My Take

Steve gave me Somebody Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon for Christmas. Here’s my take on some of the wise words I came across while enjoying her terrific novel.

“Sleep in peace, God is awake.” (Victor Hugo) I’ll remember that the next time life is particularly uncertain. If we lived in perfect faith, troubles would never bring insomnia!

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) In my younger days, this meant simply leaving the door to my dorm room ajar, welcoming those who wanted my friendship even if I had a paper to write. It could mean bearing illness, whether our own or that of a loved-one-in-need, with patience and grace, or taking a friend’s call even when we feel “too busy” to talk.

And then by Jan Karon:

“He (the main character) moved directly then to the abridged version. ‘Help me, Jesus.’” “Oh, Jesus!” isn’t always a curse. Often it’s a cry for help, issued allowed or within our spirits—an appropriate cry and one many of us don’t make often enough. If He can supply all we need, and since we are always in need, why not make a habit of calling out to Him?

“I do know this—the business of killing yourself for other people is a lot of hogwash.” Spending ourselves for others may be our calling, yet I believe God rarely asks us to fully exhaust ourselves. Most of the time, he wants us to stay within boundaries that let us to live to serve another day.

“To do it all and deprive others of doing is a misguided notion.” See above, as this is yet another reason to question a life of constant fatigue.

When her main character is seeking the answer to an as-yet-unsolved dilemma: “We, however, need to keep praying and trusting God, and moving ahead to things like lunch and dry-cleaning.” I love this! How often do we let waiting on God put us into a state of frozen stress? We spin our wheels and worry about how things are going to turn out. “Keep calm, and carry on” means “Take it to the Lord, and keep on living.”

“At 89, Albert Schweitzer was running a hospital in Africa.’’ If you sense God asking you to do something, never say, “I’m too old!” (or for that matter, “I’m too young.”) If he calls, he equips.

“’Lord,’ he prayed, ‘make me a blessing to someone today.’” What would happen if you and I prayed that prayer every single morning? Let’s start today, shall we? Go for it, and let me know what happens!

*On pages 169, 172, 176, 189, and 191

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash