Writing In The Sand by Thomas Moore

Page xii ~ ...he saw in Jesus someone who could transcend the splitting of good and evil and light and shadow, and therefore avoid the pitfall of moralism - the bad habit of making simple judgements of right and wrong.

Page 1 ~ Jesus talks about the kingdom as being within you and in your midst. The passage from Matthew above (Matthew 10:7-8) makes it clear that you reveal the Kingdom by the way you live and act - not that you live morally and virtuously but that you work at healing, wakening, caring for, and calming others.

Page 19 ~ Feeling like an outsider and standing out from the crowd because of your compassionate and forgiving values are signs that you may have found your way into the Kingdom. Conversely, if you fit too snugly in the mass of humanity that has surrendered to narcissistic and paranoid values, you are not part of the father's kingdom.

Page 35 ~ The change of water to wine signifies a much deeper kind of change within the human spirit - from plain unconsciousness to an intoxicating vision. It is the central theme of the Gospels: go through a change of vision and discover life in all its abundance and intensity.

Page 45 ~ ...Jesus places high value on people who are normally rejected. He sees through the surface problems of illness, weakness, and failure to the jewel at the core of the person.
Agape is an alternative to hatred, suspicion, judgement, and paranoia. It is less an emotion and more an orientation toward life. You face the world with an open heart rather than with a suspicious or punitive one. You don't reject and distance the world from you but rather embrace it. In the kingdom you reach out precisely toward those who in ordinary reality are ostracized.

Page 53 ~ Jesus' way is a philosophy of affection, a matter of heart and soul. It is not an abstract love, as merely wanting the best for humankind or striving toward an ideal.....

...If everyone felt and thought this way, we would be living in a radically different world, the kingdom of heaven.

Moore,Thomas. Writing In The Sand. Hay House Publishers: California.2009
ISBN # 1-4019-2413-1

Code of the Samurai by Taira Shigesuke trans. by Thomas Cleary

"One who is supposed to be a warrior considers it his foremost concern to keep death in mind at all times, every day and night, from the morning of New Year's Day through the night of New Year's Eve. As long as you keep death in mind at all times, you will also fulfill the ways of loyalty and familial duty."
- pg. 3 -

"For warriors, taking good care of parents is fundamental. If people do not care for their parents, they are not good, even if they are exceptionally smart, well-spoken, and handsome."
- pg. 7 -

"In the code of warriors there are two kinds of principles with four levels. The two kinds of principles are ordinary principles and emergency principles. The ordinary principles include principles of knighthood and principles of weaponry. The emergency principles include army principles and combat principles."
- pg. 10 -

Shigesuke, Taria. trans by Thomas Cleary. Code of the Samurai. Tuttle Publishing: Rutland, VT. 1999.
ISBN # 0-8048-3190-4 (hc)

Why Do I Always Feel Guilty? By Mary Whelchel

(Breaking Free From What Weighs You Down)

Page 11 ~ “A life burdened under a load of guilt is not the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. Guilt steals our joy, hinders our productivity, interrupts our peace, harms our relationships, and worst of all, makes us self-focused. When I’m feeling guilty, I’m thinking about myself; and when I think about myself very much, it always leads to dissatisfaction and discontent.”

Page 12 ~ “Guilt is both a fact and a feeling. It is possible to be guilty without feeling guilty. It is possibly to feel guilty without being guilty. And obviously, it is possibly to be guilty and feel guilty. No doubt, we have all experienced these three conditions.

Whelchel, Mary. Why Do I Always Feel Guilty? Harvest House Publishers: Oregon. 2007. ISNB# 0-7369-1890-6

THE SHACK by Wm. Paul Young

Page 72 ~ “His friend unfolded the paper and read silently. “Geez, what kind of loony kook would write you something like this? And who is Papa?” “Well, you know, Papa – Nan’s favorite name for God.” Mack shrugged, not sure what else to say. He took back the note and slid it into his shirt pocket. “Wait – you aren’t thinking this is really from God, are you?” Mack stopped and turned to face him. He had just about finished packing anyway. “Willie, I’m not sure what to think about this. I mean, at first I thought it was just a hoax, and it made me angry and sick to my stomach. Maybe I’m just losing it. I know it sounds crazy, but somehow I feel strangely drawn to find out for sure. I gotta go Willie, or it’ll drive me nuts forever.” “Have you thought of the possibility that this might be the killer? What if he’s luring you back for some reason?” “Of course I’ve thought of that. Part of me won’t be disappointed if it is. I have a score to settle with him,” he said grimly and paused. “But that doesn’t make a lot of sense either. I’m not thinking the killer would sign this note ‘Papa’. You’d have to really know our family to come up with that.” Willie was perplexed. Mack continued, “And no one who knows us that well would ever send a note like this. I’m thinking only God would…maybe.” “But God doesn’t do stuff like that. At least I’ve never heard of him sending someone a note. Not that he couldn’t, but, you know what I mean. And why would he want you to return to the shack, anyway? I can’t think of a worse place…” The silence that hung between them grew awkward.”

Young, Wm. Paul. THE SHACK. Windblown Media, Hachette Book Group: CA. 2007. ISBN# 0-9647292-3-7

The Saving Life of Christ by Major W. Ian Thomas

Page 13 ~ “Christ did not die simply that you might be saved from a bad conscience or even to remove the stain of past failure, but to “clear the decks” for divine action.

Page 20 ~ “How stupid it would be to buy a car with a powerful engine under the hood and then to spend the rest of your days pushing it! Thwarted and exhausted, you would wish to discard it as a useless thing! Yet to some of you who are Christians, this may be God’s word to your heart. When God redeemed you through the precious blood of His dear Son, He placed, in the language of my illustration, a powerful engine under the hood – nothing less than the resurrection life of God the Son, made over to you in the person of God the Holy Spirit. Then stop pushing! Step in and switch on and expose the perplexity – no matter how threatening – to the divine energy that is available.”

Page 55 ~ “Where suggestion becomes desire, desire becomes intent, and the intent becomes an act – the act becomes a memory and that memory is hung like a picture upon the wall of your imagination, in the picture gallery of your mind. When later in your thoughts you wander through the picture gallery, you see the memory on the wall, and this memory itself becomes suggestion, and this suggestion becomes desire, and this desire may become intent, and if this intent becomes an act, you will then have hanging on the wall two memories, and the process can begin all over again with double force!”

Thomas, Maj. W. Ian. The Saving Life of Christ. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1961. ISBN# 0-310-33262-1