...When all is said and done, none of us will be measured on how much we accomplish but on how well we love.

I've read this book twice now, and I swear I got ten times as much out of it than before. I enjoyed this book very much, because of it's truth, open dialogue, and sincere appreciation of human's inner struggle to comprehend the imcomprehendable. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts.

I'm reminded of many great things, and many things to be grateful for:

1. I am never alone, God is always with me;
2. To embody God is to fully succumb to His purpose, His will, and His plan;
3. There is abundance when intelligence, respect for knowledge, braids with faith;
4. God is patient and subtle, He does not work through magic or snap divine fingers;
5. Challenge every side of every question;
6. Don't reserve prayer for when your best efforts fail;
7. God is present in the suffering, and His heart breaks with mine - and He rejoices with me too;
8. Love is the greatest commandment of all, welcome people of all religions.

A beautiful prayer from Reinhold Niebuhr, adapted as the Serenity Prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous:

Grant us, our Father, your grace, that, seeing ourselves in the light of your holiness, we may be cleansed of the pride and vain-glory which obscure your truth; and knowing that from you no secrets are hid, we may perceive and confront those deceits and disguises by which we deceive ourselves and our fellowmen. So may we worship you in spirit and in truth and in your light, see light.

From Christian theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

I'm still discovering right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith...I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes, and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God.

Do I love unreservedly in life's duties?

To summon the kingdom of heaven as Jesus described it is not to call down perfection on an imperfect world, but to bring recurring, overriding virtues of the Gospel - love, mercy and redemption - to moments that will probably not make headlines.

Do I show love, mercy and redemption in moments that will not make headlines or reap me great rewards?

A recurring them in Tippett's literary genius is develop eyes to see and ears to hear. But what does this mean? Lord, please open my eyes to see you, open my ears to hear you, and shut my voicebox so that I may hear your whispering voice.

Also from Reinhold Niebuhr:

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true, or beautiful, or good, makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, could be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our own standpoint; therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.

And I believe, wholeheartedly, that the ultimate form of forgiveness is God's grace. There is nothing more precious, more worthy, or beautiful. It is.......love. Afterall, God so loved the world that He gave his only Son so that I would be saved.

Praise be to God!