Quotations: Gathered Wisdom

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m kind of a quotations freak.

When I was a classroom teacher, I started writing funny or provocative quotations on the whiteboard every Monday morning. My students seemed to really enjoy it, and many would provide me with interesting quotes that they’d encountered. Later, when I was at home with my own children in their baby/toddler years, I kept my sanity by indulging my love of reading….and searching for great quotes. I remember one year I set a goal of reading every Charles Dickens novel, and then moved on to Jane Austen, George Elliot, Thomas Hardy and the Bronte sisters. My outer existence during those years was largely distinguished by baby food, diapers and walks to the playground, but my inner life was filled with exhilarating literary adventures. I also started exploring the works of some wonderful Christian authors such as C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Irma Zaleski, Richard Rohr, Anne Lamott, Ron Rolheiser… I could go on and on. They have made my life richer in every way.

One day I started a journal of favourite quotations, out of a desire to capture the sentences that somehow touched me deeply, or gave me an insight into a particular struggle in my life, or simply gave me a shiver of delight. It’s a habit I’ve kept up ever since. I’ve now filled up two journals with quotations, and have recently embarked on my third.

It’s fun to read over my old journals once in a while – they are almost like travel logs through different phases in my life, and remind me of what I was reading and learning and thinking about. Those journals have become like old friends.

Here’s a few gems of “gathered wisdom” from my journals:

C.S. Lewis:
“Pain removes the veil. It plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.”
When my youngest son started suffering from a number of severe neurological disorders, this quote sparked some serious self-reflection on my part. I realized that I felt angry and depressed because I liked being in control of my life…and I definitely wasn’t in control anymore. The “flag of truth” for me was all about letting go and truly trusting in God’s merciful love.

St. Thomas Aquinas:
“There is nothing to prevent human nature’s being raised up to something greater, even after sin; God permits evil in order to draw forth some greater good.”
When I am overwhelmed by the “bad news” stories in the media, St. Thomas encourages me to keep my antennae up for touches of God’s grace – and also to pay attention to the people who reach out and help others in the midst of the distress around them.

Pedro Arrupe, former Superior General of the Jesuits, after suffering a debilitating stroke:
“More than ever, I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life, from my youth! But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.”
When my Mom’s Alzheimer’s disease became very advanced, I started to worry that perhaps Alzheimer’s was in my future as well. This quote reminds me that there are opportunities for beauty, joy and spiritual growth in every arena of human experience. Pedro Arrupe’s great insight was that by embracing our vulnerability we open the door to a deeper communion with God, and with each other.