It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands.

If I accept the sunshine and warmth, then I must also accept the thunder and lightning.

Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth.

Believing is a fine thing, but placing those beliefs into execution is a test of strength. Many are those who talk like the roar of the sea, gut their lives are shallow and stagnant, like the rotting marshes. Many are those who lift their heads above the mountain tops, but their spirits remain dormant in the obscurity of the caverns.

The just is close to the people's heart, but the merciful is close to the heart of God.

If we were to all sit in a circle and confess our sins, we would laugh at each other for lack of originality.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.