Odds and Ends

Friday Challenge: Words to Live By

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I read a discussion in an online group last week about mantras or phrases that people repeat to themselves as a reminder to change their outlook on life.

So today’s challenge is to answer this question: If you were to use some pithy words of wisdom for yourself or another former fundy, what would they be?

189 thoughts on “Friday Challenge: Words to Live By”

  1. “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” (Julian of Norwich)

    Or, perhaps, “The Episcopal Church welcomes you.”

    😉

  2. “Whenever one door closes, another one opens. Or you could just re-open the closed door. That’s how doors work.”

  5. It isn’t a motto as such, but this has been a theme in my life of late.

    Be thankful. Everyone likes to be appreciated. An attitude of gratitude and care for others will make the world around you a better place.

  6. A handy line I have reason to pull out often: “There’s room for that in the Kingdom of God” (it’s a lot less narrow than I used to think it was)

    Also….”There’s a wideness in God’s mercy” 😛

  7. The phrase I always use to end our adult SS class sessions: “God bless us… Everyone”

    1. ♫Tip-toe through the Tulips…♫

      Or for the more Calvinistic:

      “Starta-Row through using T-U-L-I-P!”
      ♫That’s me♫

      2. As a side note, making “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” your wife’s ringtone and not telling her can cause some marital discomfort. It was funny, though, when she told me about it. She didn’t realize it was her phone at first, to the amusement of other store patrons.

  8. It’s all good.

    Seriously, for the fundies on the fence reading SFL, learn to take life with a grain of salt. Not everything depends on you. God’s “Perfect Will” is not thwarted because you didn’t interpret it correctly this morning when you were debating which shoes to wear. God’s Will is for you to do right now what you’re supposed to be doing right now.

    May the Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace forever.

  9. “We are oft to blame in this,.
    ‘Tis too much proved, that with devotion’s visage. And pious action we do sugar o’er.
    The devil himself.”

    -Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1

    1. “And thus I clothe my naked villany.
      With odd old ends stol’n out of holy writ,
      And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.”

      King Richard III

      1. Dammit, now I have even less excuse to let my Shakespeare’s complete works just sit on the shelf.

  11. I am done with keeping score.

    “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Galatians 5:6

    Have y’all heard the joke about the man who gets to heaven and finds himself waiting in a long line at the Pearly Gates? Way up ahead he can hear people shouting as they get to St. Peter. Some are exclaiming joyfully, “Hallelujah! Praise God!” and others are crying, “Oh, if only I had known!” Curious, he leaves his place in line to get closer and find out what is going on. Finally he gets near enough for someone to tell him: “Have you heard? Wednesday nights don’t count!”

  12. “So many things are not a sin! Does it cause direct harm to another person? No? Probably not actually a sin.”
    The biggest, BIGGEST one:
    “Look for the logic.”
    And:
    “Faith doesn’t mean not asking questions. Jesus constantly asked questions. If you refuse to question your faith, you are insulting your faith: you’re implying that God can’t stand up to your questions.”

  14. The wretch, concentred all in self,
    Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
    And, doubly dying, shall go down
    To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
    Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.

    1. I had to memorize that around 10th or 11th grade. Mrs. Sharon Harmon’s English class. A very good, qualified teacher in spite of being employed and underpaid at Fundy High.

  17. “Yerra, what’s the use of talking? ‘Tis a dead man’s whisper.”

    Me favourite quote from Eugene O’Neal’s Hairy Ape.

  21. http://k16.kn3.net/FD2CB0F77.jpg

    Why? Because you hold the keys in your hand.

    You do not have to stay in a dysfunctional church. You can just walk out the door and find a healthier church. Regardless of the lies you have been told, there are good churches out there. You can change this. It does get better.

  23. “Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I was without, and I sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee. These things kept me far from thee; even though they were not at all unless they were in thee. Thou didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and didst chase away my blindness. Thou didst breathe fragrant odors and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace.” — Augustine

  25. Other words I try to live by: “We’re not home yet.”

    (Based on this story which probably most of you know quite well — There is a story about a missionary couple in the early part of the twentieth century. Having reached retirement age, and been replaced on the field by a younger couple, they were returning by ship to the USA. On the same voyage was a famous movie star, returning after an “on location” shoot in Africa.

    When the ship berthed at their destination, the movie star and her entourage were first on the gangplank. Hordes of press and radio representatives were there to greet her, along with a huge crowd of excited fans. The dock was decorated in welcome, a band played, and cameras flashed everywhere. After the star had entered a limousine and been driven away, the media representatives scurried off to lodge their stories and the crowd of fans dispersed.

    Sometime later the missionary couple came to walk down the gangplank. No one was there to greet them or to carry their luggage, no one was interested to hear their story. In their hearts they cried out to God, “Lord, there has been all this fuss and to-do to welcome home this movie star. But for us, who have labored faithfully for You all these years, there is nothing.” Then they heard the gentle, loving voice of the Father: “My son, My daughter, you’re not home yet!”)

  26. “It’s all good.” (Well, not really.)
    “Get a grip!”
    “You never know who you might have to ask for a cup of water.”
    “Don’t put yourself down, enough people will do that for you.”

  27. Humility doesn’t mean insulting yourself, denying yourself any value, being afraid to feel proud. Humility is more like remembering that we all have gifts, and being proud at how hard you’ve worked. Pride is not a bad thing. Haughtiness is.
    For Pete’s sake, go to the doctor – huddling in a corner crying your face off all the time while trying to remember if you’ve ever felt happy is not normal. Look up the word “depression” and make an appointment.

    1. And yes, you do survive. Yes, you do get friends. No, there’s not something wrong with YOU; depression just feels like that. Yes, it ends up that there are actually a fair few people who like you. No, really – you’re likeable. You have friends, you go out and do fun things like get ice cream at midnight, you have people who like just hanging out with you and miss you when you go.

    2. i read the perfect definition of humility the other day – humility is not thinking less of yourself, humility is thinking of yourself less.

      perfect!

  29. Since I am an now an atheist I will throw one out there from Penn Jillette:

    “Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-o, and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.”

  30. Work hard, play hard. Be the best at both.
    also
    If you twist hard enough you always land on your feet.

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