“This table reaches from that upper room in Jerusalem all the way through the cathedrals in Europe and America, to the place where you will next take the sacrament. This table is revered in mud hut churches in Africa, where people speak the sacred words in languages you and I have never heard. It has often been set up, in crude fashion, in the darkest pits of confinement, where people imprisoned for their faith in Christ have saved a fragment of bread and a spoonful of water just so they can say: ‘His body. His blood.’ And they do it with a triumph that shakes the dungeon walls ... So I ponder that once, long ago, there was a table, where 13 men sat ... But who could have imagined that night that where 13 men sat at the table, hundreds of millions would sit at the same table, two millennia later, everywhere on this planet. And someone will say, ‘The body of our Lord. The blood of Christ shed for you.’ And in that moment, eternity will break in upon human souls. At a common piece of furniture called a table, you and I will eat a crumb of bread, we will drink from a cup, and for that moment, all of the company of heaven will observe in splendid awe. Such a table!  Such a table!”
-- J. Elsworth Kalas, "New Testament Stories from the Back Side”

“I’m not tense. I’m just terribly alert.” -- Courtesy of the wording on Rita Zerkle's T-shirt, as she described it to me in church on Dec. 12, 2010.  :-)

"Whether you like swashbuckling wizardry, fierce dragon battles, modern military hardware or sword-slashing zombie mayhem, Flank Hawk has it all." -- Terry W. Ervin II, author of "Flank Hawk" and member of St. Paris United Methodist Church.

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." -- Habbakuk 3:17-19

"Follow Jesus. The real Jesus. The true Jesus. The resurrected Jesus, and not the Jesus of your imagination." -- Mother Teresa (as quoted by Mike Slaughter in sermon "Potholes," 3-14-2010)

"Oh God, have mercy on the people of Haiti and everyone affected by this catastrophe. We pray for the souls of all those who have lost their lives, and for the unspeakable grief faced by those who have survived. We pray for all the rescue and relief workers, that you would give them courage, strength and hope to carry on. We pray that day by day You will relieve the human suffering in Haiti, and that you will empower us to witness to your love and mercy with our money, our prayers, our hands, and our hearts, as we are able. We pray that out of this colossal tragedy will come a new beginning for the people of Haiti, and that the Light of Christ will overcome this present darkness. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen." -- Dave Kepple, "Prayer for Haiti," Jan. 13, 2010

"Every time you do something for the glory of God, you will know God's peace in your heart and find rest there." -- Henri Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love