Indifference, Inspiration, And Other Things I Didn't Say

When looking at the AtoZ blogging challenge for this year, I considered doing a quotes version with daily quotes by various famous and not so famous people that I liked and which had inspired me.  I (obviously) changed my mind, and decided to go eclectic instead.  But today is the exception as the biggest quote which stood out to me was one by Elie Wiesel about indifference.  Since I <3 quotes here are the words of Mr. Wiesel as well as several other quotes I thought worth sharing.

 

(1) Indifference

The opposite of love is not hate, its indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, its indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, its indifference.

And the opposite of life is not death, its indifference.

-Elie Wiesel

 

(2) (More) Indifference

The most deadly poison of our times is indifference.

- St. Maximillian Kolbe

 

(3) Simplicity

I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things in life which are the real ones after all. -

-Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

(4) Love

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts there can be no more hurt, only more love.

- Mother Teresa

 

(5) Suffering

Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.

-Elie Wiesel, Night

 

(6) Challenges

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

(7) Habits

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not a virtue but a habit.

- Aristotle

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Blogging from AtoZ Challenge, This Ain't The Lyceum, Missional Women, Create With Joy's Friendship Friday, The Modest Mom Blog



 

Holy Saturday Lives - or Words from Someone Smarter Than Me

Part of "the journey," is finding people to learn from.  Here are some words from someone smarter than me.  They're a reflection on Holy Saturday, so you might think I'm a little late in posting, but really they're a post on our whole lives.  So I don't think I'm so late after all.

Holy Saturday: Our lives are mostly not Good Friday lives: ones of unbearable pain or unimaginable torture (though some people's lives are). Nor are they Easter Sunday lives: ones unbounded joy and endless delight (though some are). Our daily lives are mainly the experience of Holy Saturday: poised, like the disciples, between fear and hope; balanced between the "already" and the "not yet"; patiently trusting. But in our Holy Saturday lives we know something that the disciples didn't: that resurrections are often just around the corner. - Fr. James Martin, SJ

I think that Fr. Martin makes a great point here - for the most part our lives are caught in the between.  We get to experience both pain and delight, both joy and sorrow.  We live in a world marked by sin, but also marked by mercy and salvation.  We have a chance for Earth, and a chance for Heaven.  The best of both worlds if you will. 

What are your thoughts on Fr. Martin's words? In what ways are our lives balanced?  In what ways are they thrown completely off-kilter? Is your life defined by "patiently trusting," or are you like me, and trust is easier said than done?