Even if one is interested only in one's own society, which is one's prerogative, one can understand that society much better by comparing it with others.
Peter L. BergerRead
A few years ago, a priest working in a slum section of a European city was asked why he was doing it, and replied, 'So that the rumor of God may not completely disappear.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of faith and the presence of spirituality in the world.
In this quote, Peter L. Berger reflects on the motivation behind the priest's work in a disadvantaged area, suggesting that acts of service and dedication to the community help keep the idea of God alive in the hearts of people. The priest’s response indicates a deep awareness of the diminishing faith in society and the need for believers to actively express their spirituality through actions, ensuring that the concept of God remains relevant.
In practice
In a speech about community service, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of keeping faith alive through action.
Even if one is interested only in one's own society, which is one's prerogative, one can understand that society much better by comparing it with others.
He who sups with the devil had better have a long spoon. The devilry of modernity has its own magic: The [believer] who sups with it will find his spoon getting shorter and shorter--until that last supper in which he is left alone at the table, with no spoon at all and with an empty plate. The devil, one may guess, will by then have gone away to more interesting company.
Religion is the human attitude towards a sacred order that includes within it all being-human or otherwise-i.e., belief in a cosmos, the meaning of which both includes and transcends man.
The values by which we are to survive are not rules for just and unjust conduct, but are those deeper illuminations in whose light justice and injustice, good and evil, means and ends are seen in fearful sharpness of outline.
Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.
This much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.
What you yourself hate, don't do to your neighbor. This is the whole law; the rest is commentary. Go and study.
Every woman is supposed to have the same set of motives, or else to be a monster.
Not to get what you have set your heart on is almost as bad as getting nothing at all.
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