DAVID AUGSBURGER

Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.

The golden rule of friendship is to listne to others as you would have them listen to you.

Forgiving is...recognizing the injury, owning the pain, & reaching out.

An open ear is the only believable sign of an open heart.

Wherever chocolate is made, chocolate is chocolate. And any month that contains the letter a, e, i, o, or u is the proper time to share it with others.

A group is as healthy as its 'social contract' is clear; a congregation as faithful as its covenant is mutually understood; a pastor as effective as the pastor's and people's commitment to trust and integrity is honored, guarded, and fulfilled.

Happiness is living by inner purpose.

Individualism. Narcissism. Value-free choices. These are all key elements in the decline of the practice of mutual accountability in Western churches, among clergy and laity alike.

The book of the Psalms, which is the primary devotional literature of the whole Bible, is full of complaints.

If chocolate is a foretaste of heaven, what does it mean that chocolate is freely available to all?

Individualism. Narcissism. Value-free choices. These are all key elements in the decline of the practice of mutual accountability in Western churches, among clergy and laity alike.

Theologically, the creation of chocolate demonstrates both the unity and the diversity of humanity. Wherever you taste it, in every country of the world, it is immediately recognizable. Other things, in every cuisine, are just food, but chocolate is chocolate.

Ontologically, chocolate raises profoundly disturbing questions: Does not chocolate offer natural revelation of the goodness of the Creator just as chilies disclose a divine sense of humor? Is the human born with an innate longing for chocolate? Does the notion of chocolate preclude the concept of free will?

If chocolate is a foretaste of heaven, what does it mean that chocolate is freely available to all?

The book of the Psalms, which is the primary devotional literature of the whole Bible, is full of complaints.

A group is as healthy as its 'social contract' is clear; a congregation as faithful as its covenant is mutually understood; a pastor as effective as the pastor's and people's commitment to trust and integrity is honored, guarded, and fulfilled.

Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.

Wherever chocolate is made, chocolate is chocolate. And any month that contains the letter a, e, i, o, or u is the proper time to share it with others.

Happy persons seldom think of happiness. They are too busy losing their lives in the meaningful sacrifices of service.

Happiness is living by inner purpose, not by outer pressures. Happiness is having a sense of meaning, not a feeling of futility.

An open ear is the only believable sign of an open heart.

The more we run from conflict, the more it masters us; the more we try to avoid it, the more it controls us; the less we fear conflict, the less it confuses us; the less we deny our differences, the less they divide us.

Forgiving is...recognizing the injury, owning the pain, & reaching out.

The man who forgives pays a tremendous price - the price of the evil he forgives.

The golden rule of friendship is to listne to others as you would have them listen to you.

Happiness is living by inner purpose.