Speaking of paradoxes

"I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed."
- Maya Angelou

(courtesy Sojourners)

Much to do . . .

However high be your endeavors, unless you renounce and subjugate your own will -- unless you forget yourself and all that pertains to yourself -- not one step will you advance on the road to perfection.

- St. John of the Cross, Spanish mystic, friar, and priest (1542-1591)

(courtesy Sojourners)