Today was the running of the second leg of the Triple Crown of horse racing. In that regard, I will bestow upon you my triple crown of quotations. I will quote three classic authors whom have a spiritual insight that I respect and find greatly helpful in my own walk.
I'm kind of a fan of Thomas Merton. He got a little too Eastern in thought for me, so its not like I'd go too far out of my way to read him, but I certainly respect his insight.
Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.
-Thomas Merton
Brennan Manning, however, is a guy whom I love to read. He has an amazing passion for his Savior and is able to put into words his understanding of Him in amazing ways. Here's a little quote that might be a bit controversial, but one that I think is very true:
"The litmus test of our love for God is our love of neighbor."
— Brennan Manning
I need to remind myself of that often... I honor God by loving those who (in my mind) least deserve it...
I cannot understate the impact that reading GK Chesterton has had on my life. He is absolutely amazing. I got into him because Jason Gray often quoted him on his website, so a decade or so ago I bought his classic book "Orthodoxy". The man was beyond brilliant, and his writing was thick and not at all easily digestible, which is why I love it. You have to read chapters two or three times over before you begin understand what he's trying to get at. Truly he was a man of great wisdom, humor, and most importantly, great faith. Here's a witty one:
"Reason is always a kind of brute force; those who appeal to the head rather than the heart, however pallid and polite, are necessarily men of violence. We speak of 'touching' a man's heart, but we can do nothing to his head but hit it."
- G.K. Chesterton
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