All posts filed under “Quotes

You Don’t Need Jesus, ‘Till You’re Here

I was listening to Ben Rector’s When A Heart Breaks this morning when I thought he mentioned something about Jesus. See if you can spot it…

If my ears serve me right, I’m hearing the phrase:

…and you don’t need Jesus, ’till you’re here.

Maybe it’s just another line in another sad song about love and heart breaks, but something else caught my attention. Literally, Ben Rector’s telling us that he thinks we don’t need Jesus until we experience a heartbreak.

Or do we?

I take this as a reminder that we humans tend to forget our Creator when we’re happy. We then come crawling back when something really bad — like a heartbreak — happens to us. Only then — when we realize the gravity of our situation, our state of helplessness — do we acknowledge that we need something or someone greater than us to lean on, which in the case of Christians is of course Jesus.

So, do we really need Jesus — or God, for my brothers and sisters who embrace a faith other than Christianity — only after we encounter a heart-breaking experience?

When You Are

When you’re happy, energetic, positive, funny, and inspiring, your friends get to know you.

When you’re sad, disappointed, angry, unapproachable, or just plain annoying, you get to know your friends.

Best Thing

Thanks for the lesson, dad :)
Thanks for the lesson, dad 🙂

Juno: I’m just like losing my faith with humanity.
Mac: Can you can narrow that down for me?
Juno: I just wonder if like, two people can ever stay together for good.
Mac: You mean like couples?
Juno: Yeah, like people in love.
Mac: Are you having boy troubles? Because I gotta be honest with you; I don’t much approve of dating in your condition, ’cause well… that’s kind of messed up.
Juno: Dad, no!
Mac: Well, it’s kind of skanky. Isn’t that what you girls call it? Skanky? Skeevy?
Juno: Please stop.
Mac: [persisting] Tore up from the floor up?

Juno: That’s not what it’s about. I just need to know that it’s possible that two people can stay happy together forever.
Mac: Well, it’s not easy, that’s for sure. Now, I may not have the best track record in the world, but I have been with your stepmother for 10 years now and I’m proud to say that we’re very happy.

[Juno nods]

Mac: Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass. That’s the kind of person that’s worth sticking with.

Juno: Yeah. And I think I’ve found that person.

Mac MacGuff, in the movie Juno

Thank You Alanis Morissette

This one’s an old song. But the lyrics just got me thinking…

I exist, but do I live?

Good question.

Thanks, Alanis, you really got me thinking this time.

How ’bout getting off of these antibiotics
How ’bout stopping eating when I’m full up
How ’bout them transparent dangling carrots
How ’bout that ever elusive kudos

Thank you India
Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence

How ’bout me not blaming you for everything
How ’bout me enjoying the moment for once
How ’bout how good it feels to finally forgive you
How ’bout grieving it all one at a time

Thank you India
Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence

The moment I let go of it was the moment
I got more than I could handle
The moment I jumped off of it
Was the moment I touched down

How ’bout no longer being masochistic
How ’bout remembering your divinity
How ’bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out
How ’bout not equating death with stopping

Thank you India
Thank you providence
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you nothingness
Thank you clarity
Thank you thank you silence

Perceived True

The same good will and kind words can be “felt” very differently, depending on who said those words & what the perceived true intentions are.

Why Do?

Don’t do something because you feel you have to, or because you feel you are in debt to someone; do it simply because you want to.

Cheating Death

A part of Steve Jobs’ speech at Stanford went like this:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.

I could say that I’ve cheated Death once. I came so close to Death that it would’ve changed my entire perspective on Life. Unfortunately, I was still too young to understand. Maybe I’m still too young now to understand it all.

But Death is still there, whether we understand it or not. We can’t foresee it, but we can be sure that each second that passes brings us ever closer to it. Just thinking about this can have a profound effect on you.

What have  I done?

What do I want to achieve? Have I achieved it?

How do I want to be remembered?

In the past 27-odd years, have I contributed anything for the good of my family/church/friends/community/workplace?

How much time do I have until my fragile body succumbs to the various damages I have done to it throughout my life?

Have I taken good care of my body?

Have I learned anything from all the mistakes I made?

Have I changed to be better?

Have I been kind?

These questions, and a lot more, came storming and conquered my puny mind. I do hope that I can answer those questions honestly, and do something to change my answers if I don’t like it.

I’ve cheated Death once. I don’t think Death likes to be cheated twice, nor will I be able to cheat it again.

Here’s to Death, the single best invention of Life!

You Could Be The One

I seldom post a song, let alone a video clip. But this song has been in my head since I don’t know when, and I love this arrangement with all the strings and everything…

Nobody wants to be alone
The heart beats happy when it has a place
And if it doesn’t have a home
It can come into my space

So you can be the one I love
I can be the one you long for
You can be the one I want… want
And you can be the one I love
This could be our world wide open
You can be the one I want… want

When you’ve fallen for someone
But that someone doesn’t feel the same
But before you come undone
You can call out my name

So you can be the one I love
I can be the one you long for
You can be the one I want… want
And you can be the one I love
This could be our world wide open
You can be the one I want… want

So you can be the one… one one one
I can be the one… one one one
So you can be the one… one one one
I can be the one… one one one

So you can be the one I love
I can be the one you long for
You can be the one I want… want
And you can be the one I love
This could be our world wide open
You can be the one I want… want

I miss my headphones…