The good part of Christmas is not always Christian -- it is generally Pagan; that is to say, human, natural.

In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.

I read the other day an account of a meeting between John Knox and John Calvin. Imagine a dialogue between a pestilence and a famine!

If there be an infinite Being, he does not need our help - we need not waste our energies in his defense.

And why does this same God tell me how to raise my children when he had to drown his?

The man who invented the telescope found out more about heaven than the closed eyes of prayer ever discovered.

If cathedrals had been universities If dungeons of the Inquisition had been laboratories If Christians had believed in character instead of creed If they had taken from the bible only that which is GOOD and thrown away the wicked and absurd If temple domes had been observatories If priests had been philosophers If missionaries had taught useful arts instead of bible lore If astrology had been astronomy If the black arts had been chemistry If superstition had been science If religion had been humanity The world then would be a heaven filled with love, and liberty and joy