But Love is the final reality; and anyone who does not understand this, be he writer or sage, is a man flawed in wisdom.
Sheldon Vanaukenโฆthough I wouldnโt have admitted it, even to myself, I didnโt want God aboard. He was too heavy. I wanted Him approving from a considerable distance. I didnโt want to be thinking of Him. I wanted to be freeโlike Gypsy. I wanted life itself, the color and fire and loveliness of life. And Christ now and then, like a loved poem I could read when I wanted to. I didnโt want us to be swallowed up in God. I wanted holidays from the school of Christ.
Sheldon VanaukenIt is not possible to be 'incidentally a Christian.' The fact of Christianity must be overwhelmingly first or nothing. This suggests a reason for the dislike of Christians by nominal or non-Christians: their lives contain no overwhelming first but many balances.
Sheldon Vanauken...So Englishmen saw it. Lincoln's insincerity was regarded as proven by two things: his earlier denial of any lawful right or wish to free the slaves; and, especially, his not freeing the slaves in 'loyal' Kentucky and other United States areas or even in Confederate areas occupied by United States troops, such as New Orleans.
Sheldon Vanauken