It (the Fulfillment Model) offers a theology that gives equal weight to the two foundational Christian convictions...that God's love is universal, extending to all peoples, but also that God's love is particular, made real in Jesus the Christ. Paul Knitter, Theologies of Religion

...for this Replacement Model, the balance between the universality and particularity of God's relationship with humanity clearly comes down more heavily on the side of particularity. God's love is universal, extending to all; but that love is realized through the particular and singular community of Jesus Christ. Paul Knitter

I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars. Og Mandino

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. Theodore Roosevelt

Peace begins with a smile.

Mother Teresa

When you make peace with yourself, you make peace with the world.

Maha Ghosananda

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Andy, the Shawshank Redemption

Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee.

Augustine of Hippo

Giving is what we do best. It is the air into which we were born. It is the action that was designed into us before our birth.

Eugene Peterson

It is the heart that does the giving, the fingers only let go. Nigerian saying

As we express gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

John F. Kennedy

The circle is a reminder that each moment is not just the present, but is inclusive of our gratitude for the past and our responsibility to the future. Kazuaki Tanahashi

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to over-come evil and welcome good. Maya Angelou

Stewardship is a journey that is grounded in gratitude, revealed in prayer, and lived in faith. Kristine Miller and Scott McKenzie

Jesus wept, And in his weeping,

He joined himself forever

To those who mourn.

He stands now throughout time,

This Jesus weeping,

With his arms about the weeping ones:

"Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted."

He stands with the mourners.

Jesus wept.

Ann Weems

A study of lament may be a corrective for some religion in the church that wishes to withdraw from life as it really is, to pretense and romance in the unreal world of heavenly or holy things. The lament makes clear that faith and worship deal with and are shaped by life as it comes to us.

Walter Brueggemann