#afflict

The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction. ↗

— Charles Spurgeon

#best #gets #his #lord #out

I had these made special. The design is raised instead of carved in. Can you feel it?" Dillon asked. Hunter ran his fingertip over the outside of the ring. He nodded as a tear formed in the corner of his eye. "Can you tell me what it is?" Dillon asked quietly. Hunter nodded and his voice choked. "Two people…" "Two men," Dillon corrected. "Two men," Hunter said, "pulling each other into the center of a circle." Dillon watched his single tear slip and start sliding down his cheek. "Would you step into that circle with me, Hunter?" Hunter nodded, a small sound escaping him. "Yes. ↗

— Brandon Shire

#design

(...)"He said we all have this different idea of what love is and that's what makes our circle. The more ideas and misconceptions you throw in, the larger the diameter and the harder it is to connect with someone. We," he said, squeezing Hunter's hand and signaling Margie and everyone around them, "all sit around the edge looking at everyone else around the circle. Sometimes we just settle for the person next to us because it's easy or convenient and we skip our way around its circumference, never really knowing what love is all about." He took a sip of his Coke and kept his eyes on Margie. "But other times, you see that person across from you, staring back at you, and you fight like hell trying to get across while he does the same. If you're lucky, there's a rope you can toss over and help draw each other in, never looking away, never worrying about those still on the circumference; just you and him, pulling each other in, deeper and deeper." ↗

— Brandon Shire

#dillon #hunter #margie #love

having the people you love tell you they love you and mean it . . . it never goes out of style. Since we're made in God's image, this must be from Him, so even God must need an 'atta boy,' an out-loud, in-your-head 'Thank you, great job on that sunset, and the platypus was a birlliant fun idea.' Maybe that's why we're supposed to pray the way we do, because without it God would be lonely ↗

— Laurell K. Hamilton

#love

From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights have been abandoned. ↗

— Charles Sumner

#afflicted #been #beginning #compromise #country

Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt. ↗

— Berthold Auerbach

#worst

In all Diseases strengthen the part of the Body afflicted. ↗

— Nicholas Culpeper

#body #diseases #part #strengthen

There is no short and easy road, no magic cure for those ills which have afflicted mankind from the dawn of history. ↗

— Frank B. Kellogg

#cure #dawn #easy #history #ills

A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted by android Barbie creep. All those thick swatches of lifeless strands clustering lankly round ladies' necks! Like orange tanning spray, this is a fashion fad that should be put out of its misery. ↗

— Camille Paglia

#android #barbie #children #complaint #creep

These words [of Romans 12:1-2] are overflowingly rich in consolation; for just then when afflictions come over us, we should be of good courage, because that is the good will of God. Therefore we should be greatly pleased when things happen to us which displease us. The "good" will of God creates good out of evil. The "acceptable" will of God moves us cheerfully to love such good. It makes this good acceptable to us, and causes us to agree with it, even if it is evil. The "perfect" will of God will eternally perfect and bring to a[n] end all who are glad. ↗

— Martin Luther

#luther #trials #courage