If you find yourself loving any pleasure more than your prayers, any book better than the Bible, any house better than the house of the Lord, any table better than the Lord's table, any persons better than Christ, or any indulgence better than the hope of heaven – be alarmed.
Interpretation
Prioritize spiritual devotion over worldly pleasures.
This quote by Thomas Guthrie emphasizes the importance of maintaining spiritual focus and devotion in a world filled with distractions and temptations. It warns that if one starts valuing earthly pleasures and possessions above their prayers, religious texts, communal worship, or deeper connections with Christ, it is a cause for concern, suggesting a misalignment of priorities that could lead to spiritual decline.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a sermon to encourage parishioners to focus on their spiritual lives.
It is not with a rush and a spring that we are to reach Christ's character, and attain to perfect saintship; but step by step, foot by foot, hand over hand, we are slowly and often painfully to mount the ladder that rests on earth, and rises to heaven.
One man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous.
The human body is vapor materialized by sunshine mixed with the life of the stars.
One thousand brilliant stars punched holes in my consciousness, pricking me with longing. I could stare at the stars for hours, their infinite number and depth pulling me into a part of myself that I ignored during the day.
Philosophy is tested and characterised by the way in which it appropriates its history.
You should not live one way in private, another in public.
Vladimir: I don't understand. Estragon: Use your intelligence, can't you? Vladimir uses his intelligence. Vladimir: (finally) I remain in the dark.
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