In celebration of my mother’s birthday, I have been sharing some of the quotes that I presented her in a composition I wrote. Here now is part 2 of the project:
Mark D. White in his book “The Virtues of Captain America” has a section on courage. He writes, “Captain America also realizes that courage does not mean lacking or denying one’s fear, but rather overcoming it. Soon after the Scarlet Witch joined the Avengers with her brother Quicksilver, she asked Cap, “do you never know fear?” to which he replied, “only a fool is never afraid.” When trying to inspire a young soldier in Afghanistan to find his own strength and courage, Cap told him, “everyday I felt afraid…The fear never stops.” At its essence, “courage can’t exist without fear,” because a person with no fear does not need courage.” I wrote these words to Mom because, it seems to me that it is a world drenched in fear. We all need courage these days; Mom displays this.
The next quote is from Ulysses Grant; he once said, “Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your hearts and practice them your lives.” What a profound statement! This one is worth chewing on for a while. Someone referred to the Bible as God’s love letter to us; I like that description! I put it into my composition for my mom because she has an obvious love and cherishing of the Bible. Furthermore, she has a fervent desire to obey what it says. For the glory of the Lord.
The third quote I want to share is from Elisabeth Elliot. I deeply resonate with her words: “The will of God is never exactly what you expect it to be. It may seem to be much worse, but in the end it’s going to be a lot better and a lot bigger.” When I look at my own life, I marvel at how different my life is than what I envisioned for myself. But God is the writer of the chapters of my life; I submit to Him and His will for my life. So does my mom.
The last quotation I have is from Pastor Rick Ferguson. In his last sermon on Earth, before he went to be with the Lord at the age of 46, he preached on John 15 and abiding in the vine of Jesus Christ. I have been riveted with this concept of late. I should probably even write a separate blog about this, but this is what I have for today:
“Look at the vine/branch illustration Jesus is giving: branches don’t labor to remain in the vine; they simply rest in the vine. This is significant. At least, for me it has been. For a large portion of my Christian life, I missed it. If you’d asked me in my early Christian life to give a one-word summary of the Christian life, I likely would have given you the word activity. Get busy and active serving God! But if you were to ask Jesus, I think He would say the one-word summary of the Christian life is abiding. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t serve Him. We should be selfless and generous in our giving and serving. But it’s to say before anything good can be produced in our lives, we must first of all, be connected to Him, Christ the vine.” Because Mom abides in the vine of Jesus Christ, she displays lush, abundant, edible fruit.
In conclusion, thank you for taking the time to read my words of tribute to my mom on this special day. I wanted to do something different in the blog for this event. The Bible says to honor your father and mother. I am happy to honor my mother today.
Kevin
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