Introductory Chapter (by Samuel Wells)

Quote from p.5: “Look at what happens in the story of Jesus: the Gospel (of Luke) begins with the tearing of the heavens and the ends with the tearing of the temple curtain.”
– I liked this image.  The thunder from the baptism as the tearing of heavens.  He had referred earlier to the Father’s voice identifying both Jesus as Son and the Father as being well pleased.

Quote from p.8: “companion – literally, one who shares bread”
– Simple observation, but profound to sit with.

Quote from p.10: “Michael Ramsey once called priests to be “with God, with people on your hearts.”
– While this strikes me as a bit sentimental (negatively), I think the beauty of the idea is in the best possible sentiment of lift up people we care for toward God, in prayer, through encouragement, using liturgy, officiating sacrifice, in moments that connect heaven and earth in tangible shared experiences and moments of compassion (shared suffering).

Quote from p. 16: “Aristotle calls this right balance the mean. … If they’re struggling with lust, the answer isn’t simply to shut down physically or sensually but to discover forms of touch that aren’t sexual and forms of sexuality that aren’t all about touch. If they’re struggling with doubt, the answer isn’t to leap into fanaticism but to try to practice something in between called faith.”
– I don’t know what to think about this entirely. I remember feeling so clear about a distinction between Platonic and Aristotelian frame works and how important that distinction was to one’s philosophy.  Those days have long since past. Is the “mean” or average a better focal point than the ideal in matters of human experience?  Is neither helpful in understanding God’s referent? Or is God’s vantage point none of our business and our best hope is to find his desire for our times in his trajectory in past revelation relative to its ancient audience.

Quote from p. 19: “(Stanley) believes kindness is ‘the very character of God.’ … ‘The greatest threat to our being virtuous usually comes not from vice but from dispositions that are similar to virtue. The great enemy of kindness, for example, is sentimentality.‘”
– AMEN. Sentimentality is a dirty word.  It abuses many more than realize it’s great offense.