How seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves.
Thomas A KempisRead
He that seeks here any other thing but simply God and the salvation of his soul, will find nothing but trouble and sorrow.
Interpretation
Pursuing anything other than spiritual fulfillment can lead to distress.
This quote suggests that the primary objective in life should be the pursuit of God and the salvation of one's soul. Any distraction from this spiritual focus can result in negative experiences and emotional turmoil, highlighting the importance of prioritizing spiritual well-being over worldly desires.
In practice
A pastor might use this quote in a sermon to emphasize spiritual priorities over materialism.
How seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves.
He will easily be content and at peace, whose conscience is pure.
Trust not to your feelings for whatever they might be now, they will quickly be changed towards some other thing.
Jesus has many who love the kingdom of God, but few who bear a cross. He has many who desire His comfort, but few who desire His suffering. All want to rejoice with him, but few are willing to suffer for Him. He writes; there are many who admire his miracles, but there are few who follow in the humiliation of the cross.
Anyone who thinks hard work will never hurt you has never had to pay to have it done. Jesus now has many lovers of his Heavenly Kingdom, but few bearers of his cross.
He has great tranquillity of heart who cares neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men. He will easily be content and pacified, whose conscience is pure. You are not holier if you are praised, nor the more worthless if you are found fault with. What you are, that you are; neither by word can you be made greater than what you are in the sight of God.
Philosophers there are who try to make themselves believe that this life is happy; but they believe it only while they are saying it, and never yet produced conviction in a single mind.
Some stories, sheβd say, the more you tell them, the faster you use them up. Those kind, the drama burns off, and every version, they sound more silly and flat. The other kind of story, it uses you up. The more you tell it, the stronger it gets. Those kind of stories only remind you how stupid you were. Are. Will always be.
The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.
There's nothing harder than defining oneself.
I worry about global anti-Semitism - not just as a bad idea that originates from bad people, but also as something that arises as a challenge to global order.
Compassion, along with love, is the face of altruism.
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