Many Christians observe this season of Lent by giving up something, or fasting from something. Might I suggest that this Lent, we consider give up being afraid? Give up being vengeful? Give up being angry? Who knows, if we do, we might become more the people we want to be come Easter?

 "He who learns must suffer, and, even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despite, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God." - Æschylus

I remembered the Anne Lamott line that “becoming a writer is about becoming conscious.” I didn’t want to be conscious. I wanted to be comatose. 

“All wisdom is plagiarism; only stupidity is original.”  -  Hugh Kerr

"Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it … Our ability to enter into solidarity with those who suffer [is our greatest gift]."  - Henri Nouwen

"Nobody escapes being wounded.  We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually.  The main question is not “How can we hide our wounds?” so we don’t have to be embarrassed but “How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?”  When our wounds cease to be a source of shame and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers."  - Henri Nouwen 

"Preachers err by trying to talk people into belief;  better they reveal the radiance of their own discovery. " - Joseph Campbell 

"Blessing is from soul to soul."  - John O’Donohue 

When you look into God's face, what do you see? In this podcast, Fred shares one of his most significant experiences of spiritual liberation. 

John O’Donohue, in his poetically Irish way says,

A blessing is different from a greeting, a hug, a salute, or an affirmation; it opens a different door in human encounter. One enters into the forecourt of the soul, the source of intimacy and the compass of destiny.