But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
-- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV)
John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Corinthians:
He does not say merely that grace is given, but that it is sufficient -- not merely to bear the thorn, but to overcome it. The Lord does not remove the sting that we might learn that the victory belongs not to us but to His power dwelling in our emptiness.
Charles Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit:
A man who has never been broken knows nothing of the power of God. It is the cracked vessel that lets the light through. Do not ask God to remove the weakness. Ask Him to fill it -- and then watch what He does with the pieces.
Augustine, Confessions, Book X:
Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was without, and there I sought you. And, deformed as I was, I ran after those beautiful things which you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you. Those things kept me far from you, which, unless they were in you, would not exist.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, Ch. 1:
Whoever loves much, does much. Whoever does a thing well, does much. And he does well who serves the common good rather than his own interests. Often it seems that a thing springs from love, when really it springs from natural inclination -- for no man's natural impulse, nor any hope of reward, will stand in for the grace of God or the virtue of true charity.
What are you still performing for an audience that isn't watching -- and what would you have left if you stopped?
Epictetus, Discourses, I.1:
Some things are within our power, while others are not. Within our power are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing. Not within our power are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, whatever is not of our own doing. The things within our power are by nature free, unhindered, and unimpeded; those not within our power are weak, slavish, hindered, and not our own.
St. Clair, MI -- Friday, August 7
Fog early, clearing to mostly sunny skies. High 89°F. Low 61°F. Humidity 98% this morning, dropping through the afternoon. Winds light at 3 mph. Chance of late afternoon showers. Sunrise 6:28 AM -- Sunset 8:45 PM.