“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)
“In the third century, St. Cyprian wrote to a friend named Donatus:
This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden …. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out … you know very well what I would see; brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds …
Yet in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people … They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians …
What a compliment! A quiet and holy people …
Just quiet …
(from Grace For The Moment, by Max Lucado, page 261)
Wow! Absolutely beautiful words. It makes me think of how important it is to be aware of what we are within. As we go through our days we see evil and terrible things all around us but it is what is within us that keeps us quite and holy.