Quotes from Notes...

I have blogged before about Wilson's Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl (Wide-eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World).

I have been mulling over the thoughts of shadow and light since the beginning of the year. E. asked me last night, "Honey, you ever going to finish that book?" Me- "I can't process more than just a section, it will be awhile."   Billy Sunday was a master at the one liners - but I think  N.Wilson has some pretty good ones.  True wit is an admirable thing.

Some of my favorites quotes from Notes:

"Bruises heal, but stories are forever." p.94

"An infinite God is I AM, and all else must be measured in terms of His nature, His love and His Loathing." p.95

"Spring is as much about the death of death as it is about new life." p.114

"In the end, when your life is of a different sort, your first flesh will be dust, and of your grief, not one grain of ash will remain." p.115

"We are a world of lottery winners."p.41

"Infinite reaches all the way up inot the transcendent epics of the stars, and all the way down into the ant hill where one loyal worker spends his life toiling, from its first day after the larval stage to its noble end, killed by a ladybug while defending teh colony's venerable herd of aphids." p.30

"Are you able to be just one snowflake in the blizzard of this reality?" p. 49

"There is a crushing joy that crackles in every corner of this world. I am tiny yet I am here." p.50

All these thoughts give perspective.  Somehow in my mind I always want it to be about me. (Ouch!!! - it's true-Yikes!) BTW- it's probably true for everyone. J and I always laugh about it and say to eachother - in a very exagerrated manner "Oh, you mean it's not all about me?" as we discuss the shadows and lights of marraige, kiddos, calling and the like.

I guess reading stuff like this, journals, writings of and about giants past is a type of brain noise.  It's the defense that wells up when my me-ism threatens to undo me.  God is faithful to minister to me with His Spirit through these things.

One more thing.  I really like that N. uses a capital when he writes the pronoun of God.  I love that.  I don't think that it is grammatically recognized as correct but it should be.  He is truly the only I in this place.


I've  pondered God's Mercy and Justice showing equally his character for a few years.  That was an issue brought up by some young believers that I had never dwelt on.  Generally, I thought, God I am so glad that you have chosen to show me mercy.   The idea of why is there evil?

Notes p. 110 -
"The shadows exist in the painting, the dark corners of grief and trials and wickedness all exist so that He might step inside them, so we could see how low He can stoop.  In this story, the Author became flesh and wondered the stage with Hamlet, offering His own life.  In this story, the Author heaped all that He loathed, all that displeased Him, all the wrongness of the world, onto Himself.  Evil exists so that He might be demeaned, insulted, so that the depth of His love and sacrifice could be expressed as much as possible in the smaller frame of history."