Uncloistered

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  “She gazed ahead through a long reach of future days strung together like pearls in a rosary, every one like the others, and all smooth and flawless and innocent, and her heart went up in thankfulness. Outside was the fervid summer afternoon; the air was filled with the sounds of the busy harvest of men and birds and bees; there were halloos, metallic clatterings, sweet calls, and long hummings. Louisa sat, prayerfully numbering her days, like an uncloistered nun.” A New England Nun By Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852–1930)
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"God does not stand behind a heavenly door with arms full of presents ready to hand out to those Christians who learn the ritual of some religious 'open sesame.' He is not a force that we may avail ourselves of if only we learn the techniques of postive thinking or (if we live on the West Coast) the routines of possibility thinking. He is the God who tells us what to do and what not to do. He is not only the God of 'shoulds' and 'oughts', but the God of 'musts!'"

Adams, Jay. A Theology of Christian Counseling. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979. p. 49

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