Progress is not... Herbert Spencer

Progress is not an accident But a necessity. Surely must evil and immorality disappear. Surely must man become perfect. 

Herbert Spencer

- Humanity, Evolution, Darwinism, Perfectionism, Humanism,

the Old Man - haitian Pastor

"If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it." Haitian pastor

Quoted in

FINISHING STRONG - Steve Farrar

Die Daily - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Ah, Darinka, to die would be a simple thing." He opened the curtains and the window. "But to die daily this is another thing."

Tell Me who? Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Aspirations - Kidnapped - Michael Kitchens

I think your a man who gets what he wants

That's because I never allow myself to want what I think I can not get

Kidnapped 1995

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly - The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint−Exupery

 So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near−− "Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry." "It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you..." "Yes, that is so," said the fox.

"But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince. "Yes, that is so," said the fox. "Then it has done you no good at all!" "It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields." And then he added: "Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret." The little prince went away, to look again at the roses. 

"You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world." And the roses were very much embarrassed. 

"You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. 

"One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you−− the rose that belongs to me. 

But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. 

Because she is my rose. And he went back to meet the fox. "Goodbye," he said. "Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." 

"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember. "It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important." 

I ought to have judged by deeds - The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint−Exupery

 "The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything! I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words. She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her... I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her..."The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint−Exupery

I, too, am going back home today... - The little Prince

He made no answer to my question, but he added: "I, too, am going back home today..." Then, sadly−−

"It is much farther... it is much more difficult..." I realised clearly that something extraordinary was happening. I was holding him close in my arms as if he were a little child; and yet it seemed to me that he was rushing headlong toward an abyss from which I could do nothing to restrain him... His look was very serious, like some one lost far away. "I have your sheep. And I have the sheep's box. And I have the muzzle..." And he gave me a sad smile. I waited a long time. I could see that he was reviving little by little. "Dear little man," I said to him, "you are afraid..." He was afraid, there was no doubt about that. But he laughed lightly. "I shall be much more afraid this evening..." Once again I felt myself frozen by the sense of something irreparable. And I knew that I could not bear the thought of never hearing that laughter any more. For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the desert. "Little man," I said, "I want to hear you laugh again." But he said to me: "Tonight, it will be a year... my star, the

And he laughed again. Then he quickly became serious: "Tonight−− you know... do not come," said the little prince. "I shall not leave you," I said. "I shall look as if I were suffering. I shall look a little as if I were dying. It is like that. Do not come to see that. It is not worth the trouble..." "I shall not leave you." But he was worried. "I tell you−− it is also because of the snake. He must not bite you. Snakes−− they are malicious creatures. This one might bite you just for fun..." "I shall not leave you." But a thought came to reassure him: "It is true that they have no more poison for a second bite."

That night I did not see him set out on his way. He got away from me without making a sound. When I succeeded in catching up with him he was walking along with a quick and resolute step. He said to me merely: "Ah! You are there..." And he took me by the hand. But he was still worrying. "It was wrong of you to come. You will suffer. I shall look as if I were dead; and that will not be true..." I said nothing. "You understand... it is too far. I cannot carry this body with me. It is too heavy." I said nothing. "But it will be like an old abandoned shell. There is nothing sad about old shells..." I said nothing. 

He was a little discouraged. But he made one more effort: "You know, it will be very nice. I, too, shall look at the stars. All the stars will be wells with a rusty pulley. All the stars will pour out fresh water for me to drink..." I said nothing. "That will be so amusing! You will have five hundred million little bells, and I shall have five hundred million springs of fresh water..." And he too said nothing more, because he was crying... "Here it is. Let me go on by myself."  

And he sat down, because he was afraid. Then he said, again: "You know−− my flower... I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so naïve! She has four thorns, of no use at all, to protect herself against all the world..." I too sat down, because I was not able to stand up any longer. "There now−− that is all..." He still hesitated a little; then he got up. He took one step. I could not move. There was nothing but a flash of yellow close to his ankle. He remained motionless for an instant. He did not cry out. He fell as gently as a tree falls. There was not even any sound, because of the sand.

The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint−Exupery

Dedication to The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint−Exupery

 

To Leon Werth

I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating

it to a grown−up. I have a serious reason: he is the best friend I have in

the world. I have another reason: this grown−up understands everything,

even books about children. I have a third reason: he lives in France where

he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these reasons are not

enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown−up

grew. All grown−ups were once children−− although few of them

remember it. And so I correct my dedication:

To Leon Werth

when he was a little boy

The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint−Exupery

Ritual and Rites - The little Prince

The next day the little prince returned.

"It would have been better to return at the same time the," fox said. "For instance, if you come at four in the afternoon, I'll begin to be happy by three. The closer it gets to four, the happier I'll feel. By four I'll be all excited and worried: I'll discover what it costs to be happy! But if you come at any old time, I'll never know when I should prepare my heart . . . There must be rites."

What's a rite?" asked the little prince.

"That's another thing that's been to often neglected," said the fox. "It's the fact that one day is different from the other days, one hour from the other hours. My hunters, for example, have a rite. They dance with the village girls on thursdays. SO Thursday's a wonderful day: I can take a stroll all the way to the vineyards. If the hunters danced whenever they chose, the days would be all just alike, and I'd have no holiday at all.

The Little Prince  Antoine de Saint-Exupery translated Richard Howard

Moses in the desert School of Education - Steve Farrar

 

"Moses was wounded, Churchill was wounded, and perhaps you are wounded." "The God who oversees and controls the events of history is overseeing your life as well. And He knows exactly what He is doing. You may have lost control of your circumstances, but He has not. He has enrolled you in a course you didn't sign up for. And if you remain teachable, He'll make sure you finish strong."

"God was far from finished with Moses. Although Moses felt God had removed His hand from him, nothing was further from the truth. God's hand was as firmly on Moses in the desert as it had been when he was a babe in the bulrushes. God was signing Moses up for a master's degree with a major in character development. While he was in the desert over the next forty years, Moses took four core courses: unemployment 101, advanced obscurity, remedial waiting, and intermediate loneliness." (162-3)

FINISHING STRONG Finding the Power to Go the Distance Steve Farrar, Multnomah Books, 1995, ISBN 1576730239

The Brain - Robert Frost

THE BRAIN IS A WONDERFUL ORGAN,

IT STARTS THE MINUTE YOU GET UP IN THE MORNING,

AND DOES NOT STOP UNTIL YOU GET TO THE OFFICE.

"ROBERT FROST"

Those Crazy Gringos - Bernie May

 

“I remember the Day Mr. Townsend came into my office in 1945. He presented the most ridiculous plan I had ever heard.

He wanted to go into the jungle with a group of linguists. They were going to learn the languages of the people, form alphabets teach the people how to read and translate the Bible into those languages. He wanted my blessing on this impossible project. Our conversation went like this:

Mr.Townsend, who is going to do all this work?

José Jiménez Borja

It will be done by trained linguist— young men and women with college degrees who are willing to spend their lives among the indigenous peoples.

This is a difficult task. How many are willing to go?

None yet. But when I go back to the U.S . and challenge them, many will volunteer.

The jungle is impossible. How will you get those people out to the villages?

I plan to use airplanes to land on the rivers and airstrips that can be cleared in the jungle.

How many planes do you have?

None, But when I share the need, God will give us enough planes.

Who will fly these planes?

Hundreds of young people, seasoned pilots and mechanics will volunteer.

How many pilots and mechanics do you now have?

None, but god will send them along.

There is much disease in the jungle how will you stay healthy?

We’ll have clinics staffed by doctor’s and nurses.

How many doctors and nurses do you have?

None, but God will supply them.

Who will finance all this? The U.S. government? A wealthy foundation?

No. I’ll go home and tell the people of the United States about this plan. God will supply. All the workers will raise their own support.

At this I stared at the strange man and told him, When all that comes to pass, come back to me and I will bless you.

He got up, gave me a big hug, and said I’ll be back soon.

“when Mr. Townsend walked out of the door, I turned to my secretary and said, “allá va el gringo más loco que jamás he vito’ ( there goes the craziest gringo I’ve ever seen in my life.)

Reporting on interview between Jiménez Borja an assistant to the Peruvian Minister of Education at the 25 Wycliffe Anniversary and Cameron Townsend

Do not be surprised - Blaise Pascal

Do not be surprised at the sight of simple people who believe without argument. God makes them love him and date themselves. He inclines their hearts to believe with a vigorous and unquestioning faith unless God touches our hearts; and we shall believe as soon as he does so.

Blaise Pascal 1623-62
the Lion Handbook of The History Of Christianity