Poem de Oscar Wilde (The Ballad of Reading Gaol)

[...]
Ne injosim si ruginim 
Ca lanturi azvarlite;
Blestema unii, altii plang,
Ies altii din sarite:
Dar legile divine frang/ Si inimi impietrite.

 Ferice inimi ce se frang
Si dobandesc iertarea!
Doar prin pacate in plans spalate
Se-nfaptuie-Inaltarea:
In rani de inimi frante Crist
Isi picura-ndurarea."

The Ballad of Reading Gaol

People change under some conditions

 "Toivi Blatt, who was forced by the Nazis to work in Sobibor and then risked his life to escape: `People asked me`, he sais, `What did you learn?`, and I think I`m only sure of one thing - nobody knows themselves.  The nice person on the street, you ask him `Where is North Street?` and he goes with you half a block and shows you, and is nice and kind. The same person in a different situation could be the worst sadist. Nobody knows themselves.  All of us could be good people or bad people in these different situations. Sometimes when somebody is really nice to me I find myself thinking, ` How will be in Sobibor?`"

"Human behaviour is fragile and unpredictable and often at the mercy of the situation. Every individual still, of course, has a choice as to how to behave; it is just that for many people the situation is a key determinant in that choice."

"Just as water exists as water only withing a certain temperature range and is steam or ice in others, so human beings can become different people according to extremes of circumstance."
  
 "I remember one former dedicated member of the Nazi party saying to me in an exasperated manner, after I pressed him on why so many went along with the horrors of the regime, `The trouble with the world today is that people who never been tested go around making judgements about people who have.`"

"One becomes indifferent. Today you go, tomorrow I will go. You become indifferent. A human being can get used to anything."  

(Laurence Reese - Auschwitz, The Nazis and The Final Solution)

Pacatul prostiei - Nicolae Steinhardt

Mii de draci ma furnica văzând cum este confundat creștinismul cu prostia, cu un fel de cucernicie tampa si lasa, o bigoterie, ca si cum menirea crestinismului n-ar fi decat sa lase lumea batjocorita de fortele raului, iar el sa inlesneasca faradelegile dat fiind ca e prin definitie osandit la cecitate si paraplegie.
Denis de Rougemont: "Sa nu judecam pe altii, dar cand arde casa vecinului nu stau sa ma rog si sa ma imbunatatesc; chem pompierii, alerg la cismea. De nu, se numeste ca sunt fudul si ca nu-mi iubesc aproapele." Macaulay: "Este drept ca nu avem voie sa ne rasculam impotriva lui Nero caci orice putere de Sus este, dar nici nu trebuie sa-i sarim in ajutor daca se intampla sa fie atacat."
Una e sa te rascoli, alta e sa aprobi.
Crestinismul neajutorat si neputincios este o conceptie eretica doarece nesocoteste indemului Domnului (Matei 10:16 "fiti dar intelepti ca serpii si nevinovati ca porumbeii") si trece peste textele Sfantului Pavel (Efeseni 5:17 "Drept aceea, nu fiti fara minte", 2 Tim 4:5 "tu fi treaz in toate", Tit 1:8 "sa fie... treaz la mine" si mai indeosebi 1 Cor. 14:20 "Fratilor nu fiti copii la minte; ci la rautate fiti copii, iar la minte fiti oameni mari." )
Nicaieri si niciodata nu ne-a cerut Cristos sa fim prosti. Ne cheama sa fim buni, blanzi, cinstiti, smeriti cu inima, dar nu tampiti. Cum de-ar fi putut proslavi prostia Cel care ne da sfatul de-a fi mereu treji ca sa nu ne lasam surprinsi de Satana? Si-apoi, tot la 1 Cor. 14:33 sta scris ca "Dumnezeu nu este un Dumnezeu al neoranduielii". Iar randuiala se opune mai presus de orice neindemanarii zapacite, slabiciunii nehotarate, neintelegerii obtuze. Domnul iubeste nevinovatia, nu imbecilitatea. Iubesc naivitatea, zice si Leon Daudet, dar nu la barbosi. Barbosii se cad sa fie intelepti. Sa stim, si ei, si noi, ca mai mult rau iese adeseori de pe urma prostiei decat a rautatii. Nu, slujitorilor diavolului, adica smecherilor, prea le-ar veni la indemana sa fim prosti. Dumnezeu, printre altele, ne porunceste sa fim inteligenti. Pentru cine este inzestrat cu darul intelegerii, prostia - macar de la un anume punct incolo - e pacat: pacat de slabiciune si de lene, de nefolosire a talentului.

Living less loved

Most of our lives are spent living less loved.
When we worry that God will ask us for some horrible sacrifice, we live less loved.
When we indulge ourselves in sin, we live less loved.
When we give into anxiety in the crush of our circumstances, we live less loved.
When we try to earn God`s favor by our own efforts, we live less loved.
Even when we get caught up in religious obligations to make ourselves acceptable to him, we live less loved.
In the long run it doesn't matter whether rebellion or religion keeps you from a vibrant relationship with the Father; the result is still the same. He is cheated out of the relationship he wants with you, and you never come  to know how he feels about you.
Everything about you life hinges on the answer to one simple question: Do you know how loved you really are?
Isn't it about time you found out? (Wayne Jacobsen - He loves me!)

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. " (Ephesians 3:17-19)

Will you?

John Piper: "The purpose of God in creating the universe is to display the greatness glory of his grace supremely in the suffering of his Son. That`s yesterday. Today he summons, will you join his Son in displaying the supreme satisfaction of the glory of grace in joining him on the Calvary road of suffering because today there is no either way the world is going to see the supreme glory of Christ except if we break free from the Disneyland of America and begin to live lifestyle of missionary sacrifice that look to the world like our treasure is in heaven and not on the earth. This is the only way!"

If you can`t hate, you can`t love!

John Piper: Genuine love must hate in order to be love. If there were a universe in which there was no evil, hurting people and dishonoring God, that statement would be false, in fact would be no such thing like hate in such universe, it would not exist, would be nothing to hate. We do not live in that universe. In this world, fallen world, where is evil hurting people and dishonoring God, you got to hate that or you can`t love people. You can not be a non-hating anything person and be a loving person. A lot of people have this notion that love is always smooth, love is always easy, love is always gentle, love doesn’t speak in negative, love is always soft… NO way, NOT in this world. If you don`t hate anything in this world you can not possible love because things are killing people, things are destroying people, this are dishonoring God. If you can`t hate, you can`t love. Love has hate in it. If love is doing of good for people, love is the hating of what destroys people.

The threat of hell

Wayne Jacobsen: "When we use the threat of hell to motivate people to come to God, we are using it in a way Jesus never did and in a way he never intended. In doing so, we push people farther away from God`s greatest desire rather than inviting them closer to it.
His message was not "Come to God or you`ll burn in hell". His message was "God`s Kingdome has come near you and you can become a participant in it. You have a Father who love you more than any other person ever has or ever will, and you can now discover what it means to have a daily relationship with him. If you choose not to, then your own sin will destroy you utterly and completely.""

Christianity today

Wayne Jacobsen: "Christianity has become far removed from its central purpose. Instead of desiring to walk in friendship with Him, we are only preoccupied with securing His goodies. It`s His blessing we want, not Him!"

Oscar Wilde - Portretul lui Dorian Gray (2)

"Marturisirea, nu preotul ne da iertarea."

"Poti fi intotdeauna amabil cu cineva de care nu iti pasa."

"Una dintre frumusetile trecutului consta in aceea ca este trecut."

"Este perfect monstruos felul in care oamenii spun lucruri despre altii, in spatele lor, lucruri care sunt in intregime adevarate."

"Pentru a-mi recapata tineretea as face orice pe lumea asta, in afara de a face gimnastica, de a ma scula devreme si de a fi respectabil."

"Tragedia batranetii nu este faptul ca esti batran, ci ca esti tanar inlauntrul tau."

"Cartile care sunt catalogate drept imorale sunt cele care-i reveleaza lumii propria ei rusine."

Note de lectura

 "While the threat of hell can stir instant commitments, it does not breed long-term disciples. If you are in this Kingdom only because you fear the alternative, you`ve missed the greatest part of what it means to know God."

Wayne Jacobsen - He loves me

Oscar Wilde - Portretul lui Dorian Gray

"Punctualitatea este cea care-i jefuieste pe oameni de timpul lor."

"Eu vreau sa vad lumea, nu sa citesc despre ea."

"Nu vreau sa schimb nimic in Anglia in afara de vreme."

"Imi place muzica lui Wagner mai mult decat oricare alta. E asa de rasunatoare, incat poti vorbi tot timpul fara ca altii sa te auda ce spui. Aceasta reprezinta un mare avantaj."

"Ori de cate ori un om face un lucru absolut idiot, il face din motivele cele mai nobile."

"Motivele pentru care ne place sa ii credem pe altii atat de buni este ca ne este teama pentru noi insine. Punem pe seama semenilor nostri acele virtuti de care sa beneficiem noi. Laudam bancherul pentru a ne pasui de datorie si ii gasim calitati hotului de drumul mare in speranta ca ne va cruta buzunarul."

"Daca aceasta fata poate sa dea un suflet celor care au trait fara a avea unul, daca poate crea sentimentul frumusetii in oameni a caror viata a fost sordida si urata, daca ii poate dezbara de egoism si le poate imprumuta lacrimi de compasiune care nu sunt ale lor, ea merita toata adoratia ta, merita adoratia intregii lumi."

Note de lectura

Dostoievski: "Daca nu exista Dumnezeu, totul este ingaduit".

Despre calomnii

Cand cineva i-a spus odata lui Aristotel ca a auzit pe cineva cum il calomnia pe la spate, Aristotel a comentat:
- Nefiind prezent, nu au cum sa ma biciuiasca.

Rautatea

C.S. Lewis: "Rautatea, cand o analizezi, se dovedeste a fi urmarirea unui bine pe o cale gresita. Poti fi bun doar de dragul bunatatii; nu poti fi rau doar de dragul rautatii. Poti face un bine atunci cand nu te simti inclinat sa faci bine si cand nu iti face nici o placere, dar faci binele pur si simplu pentru ca binele este drept sa-l faci; dar nimeni nu a facut vreodata un fapt crud pur si simplu pentru ca cruzimea este rea - a facut ceva crud numai pentru ca cruzimea i-a adus placere sau i-a adus un folos oarecare.
Cu alte cuvinte, raul nu poate reusi nici macar sa fie rau in acelasi fel in care binele este bun. Binele este, asa - zicand, el insusi; raul este un bine pervertit."

Note de lectura

N. Steinhardt: "Credinta ne da bucurie pentru ca ne pune brusc de acord cu ce este real".

He loves me!

Wayne Jacobsen: "Incredible few belivers live each day as if the God of the universe has great affection for them. Why? Because two thousand years of religions tradition have inoculated in us the mistake notion that God`s love is something we earn. If we do what pleases him, he loves us, if not, he doesen`t."

Evaluare

Oscar Wilde: "In zilele noastre oamenii cunosc preturile pentru orice lucru, dar nu cunosc valoarea nici unuia."

(Portretul lui Dorian Gray)

Note de lectura

Bucuria de a trai este o caracteristica a crestinismului. Marcel Jouhandeau "Faptul ca viata-i o sarbatoare i-a scandalizat pe unii. Daca au ales sa fie nefericiti, treaba lor... Desi am parte de toate grijile, toate necazurile, toate dezamagirile, nimeni nu afla nimic, nici macar eu."

Do you really love God?

No one ever threatened to do something that was wonderful. My parents didn`t threaten me with punishment to get me to go to Disneyland. But to make me go to the dentist or work on the vineyard, that was another matter.
So if I am told that I must love God or he will throw me into hell, I might well consider loving him - or at least pretend I do. But if the only reason I`m even responding to him is to serve my own self-interest and escape a fiery eternity in hell, am I really loving him or myself?

Wayne Jacobsen - He loves me

Note de lectura

"Calea paradoxurilor este calea adevarului. Pentru a verifica realitatea, trebuie sa o vedem mergand pe sarma. Cand adevarurile fac acrobatii, atunci le putem judeca."

Oscar Wilde - Portretul lui Dorian Gray