“ Paul Ricoeur has wonderful counsel for people like us. Go ahead, he says, maintain and practice your hermaneutics of suspicion. It is important to do this. Not only important, it is necessary. There a… Eugene H. Peterson
“ Pastors enter congregations vocationally in order to embrace the totality of human life in Jesus' name. We are convinced there is no detail, however unpromising, in people's lives in which Christ may… Eugene H. Peterson
“ Deception is nowhere more common than in religion. And the persons most easily and damningly deceived are the leaders. Those who deceive others are first themselves deceived, for not many, I think, be… Eugene H. Peterson
“ There is a long and well-documented tradition of wisdom in the Christian faith that any venture into leadership, whether by laity or clergy, is hazardous. it is necessary that there be leaders, but wo… Eugene H. Peterson
“ Somehow we American pastors, without really noticing what was happening, got our vocations redefined in the terms of American careerism. We quit thinking of the parish as a location for pastoral spiri… Eugene H. Peterson
“ Liturgy puts us to work along with all the others who have been and are being put to work in the world by and with Jesus following our spiritually-forming text. Liturgy keeps us in touch with all the… Eugene H. Peterson
“ It is useful to reflect that the word 'liturgy' did not originate in church or worship settings. In the Greek world it referred to publish service, what a citizen did for the community. As the church… Eugene H. Peterson
“ The task of liturgy is to order the life of the holy community following the text of Holy Scripture. It consists of two movements. First it gets us into the sanctuary, the place of adoration and atten… Eugene H. Peterson
“ Liturgy is the means that the church uses to keep baptized Christians in living touch with the entire living holy community as it participates formationally in Holy Scripture. I want to use the word '… Eugene H. Peterson
“ The temptations that use the raw material of good for evil can continue unrecognized for a long time without awareness. Eugene H. Peterson
“ Self-justification is a verbal defense for restoring the appearance of righteousness without doing anything about the substance. Eugene H. Peterson
“ Apart from childhood and crisis, prayers have a way of being abstracted from the homely and distinctive details that are part and parcel of our ordinary and daily life. Eugene H. Peterson
“ My uncle Ernie didn't believe in God.At least that's what he said. But he alwaysWent to church on Christmas. Which I thoughtSeriously compromised his atheism. Eugene H. Peterson
“ My job is not to solve people's problems or make them happy, but to help them see the grace operating in their lives. Eugene H. Peterson
“ But sooner or later we find that not everything is to our liking in this book. It starts out sweet to our taste; and then we find it doesn't sit well with us at all, it becomes bitter in our stomachs.… Eugene H. Peterson
“ Language is not primarily informational but revelatory. The Holy Scriptures give witness to a living voice sounding variously as Father, Son and Spirit, addressing us personally and involving us perso… Eugene H. Peterson
“ We are part of a holy community that for three thousand years and more has been formed inside and out by these words of God, words that have been heard, tasted, chewed, seen, walked. Reading Holy Scri… Eugene H. Peterson
“ Liturgy gathers the holy community as it reads the Holy Scriptures into the sweeping tidal rhythms of the church year in which the story of Jesus and the Christian makes its rounds century after centu… Eugene H. Peterson
