Robert Farrar Capon is an Episcopalian priest and I am a Reformed ordinary woman; however, in spite of some of our theological  differences, I love reading his books. His writing style is captivating and his insights in many matters of life are worth considering.

Here are a few quotes from the first four chapters of this book:

“For marriage is a paradox second only to life itself. That at the age of twenty or so, with little knowledge of each other and a dangerous overdose of self-confidence, two human beings should undertake to commit themselves for life -and that church and state should receive their vows with a straight face -all this is absurd indeed.”

“To be born, to love a woman, to cry at music, to catch a cold, to die -these are not excursions on the narrow road of logic; they are blind launchings on a trackless sea. They are not bargains, they are commitments, and for ordinary people, marriage is the very keel of their keel of their commitment, the largest piece of a ballast in their small and storm-tossed boat… You cannot contract out of being born, out of crying, out of loving, out of dying; you cannot contract out of marriage. It may be uncomfortable, it certainly is absurd; but it is not abnormal.”

“It is the feeding and watering of the leviathan of their commitment that the marriage rite is about.”

“So forget about practicing that, I tell them [couples in premarital counseling]. You’ll have plenty of time later… What you really need to practice is keeping promises.”

“A man and a woman schooled in pride cannot simply sit down together and start caring. It takes humility to look wide-eyed at somebody else, to praise, to cherish, to honor.”

“The only available candidates for matrimony are, every last of them, sinners. As sinners, they are in a fair way to wreck themselves and anyone else who gets within arm’s length of them. Without virtue, therefore no marriage will make it. The first of all vocations, the ground line of the walls of the New Jerusalem is made of stuff like truthfulness, patience, love and liberality; of prudence, justice, temperance, and courage; and of all their adjuncts and circumstances: manners, consideration, fair speech and the ability to keep one’s mouth shut and one’s heart open, as needed.”

“The husband is over his wife as the head is over the body. It isn’t a description of what ought to be; it just says what is. He is the head. He will be a good one or a bad one, depending; but if he isn’t the head, there isn’t any other.”

Soli Deo Gloria

This book by Bonhoeffer.

Chapter one… I have read it several times since yesterday.

I needed it.

So much to think

and pray about.

Soli Deo Gloria

“Like the old lady, I don’t know so well what I think until I see what I say; then I have to say it over again.” (Flannery O’Connor)

Soli Deo Gloria

I am reading this book on my Kindle and here I am, reading my highlights and notes in the Amazon Kindle site.

The author shares this interesting quote from Elyse Fitzpatrick that I would like to share with you:

“Let’s become known as a generation of women who delight in, tremble before, receive counsel from, drink, devour, digest, muse upon, and absolutely cherish God and the truth that He’s revealed about Himself and about ourselves…”

If women commit to reading books of solid theology, their knowledge of Christ will grow, because “theology (of the right sort) is about knowing God and His Son intimately. Knowledge of Him (not just about Him) feeds, transforms, and vivifies the soul. This is the most delightful pursuit any woman could ever know.”

Soli Deo Gloria

Soli Deo Gloria

What are days for?
Days are where we live.
They come, they wake us
Time and time over.
They are to be happy in:
Where can we live but days?

Excerpt from Days by Philip Larkin

Soli Deo Gloria

Let us not forget this…

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through you.” Mortimer J. Adler

Soli Deo Gloria

The Recognition
Attributed to Roy Croft
Adapted by Roger Housden

I love you
Not only for what you are
But for what I am
When I am with you.
I love you
Not only for what
You have made of yourself
But for what you are helping me
To make of myself.
I love you
For putting your hand
Into the heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
The beautiful belongings
That no one else has looked
Quite far enough to find.
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the ruins of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.
I love you
Because you see me.
I love you because
You have done more
Than any fate could
Have done to
Settle my heart.
Yet you do so
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You do so because
You are you.

Soli Deo Gloria

This year I have decided to read the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians (apart from my regular Bible reading) at least once a week (in one sitting), most likely every Lord’s Day. I will also be copying and studying it little by little using different commentaries and listening to various sermons. I am very excited about it. Would you like to join me?

The commentary I will start using is the Reformed Expository Commentary by Bryan Chapell.

May God draw us to His Word this year so that we may see Him.

Soli Deo Gloria

“I remember when I carried Jesus and his mother home from Bethlehem,” he said. “His mother and his father knew that he would die to save his people. Someone had told them so. It seems that prophecy has come true. The King was carrying the beam of the cross on which he was going to be crucified.”

Soli Deo Gloria