Tag: Honesty

21 In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water
    that he channels toward all who please him.

² A person may think their own ways are right,
    but the Lord weighs the heart.

³ To do what is right and just
    is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

⁴ Haughty eyes and a proud heart—
    the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin.

⁵ The plans of the diligent lead to profit
    as surely as haste leads to poverty.

⁶ A fortune made by a lying tongue
    is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.^[a]

⁷ The violence of the wicked will drag them away,
    for they refuse to do what is right.

⁸ The way of the guilty is devious,
    but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹ Better to live on a corner of the roof
    than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁰ The wicked crave evil;
    their neighbors get no mercy from them.

¹¹ When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom;
    by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.

¹² The Righteous One^[b] takes note of the house of the wicked
    and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³ Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor
    will also cry out and not be answered.

¹⁴ A gift given in secret soothes anger,
    and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.

¹⁵ When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous
    but terror to evildoers.

¹⁶ Whoever strays from the path of prudence
    comes to rest in the company of the dead.

¹⁷ Whoever loves pleasure will become poor;
    whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.

¹⁸ The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,
    and the unfaithful for the upright.

¹⁹ Better to live in a desert
    than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.

²⁰ The wise store up choice food and olive oil,
    but fools gulp theirs down.

²¹ Whoever pursues righteousness and love
    finds life, prosperity^[c] and honor.

²² One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty
    and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.

²³ Those who guard their mouths and their tongues
    keep themselves from calamity.

²⁴ The proud and arrogant person—“Mocker” is his name—
    behaves with insolent fury.

²⁵ The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him,
    because his hands refuse to work.
²⁶ All day long he craves for more,
    but the righteous give without sparing.

²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—
    how much more so when brought with evil intent!

²⁸ A false witness will perish,
    but a careful listener will testify successfully.

²⁹ The wicked put up a bold front,
    but the upright give thought to their ways.

³⁰ There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
    that can succeed against the Lord.

³¹ The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
    but victory rests with the Lord.

Be not simply good – be good for something.

Henry David Thoreau

⁷ The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.

Bradley Whitford

⁷ The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.

Bradley Whitford

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

Samuel Beckett

¹ Praise the Lord.^[b]

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
    who find great delight in his commands.

² Their children will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
³ Wealth and riches are in their houses,
    and their righteousness endures forever.
⁴ Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
⁵ Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

⁶ Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
    they will be remembered forever.
⁷ They will have no fear of bad news;
    their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
⁸ Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
    in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
⁹ They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
    their righteousness endures forever;
    their horn^[c] will be lifted high in honor.

¹⁰ The wicked will see and be vexed,
    they will gnash their teeth and waste away;
    the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

Samuel Beckett

The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us all to become our best while looking our worst.

Marge Kennedy

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶ “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “You believe^[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹ He then added, “Very truly I tell you,^[b] you^[c] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’^[d] the Son of Man.”

The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us all to become our best while looking our worst.

Marge Kennedy

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.

Helen Keller

¹⁸ I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I am the Lord your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁰ Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”

²¹ “‘But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said, “The person who obeys them will live by them,” and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. ²² But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³ Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, ²⁴ because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents’ idols. ²⁵ So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; ²⁶ I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord.’

²⁷ “Therefore, son of man, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In this also your ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me: ²⁸ When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ Then I said to them: What is this high place you go to?’” (It is called Bamah^[a] to this day.)

Rebellious Israel Renewed

³⁰ “Therefore say to the Israelites: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? ³¹ When you offer your gifts—the sacrifice of your children in the fire—you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.

³² “‘You say, “We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.” But what you have in mind will never happen.

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.

Helen Keller

Do not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen.

Maimonides