To confess your sins to God is not to tell [God] anything [God] doesn't already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the bridge.
Frederick BuechnerRead
A Christian is one who points at Christ and says, 'I can't prove a thing, but there's something about his eyes and his voice. There's something about the way he carries his head, his hands, the way he carries his cross-the way he carries me.'
Interpretation
The quote reflects the deep, inexplicable connection and faith that a Christian feels towards Christ, beyond mere evidence.
Frederick Buechner's quote encapsulates the essence of faith in Christianity, emphasizing that belief is often rooted in an emotional and intuitive sense of connection rather than empirical proof. It illustrates that a true Christian can see and feel the presence of Christ in a profound way that transcends logic, focusing instead on the intangible attributes that inspire love and devotion.
In practice
In a sermon about faith, one might quote this to illustrate the power of personal connection with Christ.
To confess your sins to God is not to tell [God] anything [God] doesn't already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the bridge.
By and large a good rule for finding out is this: the kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work a) that you need most to do and b) the world most needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you've presumably met requirement a), but if your work is writing TV deodorant commercials, the chances are you've missed requirement b).
When you remember me, it means you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. It means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us. It means that if we meet again, you will know me. It means that even after I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart.
We find by losing. We hold fast by letting go. We become something new by ceasing to be something old. This seems to be close to the heart of that mystery. I know no more now than I ever did about the far side of death as the last letting-go of all, but now I know that I do not need to know, and that I do not need to be afraid of not knowing. God knows. That is all that matters.
To be wise is to be eternally curious.
if you don't have doubts you're either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants-in-the-pants of faith. They keep it alive and moving.
As breath stills our mind, our energies are free to unhook from the senses and bend inward.
In a sensibly organised society, if you improve productivity, there is room for everybody to benefit.
Liberty is the proper end and object of authority, and cannot subsist without it; and it is liberty to that which is good, just, and honest.
If he exalts himself, I humble him. If he humbles himself, I exalt him. And I go on contradicting him Until he understands That he is a monster that passes all understanding.
Civilization is the art of living in towns of such size the everyone does not know everyone else.
The teaching of the church, theoretically astute, is a lie in practice and a compound of vulgar superstitions and sorcery.
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