his service first, and to be
as sincere, practical, and efficient as you know how.

Emmet Fox

I sometimes forget that life is fragile.
The fact that I have more time to
dream my dreams and take my ease
is no reason at all to disregard the
moment I’m in by preferring to be
somewhere else. I have to remind
myself that wherever I am. . . fast
lane or slow lane, in traffic or out
of traffic, racing or resting . . . God
is there. He is in me, abiding in me,
thus making it possible for me
to be all there, myself.

Luci Swindoll

When he sees little kids sitting in the backseat of cars, in those
little car seats that have steering wheels, with grim expressions
of concentration on their faces, clearly convinced that their efforts
are causing the car to do whatever it is doing, he thinks of himself
and his relationship with God: God who drives along silently,
gently amused, in the real driver’s seat.

Anne Lamott

God isn’t calling us to a lonely, joyless existence with the promise of
a delayed reward. God is calling us to live, to love and enjoy
the challenge. God’s formulas are roadmaps to freedom and peace.
God is saying to us: “The only way to live is to be free. So save
your heart for love and save your love for persons. Don’t ever let any
‘thing’ own you. Don’t let money or fame or power or the pursuit of pleasure
put a ring in your nose and lead you around. Love persons and use things.”
And of course, this is the only way to live, to be free.

John Powell

Your own self-will and anxiety, your hurry and labor, disturb
your peace and prevent Me from working in you. Look at
the little flowers, in the serene summer days; they quietly
open their petals, and the sun shines into them with its gentle
influences. So I will do for you, if you will yield yourself to me.

G. Tersteegen

Human nature is such that humans can turn to God anywhere
at any time, and by believing in His care and protection,
and thinking in accordance with this belief, fill their hearts
with peace and poise, rebuild their bodies into health and strength,
and surround themselves with harmonious and joyous conditions.

Emmet Fox

Some people want to see God with their eyes as they see a cow,
and to love Him as they love their cow—for the milk and cheese
and profit it brings them. This is how it is with people who love God
for the sake of outward wealth or inward comfort.

Meister Eckhart

If you want a television, you go out and work for it and you buy it.
If you want to learn about Aztec pottery, you take a course.
But the relationship with God requires the active and passionate
participation of you, yourself. You have to risk it. You have to
abandon yourself to it. You have to leap into the fire. Nobody
will do it for you; nobody can do it for you.

Andrew Harvey

The wonder is not that there should be obstacles and sufferings in this world,
but that there should be law and order, beauty and joy, goodness and love.
The idea of God that humans have in their being is the wonder of all wonders.
They have felt in the depths of their lives that what appears as imperfect is the
manifestation of the perfect; just as a person who has an ear for music realized the
perfection of a song, while in fact he or she is only listening to a succession of notes.

Victor Gollancz

You can help yourself hear God by creating harmony and rhythm in your life. This does not mean you need silence. It means you have to find your song, and you have to surround yourself with sounds that are part of your rhythm. Different people have different songs: some might find theirs in a machine shop, others in the woods, others shut alone in their study. Engine noises or the rustling of leaves or the ticking of a clock or silence will distract some of us but will be part of the orchestration for others. If you find your own harmonious way and listen carefully, you will hear the voice of God. It is always available, but the sounds may be very subtle. God leaves it to us to set our antennae in the right direction, be still, and listen.

Bernie Siegel

It is no hard matter to adhere to God while you are in the enjoyment
of His comforts and consolations; but if you would prove your fidelity
to Him, you must be willing to follow Him through the paths of dryness
and desertion. The truth of a friend is not known while he or she is
receiving favors and benefits from us; but if they remain faithful to us
when we treat them with coldness and neglect,
it will be a proof of the sincerity of their attachment.

William Backhouse

Spending time with God does take time. It is a commitment. Let me emphasize,
however, that the spiritual exercises are not “shoulds” intended to inflict
guilt if you are not able or don’t care to exercise them. They are simply
options from which you may choose those which suit your personality
and particular needs at this point in your life.

Cheryl Biehl

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We mustn't reserve communing with God just for morning and
evening prayers, or for weekly worship service, or for when
we feel burdened. The goal is to realize that every moment
of our lives is a meditation. Allow yourself to marvel at the
wonder of God's work all around us. Throughout your day, let
the sun, a tree, a piece of fruit remind you that everything you
could ever want has been provided and can be found right here on earth.

Susan L. Taylor

Self-searching is the means by which we bring new vision, action, and grace
to bear upon the dark and negative sides of our natures. With it comes
the development of that kind of humility that makes it possible for us
to receive God’s help. . . . We find that bit by bit we can discard the
old life—the one that did not work—for a new life that can
and does work under conditions whatever.

As Bill Sees It

We cannot make the Kingdom of God happen, but we can
put out leaves as it draws near. We can be kind to each other.
We can be kind to ourselves. We can drive back the darkness a little.
We can make green places within ourselves and among ourselves
where God can make his Kingdom happen.

Frederick Buechner

I look at the trees; their roots sink deep by the stream. In the same way,
let my roots sink deep into you. Let me feed on your word. As we commune
in prayer, let me drink from the living water of your Spirit. Let me jump in and
be bathed by your cleansing power. I will rely on you rather than things that are
shallow and temporary. I can’t depend on my own abilities and strength, but I’m
confident in your care and direction. I will take special notice of the good things
when they come. I will fix my mind on what is pure and lovely and upright.
When the heat and winds of life’s storms come, I will not fear; I know you are near.
I will not worry but keep on producing a life that is a blessing for you and others.

Anita Corrine Donihue

Nothing in all nature is so lovely and so vigorous, so perfectly at home
in its environment, as a fish in the sea. Its surroundings give to it
a beauty, quality, and power which are not its own. We take it out, and
at once a poor, limp dull thing, fit for nothing, is gasping away its life.
So the soul, sunk in God, living the life of prayer, is supported, filled,
transformed in beauty, by a vitality and a power which are not its own.

Evelyn Underhill

Can anyone think of believing in God without trusting Him?
Is it possible to trust in God for the big things like forgiveness
and eternal life, and then refuse to trust Him
for the little things like clothing and food?

Oswald Hoffmann

God is at the tip of our scalpels, our screwdrivers, our computer
terminals, our dust rags, our vacuum cleaners, our pencils and pens.
He is with us in our wheelchairs, or on our hospital beds, when all we
can do is sit or lie flat. When we envision Him and His purpose in
what we do, then we begin to grow aware of His presence in the
middle of it. We are able to engage in our inward conversation
with Him as we work, naturally, without strain.
He becomes our partner, our collaborator.

Sue Monk Kidd

It always strikes me and it is very peculiar that when we see the image
of indescribable and unutterable desolation—of loneliness, poverty,
and misery, the end of all things, or their extreme—then
rises in our mind the thought of God.

Vincent van Gogh

Articles and book excerpts on God:

The Houdini Syndrome      Bob Welch
The Christmas Alone      tom walsh
God Loves You      Joe Mazzella

God’s love is just like the sun, constant and shining for us all.
And just as the earth rotates around the sun, it is the natural order
for us to move away for a season, and then to return closer,
but always within the appropriate time.

Betty J. Eadie

God has spoken very boldly about his desire to be a presence in our lives. If I want to heal the ache and loneliness in my own life, one of the things I need to do is get away alone with God. The paradoxical “answer” to loneliness is aloneness . . . with God. In the silence God will speak to you most powerfully. Too often his words to us get muffled, lost, or covered by the crowd of many noises both inside and outside of us. We must have a quiet heart in order to hear God’s distinctive message to us.

Tim Hansel

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience
for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished
your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.

Victor Hugo

There are no different categories of love. There isn't
one kind of love between a mother and child, another
between lovers, and another between friends. The love
that is real is the love that lies at the heart of all
relationships. That is the love of God and it doesn't
change with form or circumstance.

Marianne Williamson

I have nothing against the church--nothing against its ceremonies
or the many wonderful people who attend and perform them. I do,
however, believe that everyone should develop a personal relationship
with God. A direct line to the Creator. A one-an-one connection that
doesn't depend on anything but faith to exist. . . . When it's just you
and God, you can talk to him wherever you are, whenever you need to.
No third parties, no special chants or channels, are needed. All you
have to do is quiet your mind and still your soul so that you can hear
the Holy Spirit clearly; without distraction, interruption, or interference.

Patti LaBelle

God's gifts put people's best dreams to shame.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.
I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.

Kabir

Called or not, God is always there.

Carl Jung

God is in the water of the lake; he is also in the cracked bed
of the lake when the lake has dried up.
God is in the abundant harvest; he is also in the famine
that occurs when the harvest fails.
God is in the lightning; he is also in the darkness
when the lightning has faded.

Mansur al-Hallaj

Renew every day your conversation with God:
Do this even in preference to eating.
Think more often of God than you breathe.

Epictetus

As I turn my thoughts to God, my life becomes a prayer. I do not need to go away
to a mountaintop or seclude myself in a sacred place to spend time in prayer. I need
only to turn my thoughts inward and open my mind and heart to God. In this way,
I make whatever I am doing a prayer. As I prepare a meal, I am grateful for the food,
and as I clean my house, I am grateful for the restful haven it provides me. As I
walk in the park, I feel a sense of oneness with all life in the world around me. As I go
through my workday, I am God's instrument of good in the world, and what I
do and say is an expression of God.
The more I turn my thoughts to God, the more my life becomes a prayer.

unattributed (The Daily Word)