Jesus comes among us, in our all division, not to instruct, comfort or inspire but to die. In doing so, He answers the sum of our self-regard, stupidity and cruelty.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that Jesus's presence is not for guidance or motivation but rather for the ultimate sacrifice, addressing human flaws.
Richard Coles emphasizes the profound nature of Jesus's sacrifice, interpreting it as a response to humanity's inherent flaws like self-centeredness and cruelty. Instead of merely providing comfort or guidance, Jesus's willingness to die signifies a deeper engagement with our moral shortcomings, serving as a poignant reminder of the weight of our collective actions.
In practice
During a sermon, when discussing the meaning of sacrifice and love for others.
Insomnia is a variant of Tourette's--the waking brain races, sampling the world after the world has turned away, touching it everywhere, refusing to settle, to join the collective nod. The insomniac brain is a sort of conspiracy theorist as well, believing too much in its own paranoiac importance--as though if it were to blink, then doze, the world might be overrun by some encroaching calamity, which its obsessive musings are somehow fending off.
The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves.
Cheats, liars and criminals may resist every blandishment while respectable gentlemen have been moved to appalling treasons by watery cabbage in a departmental canteen.
life is of no value but as it brings gratifications. among the most valuable of these is rational society. it informs the mind, sweetens the temper, chears our spirits, and promotes health.
There is no shortcut to holiness; it must be the business of our whole lives.
In the modern technoindustrial culture, it is possible to proceed from infancy into senility without ever knowing manhood.
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