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Anne Sullivan sensitively responded to the child’s behavior. She wrote home: “The greatest problem I shall have to solve is how to discipline and control her without breaking her spirit. I shall go rather slowly at first and try to win her love.” In fact, the first “miracle” occurred two weeks later, well before the famous incident at the pump house. Annie had taken Helen to a small cottage near the family’s house, where they could live alone. After seven days together, Helen’s personality suddenly underwent a change—the therapy had worked: “My heart is singing with joy this morning. A miracle has happened! The wild little creature of two weeks ago has been transformed into a gentle child” (Lash, 1980, p. 54).
— Gardner, Multiple Intelligences on Interpersonal Intelligence
A holy calling does not make a holy man.
— Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word
The priests of Jeremiah’s day were handling the Scriptures, studying the Bible, and teaching God’s Word, but they did not know God himself (cf. John 5:39-40). Their ministry was a dead ritual rather than a living relationship.
“Language is the soul of a nation, the custodian of the goods and treasures of humankind, the bond that unites human beings, peoples, and generations, the one great tradition that unites in consciousness the world of humankind, which is one by nature.”
— Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics vol. 1
I long to be strong
full of vitality
energy to spare
wide awake
brain in gear
muscles ready
motivation engaged
purposed possessed
raring to go
unstoppable zeal
a competitor
a completer
the envy of others
no frailties
no worries
no regretsBut you have rendered me weak
unable to be what I once was
ever again
not in this life
the old me
goneI cannot live as I once did
I cannot do what I once did
I cannot press through
what you have chosen for me
I cannot escape
I cannot break free
I cannot will for something betterWeakness is my lot
Suffering is my prison
You have chained me to frailty
I cannot break freeBut this prison is your workroom
and I am your clay
You are not a jailer
You are a potter
I have not been condemned
I am being molded
Your hands have been heavy
Your push on me is hard
When the soil is resistant
the molding is violentMy weakness is not about what I am
enduring
My weakness is about what I am
becoming
My travail does not preach your
anger
My travail preaches your
graceThis prison is your classroom
I am learning
Your presence
I am learning
Your promises
I am learning
Your power
I am learning
Your mercy
I am learning
Your gospel
I am learning
learning
learningThe danger for me was never
weakness
The danger has always been
my delusions of
strengthYou have shattered my delusion
and in shattering have proven
My strength is and has always been
you
– – Paul David Tripp
[Land and sea] are deeply satisfying together, and we can’t quite analyze why we find that satisfaction and that peace and that sense of rightness. . . . The shore is the most popular place on earth. Waterfront property is the most expensive property anywhere in the world. Because that’s where the sea and the land meet. That’s where man and woman meet. The land without the sea is kind of boring, desert. The sea without the land is kind of boring. When are we going to land the ship? But the place where they meet, that’s where all the action is. And that’s where we want to be.
— Peter Kreeft
“I think God is cleaning up the church.”— L
“I would hope people leave Dissect with a greater appreciation of art. I would hope they come to respect hip-hop as an art form. I would hope they empathized with artists more, see them as real people who give us extraordinary gifts,” he adds. “I would hope they’d be inspired to spend more time with the things they truly loved.”
— Cole Cuchna, Quote taken from this Interview
Cole is the podcast host of a wonderful podcast called Dissect. In each season Cole dissects an album with each episode dissecting a song from the album.
He happened to dissect albums from my two favorite hip-hop artists, Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West. (Major brownie points there). But besides loving the podcast because of that, I think the podcast is enlightening because Cole is trying to push back against “the swipes.”
In this instant access, instant gratification culture, I would argue that we don’t spend as much time delving into the things we love. Rather, we swipe left or swipe right. We see something or hear a song and either like it or don’t. We swipe up and down our screens to see the next video or next new articles. We pretty much spend a millisecond with anything we interact with. Cole is challenging its listeners to go against the grain and to “spend more time with the things they truly loved.”
I love that.
It goes without saying that I’d recommend you take a listen to Dissect. Hip hop is a genre of music with deep, meaningful roots, and I think Cole helps you appreciate hip hop and its modern pioneers. Hip hop is the most listened to genre in America. But why do we love it? And who are the artists behind the songs?
Find out with Dissect, starting with getting to know some of the greatest hip hop artists of today.
“The way a masterful painter like Monet would study light and color is the same way Kanye studies and manipulates sound,” he continues. “The textures, the harmonies, the way instruments interact with one another—he’s manipulating these things on a micro-level with a lot of thought and consideration. More than I ever expected…”
Everyday you wake up, you have to trade your day for something. That’s what leads to commitment.
— 5/2, Friend summarizing Veritas Podcast he listened to…
The basic gist: Live everyday pursuing something and trading in that day for its worth. Do something worthy.
Do not look forward in fear to the changes in life;
rather, look to them with full hope that as they arise,
God, whose very own you are, will lead you safely through all things;
and when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in His arms.
Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;
the same understanding Father who cares for you today
will take care of you then and every day.
He will either shield you from suffering
or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
— Prayer of St. Francis de Sales
“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”
— C.H. Spurgeon
There is only a shallow joy we can receive when we tie our joy to our ever-changing circumstances. It’s a joy that gets rocked as it’s blown and tossed by the waves of our pain. It’s a joy that only rejoices when our life is perfectly manicured according to our desires. But true and lasting joy comes when we find our joy resting on the Rock of Ages.
Ultimately, what suffering does for true faith is take us to God. If God himself is the good news of the gospel, then trials are not something to run from, but something we ride to our Maker. We share in Christ’s sufferings and shine the spotlight on him in our pain. And they make us more and more like him. None of God’s purposes can be frustrated. Our suffering is not an accident.
Let the waves of your suffering take you to Jesus.
— Dave Furman
gaze upon beauty 