Commonplace Book

A Commonplace Book. “Commonplace”, from the Latin 'locus communis', meaning “a theme or argument of general application.”  For me, it is a collection of thoughts, ideas, anecdotes, poems, observations, and quotes that stood out and caught my attention, some with comment, some without. Essentially a scrapbook, a repository of thoughts too good to just pass over and let go.

"Listening is high religious art ... capable of attending to other people, listening to them, talking gently to them in a way that is powerfully affirming without for a moment being bland or assuming that all is well with the world or with them. The reason this is both interesting and important is that it is hard to know how to listen to God if we do not know how to listen to other people. And how can we expect God to listen to us if we are incapable of listening to others?" 

(Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Words That Heal, Tazria-Metzora 5780, April 22, 2020) 

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."

(Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States)

"How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven." 

(George MacDonald (1824-1905), Scottish author, poet & minister)

 "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

(Henry B Eyring, April Conference 2012)

 "Every storm runs out of rain."

(Maya Angelou, 1928-2014, American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist)

 “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

(Marcus Aurelius, 121-180. Roman emperor and philosopher)