Archives by: Gary Hoag

“And how can I learn to love? … I will not learn it until I realize that “God is love,” and to claim and receive it as an indwelling power for self-sacrifice. I will not love until I begin to see that my glory, my blessedness, is to be like God and like Christ, in giving up everything in myself for my fellowman. May God teach us this!

My heart’s desire and delight, O God, is absolute surrender, but I cannot perform it. It is impossible for me to live that life. It is beyond me. Fall down and learn that when you are utterly helpless, God will come to work in you not only to will but also to do.

Your Christian life is to be a continuous proof that God works impossibilities. Your Christian life is to be a series of impossibilities made possible and actual by God’s almighty power.”

Andrew Murray (1828-1917) in Absolute Surrender (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1981) 30, 69.

“Hospitality in the South is not only expressed through hosting and entertaining, but also through generous giving. It’s not unusual to find a bag of freshly picked zucchini on your doorstep in the summertime left by a neighbor with a bumper crop.”

Whitney Miller in Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm (New York: Rodale, 2011) 30.

“Everything stashed away or hidden discreetly is also stashed away in your mind and is subconsciously draining your mental energy. Why spend a valuable part of yourself polishing, washing, dusting, and thinking about [stuff]? You can’t afford [it]. It will rob you physically, emotionally and spiritually.”

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21.

Don Aslett, founder and owner of a cleaning supply company, as quoted by Jan Johnson in Abundant Simplicity (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011) 79.

“To come to the pleasure you have not
you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not
you must go by a way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not
you must go by a way in which you possess not.
To come to be what you are not
you must go by a way which you are not.”

John of the Cross in The Ascent of Mount Carmel I, 13, #10 as quoted by Richard Rohr in Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go (Crossroad, 1991) 16.

Acquiring and owning more than we need actually wears us out. Proverbs 23:4

“Despite the fact that people in prosperous democracies find their wealth satisfying, many are also haunted by a spirit of unhappiness. His research shows that once people’s earnings rise above the poverty level, an even larger income contributes almost nothing to happiness. Their main sources of well-being are friendships and a good family life, not possessions. In fact, increased prosperity often has a negative affect: as wealth increases, family and community erode, and individuals become more distrustful of each other. This makes sense when you consider that often in prosperity we become more self-indulgent. That makes us more self-centered and difficult for others to deal with, and so relationships suffer. Dissatisfaction increases when what we own owns us. Possessions enslave us, requiring our time and money to clean, maintain and store.”

Robert Lane, from his research entitled “The Loss of Happiness” in Market Economies as cited by Jan Johnson in Abundant Simplicity (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011) 78.

“The most important commandment of the Judeo-Christian tradition is to treasure God and his realm more than anything else…That is what it means to love God and with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. It means to treasure him, to hold him and his dear, and to protect and aid him in his purposes. Our only wisdom, safety, and fulfillment lies in so treasuring God.”

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40

Dallas Willard, as quoted by Jan Johnson in Abundant Simplicity (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011) 10.

“God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for you are enough for me. I may ask nothing less that is fully to your worship, and if I do ask anything less, ever shall I be in want. Only in you I have all.”

Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), anchorite and author of Showings, as recounted in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, 277.



Got this one from my Aunt. Feel free to send me your generosity-related comics to share the fun. Find more like this one at: www.freejokesrus.com and search: Biblical Far Side.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” Galatians 5:22-23 (NRSV)

“[They are] fruit, not works. [The Apostle Paul] has spoken elegantly by allotting works to the flesh and fruit to the Spirit.”

St. Jerome (c.347-420) Doctor of the Church in Epistle to the Galatians 3.5.22 cf. ACCSG 84.

“If you are willing to take a step toward simplicity [things will get worse before they get better]. Sure, take on a garage, drawer or other black hole for starters, but the real work of simplicity lies when you open the doors of your interior world and start pulling everything out and holding it up to God’s discernment and love. You must ask yourself and God what stays, what goes, and what, if anything, needs to be added.”

Mindy Caliguire in Simplicity (Downers Grove: IVP, 2008) 8.