The brilliant mystery of weakness revealed by Saint Paul - a presentation of Samuel Godfrey George
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Thursday, 31 May 2012
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
A quiet time for unquiet thoughts
Samuel Godfrey George remembers a most
painful time in his life when his mother was grievously sick. God
answered his fervent prayers and granted healing to his suffering
parent.
Monday, 28 May 2012
The Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - April 2012
Power over evil is to
be able to do evil and still be willing to refrain from doing it. It is only he
who can do evil and yet does not choose to do evil that has any power over
evil.
I believe in the God of the Bible. I
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, his Son. I believe that the Bible is the word
of God containing the message of God to His people. Not everything in this
message is clear to me. Some of it is not even acceptable to me. But I am
willing to endure what I do not understand and agree with, as I am aware of the
limitations of human perception and understanding. I am also aware of God’s
superior knowledge and understanding, and I bow to it in trusting humility.
A man should tell the truth as he hears it.
He must speak to anyone who is willing to listen. If he must, he should speak in places where people are few. He must speak even if no one is willing to
listen. He must speak and continue to speak in the hope that someone will
listen.
Be grateful for everything, even for the
beggarly gift. You are not entitled to anything, and yet you have been given.
I have the mind of Christ. I have the
vision of Christ. This is what I will choose to believe even if my mind and my
eyes deceive me at times. Let my choices and my path be dictated by what I choose
to believe. There is a path that seems right, but let that path not be mine.
There is a path that only God knows is right. Let that path be mine. There is a
life that God has prepared for me. Let that be my life. Every other desire no
matter how good and legitimate, let it vanish from my life.
Doing what I think is good is not good
enough any more. Doing what is truly good in the eyes of God is what I need to
do. My life should be determined by God’s will for me. May I seek God’s will as
those who thirst in a dry land seek water.
I don’t want to meet anyone randomly. Let
every human contact be God-ordained and purpose-driven. Let every person I meet
be the one God wants me to meet for a certain reason.
To like a person for his or her looks, what
a deceptive thing that is! I have fallen for looks many times and I am far from
being victorious in this area. Thankfully God is with me to guide me away from
such superficial attractions. With God I have learned to look into the hearts
and minds of people.
It is time for me not to say that I love
God. That time is over. It is time for me to prove that I love God. And the
only way I can do that is by following God and living according to His
teachings.
It is time to shut up and listen.
You must stop so that God may start.
If someone is truly your friend he will
search for you. Allow him to search for you. Separate yourself from him.
Deprive him of your company. And you shall see how much you mean to him.
It is not in wanting but in not wanting
that strength is expressed. You should not want what you cannot have. And when
you cannot have something it is strong not to want it.
If ever there is a question as to whether
Man or God is right, it will most certainly be God for me. I’d rather trust God
in His most casual moment than Man in his most earnest.
Deception is saying the unholy thing in the
holy way. It is falsehood uttered like truth. It is pain conveyed like joy. It
is hell portrayed like heaven.
Sometimes when you do something people
notice. Sometimes when you do something people do not notice. Regardless of how
people react, do something. Do something as long as you want to do something.
Do something only for that reason.
It is good not to ridicule anyone or
anything. We are all quite ridiculous anyway.
Forgive not because forgiveness is good for
you. Such forgiveness is worthless. Forgive because everyone whom you will forgive is as weak and flawed as you are. People need your forgiveness as much
as you need theirs.
I'm so happy Lord. I'm so happy that I can
love others. It was you who put that love in me. It was you who gave me the
power to convey it.
What startles me from my complacency? This
is the only thing worth looking forward to.
Rejection is not always bad. In some cases
it is an absolute must.
Speak the truth even if everybody speaks
it. Speak it especially when nobody speaks it.
Spell out even painfully your expectations.
Declare them as truth even if they should look utterly improbable. As light
came to dispel a huge darkness, your hope will eventually dismantle the barriers
that seem impregnable.
Do you want to progress spiritually? Then
you must believe even if your belief appears ridiculous. You must wait though
waiting seems hopeless. You must endure even if endurance means your ultimate
doom. You should walk into a fiery death still hopeful of triumph.
We're going to have to fight this out. We're going to lose some teeth.
When the tempting thing is pushed away it
shall tempt you even more. Abstain from a temptation and it shall tempt you more than before. But stay close to the temptation, look it in the eye, study
it from all angles, experience it in deep concentration, and then you shall
taste and see the littleness of it. And the more you see the littleness of it,
the less will be its hold over you.
What
does worry do for you? What does doubt achieve for you? This and only
this - a state of misery. As long as you are miserable, you cannot
rejoice. As long as you cannot rejoice, you cannot receive from God. St.
Paul did not understate this when he said, "Rejoice in the Lord always:
and again I say, rejoice."
Everything that crushes hope redefines your
soul and renews hope that will better endure the realities of life.
To let something grow one must be willing
to ignore it.
There are two approaches to relationships.
One is the direct approach, and the other the indirect. I prefer the former to
the latter.
A step-by-step approach is best. It is good
not to achieve the goal immediately. Let achievement and addition be gradual
and spaced out. In this way every event can be studied and judged. Thus one can
maintain a greater control over something.
To conquer the thing you fear you must do
the thing you fear. Then you must wait and learn.
How meaningful is the terrible silence! In what we dread is what we need. In the silence is the deafening answer. Hear it and rejoice.
The constricted, cloistered approach is
inimical to the proper expression of beauty that emerges from varied
influences, each of which significantly contributing to the ultimate effect and
thus meriting mention.
Dig deep into yourself. There is no telling
what you will find in there. There is no limit to self-discovery.
Do not create strange places of discomfort
but familiar places of comfort. Where there is comfort there is hope. Where
there is hope there is strength.
Friday, 25 May 2012
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Son of War
O Son of War, your beauty is marred by turmoil.
Flames of hell engulf your soul, and drain the life out of you.
In your eyes dwells bottomless despair.
Where will you go my child? Who will love you now?
Your earthly father gave you up and deprived you of his love.
Men of darkness took you in and blackened your heart.
In the absence of adult virtue you grew from boy to man
To become a dark prince wielding deadly tools with deadly calm.
Now cold and motionless you lie, unresponsive to the demons
That encamp in your heart.
Your human father was sparing in love,
Will your Heavenly Father also spare you His love?
Will He not calm you with His touch, warm you with His embrace
And heal you with His kiss?
Is any son too small for Him?
Have not all sons gone astray, some farther than others?
The Origin of Light illuminates the heart of darkness.
Will He not give you his Light?
-Samuel Godfrey George
Flames of hell engulf your soul, and drain the life out of you.
In your eyes dwells bottomless despair.
Where will you go my child? Who will love you now?
Your earthly father gave you up and deprived you of his love.
Men of darkness took you in and blackened your heart.
In the absence of adult virtue you grew from boy to man
To become a dark prince wielding deadly tools with deadly calm.
Now cold and motionless you lie, unresponsive to the demons
That encamp in your heart.
Your human father was sparing in love,
Will your Heavenly Father also spare you His love?
Will He not calm you with His touch, warm you with His embrace
And heal you with His kiss?
Is any son too small for Him?
Have not all sons gone astray, some farther than others?
The Origin of Light illuminates the heart of darkness.
Will He not give you his Light?
-Samuel Godfrey George
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
The problem of faith
When promises remain unfulfilled and
prayers return unanswered faith is sorely tested. Yet take heart, the
greatest men and women of God were so tested and yet did not give up
their faith.
Friday, 11 May 2012
The Dark Prince
Had you been crushed in your Father’s embrace and calmed with His kiss
Would you have remained a Dark Prince?
As a pearl cast into the dust of the earth you were discarded;
In coarse hands your smooth beauty lay bruised.
Given up to teachers of darkness
Your heart was blackened and your soul robbed of light.
Spurned by your father you walked into a stranger’s arms.
In perverse hands you laid your blessing;
To devilish design you dedicated your gift.
Flames of hell lit your princely face
As you strode wielding death and destruction.
Now your great fire is spent, your glory utterly disfigured.
You lie in the quiet of your agony, an outcome of a divine purpose.
For Heaven did speak and hell did reply.
-Samuel Godfrey George
Would you have remained a Dark Prince?
As a pearl cast into the dust of the earth you were discarded;
In coarse hands your smooth beauty lay bruised.
Given up to teachers of darkness
Your heart was blackened and your soul robbed of light.
Spurned by your father you walked into a stranger’s arms.
In perverse hands you laid your blessing;
To devilish design you dedicated your gift.
Flames of hell lit your princely face
As you strode wielding death and destruction.
Now your great fire is spent, your glory utterly disfigured.
You lie in the quiet of your agony, an outcome of a divine purpose.
For Heaven did speak and hell did reply.
-Samuel Godfrey George
Son Of War
O Son of War, your beauty is marred by turmoil.
Flames of hell engulf your soul, and drain the life out of you.
In your eyes dwells bottomless despair.
Where will you go my child? Who will love you now?
Your earthly father gave you up and deprived you of his love.
Men of darkness took you in and blackened your heart.
In the absence of adult virtue you grew from boy to man
To become a dark prince wielding deadly tools with deadly calm.
Now cold and motionless you lie, unresponsive to the demons
That encamp in your heart.
Your human father was sparing in love,
Will your Heavenly Father also spare you His love?
Will He not calm you with His touch, warm you with His embrace
And heal you with His kiss?
Is any son too small for Him?
Have not all sons gone astray, some farther than others?
The Origin of Light illuminates the heart of darkness.
Will He not give you his Light?
-Samuel Godfrey George
Flames of hell engulf your soul, and drain the life out of you.
In your eyes dwells bottomless despair.
Where will you go my child? Who will love you now?
Your earthly father gave you up and deprived you of his love.
Men of darkness took you in and blackened your heart.
In the absence of adult virtue you grew from boy to man
To become a dark prince wielding deadly tools with deadly calm.
Now cold and motionless you lie, unresponsive to the demons
That encamp in your heart.
Your human father was sparing in love,
Will your Heavenly Father also spare you His love?
Will He not calm you with His touch, warm you with His embrace
And heal you with His kiss?
Is any son too small for Him?
Have not all sons gone astray, some farther than others?
The Origin of Light illuminates the heart of darkness.
Will He not give you his Light?
-Samuel Godfrey George
Samuel Godfrey George Quotations - From His Letters
The compulsion to hate is as strong as, if not
stronger than the compulsion to love. Every one of us would be ready to hate as
long as one has something to hate. Yet the impulse to hate is reined in by
obedience to Christ who commanded us to love our enemies, and to love our
fellow men. But this obedience is impossible to achieve by human strength
alone, and is a work of the Holy Spirit who resides in the believer.
Christians, by virtue of being Christians, or by virtue of being baptised and confirmed, do not automatically put on a garb of righteousness. Merely reading the Word of God, or listening to a charismatic preacher does not transform a person into a practising Christian. People who follow the teachings of Christ are those who are in love with Christ to the extent that they do not value anything else. They are also people who understand the deep truth in the teaching of Christ and appreciate the importance of following it.
You can live with Christ, and still betray Him. Judas has proved that already. You can fraternise with Christ, and still be found wanting in faith and grace. The apostles have proved that. What made the same disappointing apostles the pillars of the Christian Faith is the transforming work of the Spirit of Christ. It is not by might, nor by power but by His Spirit. And His Spirit does not transform everyone who claims to be Christian, simply because most claims are not true.
That most Christians are judgemental, intolerant and hateful should not come as a surprise. They are either ignorant of the teachings of Christ, or are unmoved by them, as the Spirit is not at work in them. Therefore the greatest challenge for a practising Christian is to persevere in faith, despite the little inspiration that can be derived from fellow Christians. Ultimately he or she lives to please Christ, at the cost of everything else.
We are both lovers of Christ. We may not be Christians. A Christian is not necessarily a lover of Christ. There are Christians who do not know the Christ. And there are Christians whom Christ does not know.
We know and love Christ. And Christ loves us. We know this because the thought of Christ brings us joy. And if Christ loves us, He surely understands us. Though we fall short of His glory, He justifies us in the sight of God.
The purpose of Christ is to reveal God's love to Man. His desire is not to condemn but to bless. His intent is not to abandon the lost child, but to seek and return him to his Father.
You know your Lord. He lives in you. His beauty shines through you. Your thoughts, your words and your love testify to this. May the Light that shines in both of us dispel the darkness that surrounds us.
The divine and the human in us make each of us two rather than one. You have understood the implications of this. The tension that you see between the divine and the human is a result of conflict and not harmony. The misery of life is due to the suppression of the divine element by the human. One continues in the conflict in the hope that the divine will ultimately overcome the human. The hope is really a promise made by God through Christ.
The Lord has striven much within me. His beautiful strife has produced much beauty. Thank you for understanding. You have been given the eyes to see what cannot be plainly seen. There is much I haven't said. My words conceal and reveal. Not all will be revealed. In the mystery of the divine lies the beauty.
I offer you this irony: you may not believe in the historical Christ, but you have spoken for Him. I have not met the historical Christ, nor have I seen Him in His divine glory, but I have heard His voice in yours. I have felt His love in your love for me. His encouragement delivered in your voice has kept me going. What makes us different does not matter. We are linked. And He has linked us.
I believe in a childhood dream. I believe that the Fire that I saw raging across the black sky is the Lord God Himself. I believe that the words of English that spontaneously issued from my Tamil lips, pledging servitude to the Lord (at a time when I barely spoke English and hardly grasped the concept of service), are the signs of a future servitude to Christ that involved this foreign language. I believe that the mad desire for the sight of Christ, which I felt soon afterward, heralded the moment when His Spirit came to reside in me. And I believe that He has remained with me ever since, even when I denigrated and denounced Him with the strongest expletives in both Tamil and English. And I believe that He still remains, even if I choose to cuckold Him continually in the arms of His enemy. The Lord will have His bride, even if she has been exceedingly violated.
The Lord is Spirit, and He resides in many who believe in Him. He is One despite His three manifestations. And He was once a man. This I believe without question. When I envision Christ I envision Him as the man.
Now whatever you believe, you would accept that you are drawn to me, and I believe that the historical and divine Christ is in me. Therefore you are drawn to Him, and not to me. What I have said and done, I have not said and done any of it.
Christians, by virtue of being Christians, or by virtue of being baptised and confirmed, do not automatically put on a garb of righteousness. Merely reading the Word of God, or listening to a charismatic preacher does not transform a person into a practising Christian. People who follow the teachings of Christ are those who are in love with Christ to the extent that they do not value anything else. They are also people who understand the deep truth in the teaching of Christ and appreciate the importance of following it.
You can live with Christ, and still betray Him. Judas has proved that already. You can fraternise with Christ, and still be found wanting in faith and grace. The apostles have proved that. What made the same disappointing apostles the pillars of the Christian Faith is the transforming work of the Spirit of Christ. It is not by might, nor by power but by His Spirit. And His Spirit does not transform everyone who claims to be Christian, simply because most claims are not true.
That most Christians are judgemental, intolerant and hateful should not come as a surprise. They are either ignorant of the teachings of Christ, or are unmoved by them, as the Spirit is not at work in them. Therefore the greatest challenge for a practising Christian is to persevere in faith, despite the little inspiration that can be derived from fellow Christians. Ultimately he or she lives to please Christ, at the cost of everything else.
We are both lovers of Christ. We may not be Christians. A Christian is not necessarily a lover of Christ. There are Christians who do not know the Christ. And there are Christians whom Christ does not know.
We know and love Christ. And Christ loves us. We know this because the thought of Christ brings us joy. And if Christ loves us, He surely understands us. Though we fall short of His glory, He justifies us in the sight of God.
The purpose of Christ is to reveal God's love to Man. His desire is not to condemn but to bless. His intent is not to abandon the lost child, but to seek and return him to his Father.
You know your Lord. He lives in you. His beauty shines through you. Your thoughts, your words and your love testify to this. May the Light that shines in both of us dispel the darkness that surrounds us.
The divine and the human in us make each of us two rather than one. You have understood the implications of this. The tension that you see between the divine and the human is a result of conflict and not harmony. The misery of life is due to the suppression of the divine element by the human. One continues in the conflict in the hope that the divine will ultimately overcome the human. The hope is really a promise made by God through Christ.
The Lord has striven much within me. His beautiful strife has produced much beauty. Thank you for understanding. You have been given the eyes to see what cannot be plainly seen. There is much I haven't said. My words conceal and reveal. Not all will be revealed. In the mystery of the divine lies the beauty.
I offer you this irony: you may not believe in the historical Christ, but you have spoken for Him. I have not met the historical Christ, nor have I seen Him in His divine glory, but I have heard His voice in yours. I have felt His love in your love for me. His encouragement delivered in your voice has kept me going. What makes us different does not matter. We are linked. And He has linked us.
I believe in a childhood dream. I believe that the Fire that I saw raging across the black sky is the Lord God Himself. I believe that the words of English that spontaneously issued from my Tamil lips, pledging servitude to the Lord (at a time when I barely spoke English and hardly grasped the concept of service), are the signs of a future servitude to Christ that involved this foreign language. I believe that the mad desire for the sight of Christ, which I felt soon afterward, heralded the moment when His Spirit came to reside in me. And I believe that He has remained with me ever since, even when I denigrated and denounced Him with the strongest expletives in both Tamil and English. And I believe that He still remains, even if I choose to cuckold Him continually in the arms of His enemy. The Lord will have His bride, even if she has been exceedingly violated.
The Lord is Spirit, and He resides in many who believe in Him. He is One despite His three manifestations. And He was once a man. This I believe without question. When I envision Christ I envision Him as the man.
Now whatever you believe, you would accept that you are drawn to me, and I believe that the historical and divine Christ is in me. Therefore you are drawn to Him, and not to me. What I have said and done, I have not said and done any of it.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
The Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - The Tweets
May I walk beside you? The journey is long,
and my mind will soon wander away. Let's walk together now before everything
fades away.
Can a man have wisdom and still be happy?
Can a man know his Creator and still hold on to the created?
As one increases in understanding, the
certainties become uncertainties and the uncertainties become certainties.
What seems hopeless may still yield hope,
what seems meaningless may still offer meaning and what seems inevitable may
still be prevented.
Meaning may arrive from meaninglessness,
joy may issue from pain and knowledge may result from foolishness.
There is sanity after madness, hope after
despair and life after death.
After the dark of the night comes the light
of the day. But the joy of the light cannot precede the misery of darkness.
Being considered weird by those who are not
equipped to accept difference is not as unfortunate as being adversely affected
by that opinion.
I am found doing the unpromising thing in
an unpromising way. What I do is indeed highly privileged.
If I don't fit in and if I seem too
strange, I shall not regret the effect. The disciple of the rejected must also
be rejected.
Shall we speak or forever hold our peace?
Great disasters may come. But what do you
fear the most - the death of your body or the death of your soul?
Will you know me or be deprived of the
knowledge of me?
It shall happen all of a sudden. What you
waited for and desired with all your heart shall come to pass. But will you
welcome it then?
Do I like what I like? Do I love what I
love? Do I not dislike what I like? Do I not hate what I love?
Few and hazy are the glimpses that I have
had of my Lord. Still His immeasurable beauty and limitless wisdom have not
been hidden from me.
The Lord beautifies everything, even my
despair.
Blessed is the quiet of the man who has
spurned every thought except the thought of his Lord.
If you feel the pain of my joy and the joy
of my pain, you will have heard my voice.
You shall speak of the world. But I shall
speak of the Word.
As the teacher administers a difficult test
to his exceptional student, the Lord refines His chosen through severe trials.
Who has mastered your heart? What compels
your attention?
Wherever I go, the One who goes with me
will be plainly seen.
You will find the black in my white, and
the white in my black.
Has the beast in Man found full expression?
The Lord has marked the cracks from which
hellfire will burst. He has already commissioned the stars that will fall upon
the earth.
I will rejoice in the work that I have
accomplished. My joy is a tribute to God who has achieved the work in me. No
one can steal that joy.
You may come and go, but He remains with me.
Not every wrong can be made right. Not
every mistake can be corrected.
To study human nature you must study your
own nature and then the nature of others.
This is the humbling, the mellowing, the
discharging and the releasing of the one who will be the Voice.
Should I be alarmed by the dead that stirs
within me? Let the dead be concerned with the dead.
Do you perceive all? Do you understand
everything? If you do not, hold your peace.
I stand before you. Do you see me?
To be chosen is to be rejected. To be
blessed is to be cursed.
The fools look outward. The wise look
inward.
Have I spoken enough? Or have I not spoken
at all?
Extraordinary pain calls for extraordinary
stillness.
Agonised and desperate I call out to
everyone except the One who shall save me.
I have walked without being seen. I have
spoken without being heard.
What is the purpose of these agonised
cries? Who is the afflicted, the sufferer or the observer?
How can the dead appear alive? How can the
alive appear dead?
Am I doomed to know the truth and not
exercise it?
No matter how much you cling to it or
caress it, it is simply not precious.
May I trouble you? May I speak the
unpleasant truth?
Filth serves its purpose when it creates
the desire for purity.
Am I so blessed that I cannot connect with
you?
Have I not spoken? Or have you not heard?
I may have a glimpse of the inside. But I
cannot see the outside.
He who blinds is also the one who opens
your eyes.
Shall I rise from the dead or live among
the dead?
In simple things I must find pleasure.
Complicated joys have turned bitter.
After the blackness, I shall dare to claim
the blessing of the Lord.
Do I violate the sanctum of allowable truth
and diluted reality?
Why does one prefer the diseased unreality
to the diseased reality? The knowledge of the real disease is better than that
of the unreal one.
Disease comes in the guise of health. And
health comes in the guise of disease.
Why does one look everywhere but upward?
Why does one summon every visible one and not the invisible One?
What is the purpose of God if one cannot
trust Him? What is the strength of the faith that does not withstand the test?
Can one believe when there is no reason to
believe? Can one trust God when God does not appear to be a friend?
Will the silence last forever? Will the
connection never be made? Will the rejection be complete?
Who hears my voice and does not respond?
Who realizes my truth and does not acknowledge? Who has seen me and walked
away?
In destruction my construction will take
place. In despair my faith will shine. In death my life shall manifest itself.
Can the fire be flung without consequences?
Can the truth be told without the response?
The Voice will now be heard. All barriers
have been removed from his path.
I'm desperate to believe in the fear that I
will not believe.
Does it matter who follows me? Whom I
follow matters.
How silent my street is! How deserted my
garden is! How abandoned my banquet is!
The Lord is good. He is particularly good
when I have been particularly bad.
Flee from the tumult of earthly applause.
Seek the gentle whisper of God. Seek his gentle disapproval. Desire his silent
approval.
Let the applause of the entire world be
drowned by the faintest sound of approval from the lips of my God.
Worry is not for me. Confidence is my
shield. The Lord is in charge, though the devil may dance. I shall trust and
rest.
He's there. I know He's there. He's got me
in His control, strangling this worldly life out of me in ruthless silence.
When all things have ceased to be
palatable, I have discovered that the Word of God will not disappoint.
The Desirable Union
When flesh meets flesh casually and illicitly, it is union, and
desirable it is to some, and so it was to me once, but not anymore. The
act of flesh deriving satisfaction from flesh is a joy temporary and
flimsy and ultimately disappointing, if it occurs out of marriage, out
of love and out of God's sanction.
In the grip of unholy love, in the stench of its juices I have passed many a pointless hour, many a day, and many a year. Much of my holy strength I have squandered on unholy lust that retards and regresses the work of God that I am. I have drunk deep from a fleshly cup until its contents revolt me and destroy the very desire to drink.
I have discovered that lust will not plunder the angel face of its riches. The lecher cannot strip away the everlasting joy of beauty. Nothing pure or lasting can be salvaged in an unblessed union that masquerades foolishly as love.
All misspent energy is misbegotten. The instinct to love comes from God. As He is holy, His instinct is also holy. Every act of love is an exercise of holiness. And this I will bear in mind as I give to and receive from others. My energy will be begotten of God. My desire will emerge from His heart. My embrace will be holy and my kiss will be chaste. My desire will be legal, and my love will give without the intent to receive.
- Samuel Godfrey George
- Samuel Godfrey George
In the grip of unholy love, in the stench of its juices I have passed many a pointless hour, many a day, and many a year. Much of my holy strength I have squandered on unholy lust that retards and regresses the work of God that I am. I have drunk deep from a fleshly cup until its contents revolt me and destroy the very desire to drink.
I have discovered that lust will not plunder the angel face of its riches. The lecher cannot strip away the everlasting joy of beauty. Nothing pure or lasting can be salvaged in an unblessed union that masquerades foolishly as love.
All misspent energy is misbegotten. The instinct to love comes from God. As He is holy, His instinct is also holy. Every act of love is an exercise of holiness. And this I will bear in mind as I give to and receive from others. My energy will be begotten of God. My desire will emerge from His heart. My embrace will be holy and my kiss will be chaste. My desire will be legal, and my love will give without the intent to receive.
- Samuel Godfrey George
- Samuel Godfrey George
The Beauty Of Pain
If you want to scream out in pain, you should seriously consider
laughing at your own discomfort. If a disappointment is hard to take, it
is because you do not see the beauty of it. Pain and disappointment are
human reactions to truth. You want to embrace the beautiful lie, as the
ugly truth is too dreadful to take. Yet the ugly truth is what will
secure your happiness some day, if you are willing to wait for it. Joy
lies in understanding and accepting the pain of growth, the growth from
ignorance to knowledge.
You want what is not possible. You believe in what is not true. You see nothing wrong in seeking what is good for yourself, but cannot accept those who want to do the same. You love so that you may be loved in return. So you are destroyed when someone fails to return your love. You give so that you may feel good about yourself. You give so that others may show you gratitude. So you are horrified when you meet thankless people. You believe in a higher power, because you have little faith in your own power. You believe in God because you want to be safe. So you are immobilised when your faith leads you to the brink of disaster.
Realise this. Pain is the road to joy. The love that endures is willing to accept rejection. Giving is most blessed when it is unacknowledged. To have faith is to hope when it is hopeless, and to believe when there is no reason to believe.
Today you smile without joy, and weep without reason. Tomorrow you will rejoice without a smile, and weep with reason.
-Samuel Godfrey George
You want what is not possible. You believe in what is not true. You see nothing wrong in seeking what is good for yourself, but cannot accept those who want to do the same. You love so that you may be loved in return. So you are destroyed when someone fails to return your love. You give so that you may feel good about yourself. You give so that others may show you gratitude. So you are horrified when you meet thankless people. You believe in a higher power, because you have little faith in your own power. You believe in God because you want to be safe. So you are immobilised when your faith leads you to the brink of disaster.
Realise this. Pain is the road to joy. The love that endures is willing to accept rejection. Giving is most blessed when it is unacknowledged. To have faith is to hope when it is hopeless, and to believe when there is no reason to believe.
Today you smile without joy, and weep without reason. Tomorrow you will rejoice without a smile, and weep with reason.
-Samuel Godfrey George
Health
Love without the desire to hold.
Give without the desire to receive.
Embrace without the intent to plunder.
Kiss without the intent to suffocate.
Have without the thought to retain.
Rule without the rod of obsession.
Take with the intent to share.
Give without the fear of loss.
And then the bond will last.
-Samuel Godfrey George
Give without the desire to receive.
Embrace without the intent to plunder.
Kiss without the intent to suffocate.
Have without the thought to retain.
Rule without the rod of obsession.
Take with the intent to share.
Give without the fear of loss.
And then the bond will last.
-Samuel Godfrey George
Belief and Disbelief
Someone sent me this message:
"I hope you know that God does not exist".
This is my response:
What do I know? What does anyone know except what has been revealed to him?
To him who declares that there is no God, I have only this to say, "You are right. This is what has been revealed to you."
To him who believes in God, as I do, I say, "You are right. This is what has been revealed to you."
That God does exist is evident to all and yet not perceptible to all. Everything that I see testifies to his existence. Not everyone can see this. Let him who can see see.
What we see and believe is what has been revealed to us. And the question of "what" is revealed to "whom" is determined in the realm of the Spirit, which is invisible, yet perceptible to the one to whom it has been revealed.
Believing in God is better than not believing in God. Not believing in God is better than declaring disbelief in God when one actually believes. In truth the worst state is to declare belief in God when one actually does not believe.
- Samuel Godfrey George
"I hope you know that God does not exist".
This is my response:
What do I know? What does anyone know except what has been revealed to him?
To him who declares that there is no God, I have only this to say, "You are right. This is what has been revealed to you."
To him who believes in God, as I do, I say, "You are right. This is what has been revealed to you."
That God does exist is evident to all and yet not perceptible to all. Everything that I see testifies to his existence. Not everyone can see this. Let him who can see see.
What we see and believe is what has been revealed to us. And the question of "what" is revealed to "whom" is determined in the realm of the Spirit, which is invisible, yet perceptible to the one to whom it has been revealed.
Believing in God is better than not believing in God. Not believing in God is better than declaring disbelief in God when one actually believes. In truth the worst state is to declare belief in God when one actually does not believe.
- Samuel Godfrey George
The Aspirations of Samuel Godfrey George
To the God I worship I say: "Let me truly be your servant. Let all
that I say and do glorify you. Let your desire be mine. Let your care be
mine. Your joy will be my joy. Your sorrow will be my sorrow. Your
kingdom I shall await every conscious moment. Till then your Word shall
guide every step of mine."
To those who come to me I say, "Let me express the love of God to you. I have received much. Let me give much. May I love you truly, and care for you, without expecting your love and your gratitude. Let my motivation come from the love of God and not from any earthly source. Let me freely give to you what I have freely received. Let me express to you what is deep and innermost in my being. Let me convey my passion and my desire for the Christ that I worship. Let Him reign in my work. Let Him speak through my voice."
To myself I say, "Be firm and serve your Lord. Every attempt will be made to turn you away from the path. Every ungodly desire will be flung in your direction as you move forward. Disease and death may linger at your door. Despair may be your companion. Keep moving forward. May you never turn away. May you never retreat to the dark pit that you were taken from."
- Samuel Godfrey George
To those who come to me I say, "Let me express the love of God to you. I have received much. Let me give much. May I love you truly, and care for you, without expecting your love and your gratitude. Let my motivation come from the love of God and not from any earthly source. Let me freely give to you what I have freely received. Let me express to you what is deep and innermost in my being. Let me convey my passion and my desire for the Christ that I worship. Let Him reign in my work. Let Him speak through my voice."
To myself I say, "Be firm and serve your Lord. Every attempt will be made to turn you away from the path. Every ungodly desire will be flung in your direction as you move forward. Disease and death may linger at your door. Despair may be your companion. Keep moving forward. May you never turn away. May you never retreat to the dark pit that you were taken from."
- Samuel Godfrey George
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
The Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - Introductions
There is no place for bitterness in this
life. The blessing of the Lord outweighs the curse. Though there is much in
life that merits endless rant and destructive rage, the one response that
befits the man of God is restrained silence. Not all can or will be resolved.
Not everything will be right, even with God on one's side. In truth, strife is
certain where God is involved. Nevertheless this life must be lived, the strife
must be endured and hope must never die. After the dark of the night comes the
light of the day. But the joy of the light cannot precede the misery of
darkness.
My career is over. So I've been told.
"What career?" I ask in response.
"And what did I lose along with it? I realise that I have spurned the opportunity to achieve the
goals of my education, and have thus forfeited the rewards that the fulfilment
of those goals ensured. I have forsaken the visible world for the invisible
Word. I have spurned the usual life for the unusual. I have wandered far into
something completely unpromising.
And here I am found doing the unpromising
thing, speaking unpopular words in an unpopular way. And I find a certain joy
in this. What I do is indeed highly privileged.
There is much I needn't say and haven't
said. There is much I needn't do and haven't done. Yet, in what I have said and done is that which I haven’t said
and done. May the perceptive discern what cannot be plainly seen and heard. The
power of suggestion is like none other, and the beauty of this game lies in the
blurring of definition.
"Who is your master?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?"
I was just asked these questions. And this is my response: If a man had a single master, then he will not be in conflict. If a man could believe in Jesus Christ without the slightest degree of doubt, then there will be no inner struggle between darkness and light. I am a child of conflict and struggle. Does that now make me a man who serves two masters or a disbeliever in Christ? My voice has spoken for the sake of the Divine One to magnify His glory in response to His command. I call Him my Lord Christ.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?"
I was just asked these questions. And this is my response: If a man had a single master, then he will not be in conflict. If a man could believe in Jesus Christ without the slightest degree of doubt, then there will be no inner struggle between darkness and light. I am a child of conflict and struggle. Does that now make me a man who serves two masters or a disbeliever in Christ? My voice has spoken for the sake of the Divine One to magnify His glory in response to His command. I call Him my Lord Christ.
Will I appreciate the slowness of my
progress? Will I savour the pungent
defeats that precede success? Will I befriend despair that comes along with
hope? Will I acknowledge the devil’s place in the garden of God?
After I languish in despair, will I embrace
hope? After I lament over my fall, will I rejoice in my rise? After I sleep
with the devil, will I uphold my vow to the Lord?
The Lord Christ is my
God. And I am His servant, who has been enabled to speak. My voice belongs to
Him, and has been created by Him to express the thoughts that He inspires in my
mind.
The Voice is the
struggle to express my gratitude for the love of Christ that has transformed me
from voicelessness to voice and from wordlessness to words.
I was not always a
believer in Christ. There was a time when I did not believe in God. And then I
became a man, a man of God and a man of Christ.
My Lord Christ has not had a slight impact on me. He often reduces me to tears and inarticulateness. At times He enables me to speak. On this occasion I believe He has enabled me to speak though not with my physical voice. My spiritual voice conveys my vision of the One who is my Lord and my God.
A believer in Christ,
a servant of the Lord God, a student and teacher of life and a man on a journey
to light - these labels hopefully describe the man that I am now, or if not
hopefully describe the man that I will one day be.
You awakened me,
turned my voicelessness to voice and my wordlessness to words. You turned my
confusion to coherence and my cravenness to courage. You are my Lord God; you
are my Christ. It is to you I belong. I did walk away from you. I am a prodigal
son that squandered your wealth on worthless things. Now profligacy and
depravity sicken me, so I return disfigured and diseased to you, the origin of
the peace, the truth and the beauty that I seek. I return to you my sweet Lord.
I raise my voice to you and for you. Bless the one whom you have made alive.
Bless the one who speaks your words of life. Bless those who hear the voice and
receive life.
For many years a soul
has wandered in darkness in search of its origin, its Master, its God. The wait
is now over, the darkness is now dispelled and the cloud is now lifted. The
thirst is finally quenched and the hunger is filled. A voice forged in the
furnace of the Lord is quickened with the fire of its Creator. The message will
be spoken. And those appointed to hear will hear.
My journey from darkness to light continues to be conducted in public. As I walk further into the light of the Lord Christ, I give my love to all who come to me. May God enable me to do His will. May I glorify Him with all my heart.
To the Lord Who empowers,
Who makes the mediocre best,
Who crafts the ungainly into a work of
beauty,
Who turns a heart of stone into a heart of
flesh,
Who achieves sublimity from simplicity,
Who relentlessly pursues His lost son
And returns him to his innocence,
The voice presents himself,
Behold the work of your hands.
Can the Giver of my voice, Who compels me to speak, be ignored? Shall I walk without my Lord, Who is the breath of my voice, the reason for my speech and the purpose of my action? Can the servant be separated from his Master? No, never. So here I come with my Lord and my God, Jesus Christ. And blessed is the one who receives us.
A celebration of undeserved love,
An untrained use of the generous gifts
Of a loving God who answered
The crude prayer of a nameless child,
An unrehearsed answer to the Call
That cannot be denied,
And a feeble act of gratitude
For a love that cannot be priced
Have quickened this voice to speak.
To the One whom I did not believe in, and who stayed despite the rejection,
And who knew the desires of my heart and fulfilled them,
To the One who pursues me relentlessly, and who compels me to act,
To the One who placed in me a love for a language that is not my own,
And who nourished it through the tempestuous years,
To the One who gave me a voice and a reason to use it,
To the Origin of my noblest impulses, to Jesus
This feeble act of love is dedicated.
I, Samuel Godfrey George, have emerged as
"The Voice" created by God for God. I am happily commanded to glorify
the name of the Lord God Jesus Christ, the Son of the Almighty Jehovah. I am
stirred by the Spirit of the Most High to present my readings of the Bible to a
world that needs to hear the Word of God again and again. So here I come in
Christ to convey His love through my voice. To those who hear it, I say,
"May God bless you with eternal life. May He grant you His peace and His
joy. May His perfect love cast out all your fears. And may you be more than
conquerors in Him."
In chaos I emerge. In pain I speak. In
ugliness I produce beauty. In darkness I use my gift. I toil in silence and
wait in silence. I wait for a particular response.
Into my darkness came light. To my despair
attached the glow of hope. In my vast barren fields sprouted the crop of
sustenance. In my numb senseless flesh drummed the beat of endless life.
To whom do I speak? I
speak to myself. What do I speak of? I speak of a war in the mind between two
opposing forces. What opposing forces are these? These are the forces of the
two eternal warriors, who are also known as God and the Devil. What is the purpose
of my speech? My speech will attempt to extract meaning from chaos, sanity from
insanity and purity from filth. For whose benefit do I speak? I speak purely
for my own benefit. However what benefits me may also benefit another. What is
the desired response? Silence is the desired response. In deafening silence
this mental struggle will meet its end.
Lord, may I live to glorify your name;
May your children be guided to you through my work.
May the man in me be the one you want me to be;
May everything in my life be according to your will.
In the middle of life, and in the midst of experience,
Before the dawn of the day and before the end of the night,
Even as the new man is raised, and the old man is put to rest,
Two lives, two souls merge,
Light and darkness blend to create the voice that is heard.
Do you see the beauty within these walls?
'Tis the work of the Lord.
He sculpts the lifeless with love,
And breathes into breathless nostrils,
Making the dead alive so that the work may voice its joy.
If I could be a friend or a brother, a son or a father, a student or a teacher, let me be. Anything but a stranger I would rather be. Have I not walked this far, felt and said this much so that I may not always be locked within the walls of silence?
Now that the voice has been sent out, let the man follow. May his passage be free and without obstacle. As freely as the man and his voice are given they will be received.
May I live this day as if it were my last.
May I take the opportunity to offer a smile to the one who needs it, and my
voice to the one who is willing to hear it.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
The Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - Plain Speaking
To pretend that we are better than those who killed God when he lived on earth is to believe in what is not true. We are as evil as any who have ever lived. What saves us is the presence of God's own Spirit within us and the knowledge that he brings us of God's love. These alone may ensure that we do not murder God again when he chooses to return to us.
If I speak what you wouldn't and perhaps
couldn't speak there is a reason for that. I have walked in places where you
would not dare to go. I have dwelt among demons that you would not allow
anywhere near you. I have penetrated the darkness when all that you want to do
is to stay outside and look at it. So I shall speak of what I have seen with
the boldness of the man who has surely seen what he speaks of. He who shakes
his head at me should do so for that is the grace that has been allowed him.
A man should tell the truth as he hears it.
He must speak to anyone who is willing to listen. If he must he should speak in
empty places where people are few. He must speak even if no one is willing to listen.
He must speak and continue to speak in the hope that someone will listen.
May I walk beside you? The journey is long,
and my mind will soon wander away. Let's walk together now before everything
fades away.
It is through abuse that you learn how to use. It is through sin that you develop a hunger for righteousness. It is
after encountering the devil that you long to meet God.
I will not scratch your back today. You may
scratch mine if you like. Maybe then your scratching will be unselfish.
Be grateful for everything, even for the
beggarly gift. You are not entitled to anything, and yet you have been given.
Forgive not because forgiveness is good for
you. Such forgiveness is worthless. Forgive because everyone whom you will ever
forgive is as weak and flawed as you are. People need your forgiveness as much
as you need theirs.
It is good not to ridicule anyone or
anything. We are all quite ridiculous anyway.
Speak the truth even if everybody speaks
it. Speak it especially when nobody speaks it.
Rejection is not always bad. In some cases
it is an absolute must.
What startles me from my complacency? This
is the only thing worth looking forward to.
God should reward me for the many
expletives I did not say to those who richly deserved them. I could have cut
them down without any mercy. But I refused to do so because of God and because
of decency, my own decency. That deserves an award.
If you can turn an absolutely rotten thing
that some rotten person said to you into something strikingly brilliant and
beautiful, then you are surely a man of God, because it is only God who can
make something beautiful out of something utterly rotten.
God rewarded me well when I was at my worst.
Can it therefore be said that he shall reward me more when I improve my
behaviour? And if he rewarded me more when I behaved better, then he surely
rewarded me for my improved behaviour. I know that God is gracious, and if he
rewarded a man for his behaviour then that reward cannot be gracious as it is
merited. Thus I conclude that a perfectly gracious God cannot and should not
base his reward on behaviour. Needless to say my conclusion is based on human
wisdom, which is not as wise as God's foolishness.
To conquer the thing you fear you must do
the thing you fear. Then you must wait and learn.
There is wretchedness in the goodness. And
as the wretchedness grows sharper in focus one is increasing in goodness.
To impress someone is the lowest of all
joys. But to live to one's full potential in obedience to God, that is the
highest joy in this life.
Whether one is viewed 300 times or 3 times
when one broadcasts a message does not really matter. Whether one has said what
one wanted to say in the manner that one wanted to say it, that matters.
You've got to get a little angry sometimes,
at least to know the use of anger. Anger is never useless. It may be needless.
Do misunderstand. Only then shall you
understand.
Never react immediately. Delay your
reaction by days, months, preferably by a year or two.
Learning to be silent is more important
than learning to speak.
So what if the world finds my faith
laughable? I shall not laugh along with the world.
I shall let you remain only to remind me of
how unsatisfactory you are, of how futile the pursuit of the unsatisfactory is.
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