If you once allow yourself to fall into a habit of evil of whatever kind, the idea that you are helpless, that you are made so, that it is your nature, will very speedily creep in and try to lay hold of your mind.
Strength of character lies not in demanding special circumstances, but in mastering and using any that may be given.
Remember that if the opportunities for great deeds should never come, the opportunity for good deeds is renewed for you day by day. The thing for us to long for is the goodness, not the glory.
…..be called a laggard, make less money, accomplish less work than they, but be what you were meant to be and can be.
Jesus… doesn’t choose the powerful and capable to manifest his glory. He chooses corrupt tax collectors, penitent publicans, simple soldiers who are ‘only following orders’, women about whom your mother warned you, failed fisherfolk, and even us to be the workers of miracles that will transform a worn-out world into a feast overflowing with the finest of wine.
Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with your might. Put your whole soul into it.
Enthusiasm is the height of man; it is the passing from the human to the divine.
The noblest service comes from nameless hands,
And the best servant does his work unseen.
Are circumstances, then, in the last issue, our friends or foes? There is only one answer – they are what we choose to make them.
Souls within bodies are like dwellers in a wave-washed city, besieged by land but not by sea. And the city may be taken, but its inhabitants, with all that is worth transport, will have embarked already on some glorious fresh adventure, banners flying and sails set.
Suffolk Vicar 