Author: Maria Evans

“What Anna couldn’t climb over, she worked around. When she met resistance from the YWCA to allow migrating black women to become members, she created African-American chapters of the YWCA.”

“Their understanding of the Slavic language was exactly what the Byzantine emperor, Michael III, and Constantinople’s patriarch, Photius, needed to evangelize and build a relationship in Slavic  territory, so the two brothers were sent as missionaries. They ran into a hurdle almost immediately… If the Slavs were to understand the Good News in Christ, it would have to be in Slavonic…so Cyril set about creating an alphabet with Methodius’ help, so the liturgy and the Bible could be translated into the vernacular of the people.  His alphabet, the Glagolitic alphabet, would evolve into what we now know as the Cyrillic alphabet. (Yes, he’s *THAT* Cyril!)”

“Through the lens of Marcella’s life we are reminded that the inclusivity of any group of people who are “different”, at times, has tragic costs.  We see this mirrored in the lives of women throughout history, through minority groups, and through the struggles of the LGBT community. So many commonalities overlap–in particular, the need to be recognized by at least a few of those who belong to the status quo, the subterfuge of the ruses that must be perpetuated to not garner unwanted attention, and, sadly, the risk of losing one’s life.”

“It would have been easy for him to allow himself to be the visitor’s intercessor, to put himself in the position of the holy man with special connections to God–yet he did not.  As harsh and jarring as Antony’s response might be, he displayed his own humility by pushing his visitor to take his own journey with God. Feeling God’s connection to us often is strongest when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to both wail at God and rail at God.”

“Jesus displayed the act of self-emptying–kenosis–on the Cross, and although we can never achieve the level of self-emptying that he could–that whole “fully human, fully divine” concept we embrace in the Nicene Creed–we still stand a better chance of sensing God’s presence when we empty ourselves, even a little bit.  It’s why in addition to words, for a more rounded prayer life, many people incorporate at least some form of silence as a prayer practice.”

“Scripture describes stinginess and oppressing others as “hardening our heart”–but in reality, we’ve hardened our brains.  Brains too hard-wired can’t move very far in the direction of generosity.”

“Nicholas’ popularity has only grown in subsequent centuries, perhaps simply because this broken old world still cries for his generosity of spirit and humility in anonymity.”

“The deep faith that C.S. Lewis came to know and share with others, did not come from shiny happy Christianity, but instead from his own life tragedies–the loss of his mother at a young age, the horrors of his service during WWI, his own sense of otherness from being an Irish soul who lived in England most of his life, and the untimely loss of his wife.”

“Even when we are ready, even if we sense God is with us in our desperation, it can be a hard slog to get to a place of respite. It is never a short journey when we are moving from a place of panic to a place of spiritual balance.”