Joy

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication (2002)

  58 Lecture 13: The Acts of John The theme is that the spread of the gospel comes from God and that nothing can stop this mission. This early account was written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, sometime in the latter part of the ¿ rst century. In the second and third centuries, other accounts of the lives of the apostles were written by anonymous authors. Unlike the Book of Acts, these accounts focused on the lives and exploits of individual apostles—legendary, imaginative, and entertaining accounts of the wondrous activities of Jesus’ closest followers. Along with lots of smaller fragmentary accounts, we have ¿ ve fairly complete Apocryphal Acts: the Acts of John, Peter, Paul, Andrew, and Thomas. We will not be able to examine all these apocryphal accounts in this course, but we will look at three of the most interesting ones. The Acts of John concerns the adventures of John, the son of Zebedee. John was one of Jesus’ closest disciples in the gospels of the New Testament. He is an important ¿ gure in the history of the early church, according to the Book of Acts in the New Testament, but he drops out of sight early on in that narrative. Our late-second-century Acts of John gives a fuller account of his activities. Unfortunately, this text has not survived intact but only in fragments that scholars have had to piece together from various manuscripts. In this account, we learn of many of John’s exploits. His activities are principally in Asia Minor, in and around Ephesus. There, he engages in numerous miraculous activities as he spreads the gospel of Christ, as narrated in entertaining stories. He is portrayed as having a unique ability to raise the dead. This is seen in an account involving Lycomedes, the commander-in- chief of the Ephesians, and his beautiful young wife, Cleopatra, who has died prematurely, but whom John raises to the joy and wonder of the entire city. Later in the account is the even more bizarre narrative of the raising of Drusiana, the chaste and beautiful wife of Andronicus—a narrative that involves almost unheard-of chastity and crass immorality, a tale of attempted necrophilia, supernatural intervention, miraculous resurrection, and conversion to the life of purity. These stories show commitment to Christ as being more important than love or sex.

• From Another Country (1962)

  He stood sipping his drink in the bar; they stood on the twilit sidewalk. Eric watched Vivaldo and used these moments to remember him. Vivaldo seemed more radiant than he had ever been, and less boyish. He was still very slim, very lean, but he seemed, somehow, to have more weight. In Eric’s memory, Vivaldo always put one foot down lightly, like a distrustful colt, ready, at any moment, to break and run; but now he stood where he stood, the ground bore him, and his startled, sniffing, maverick quality was gone. Or perhaps not entirely gone: his black eyes darted from face to face as he spoke, as he listened, investigating, weighing, watching, his eyes hiding more than they revealed. The conversation took a more somber turn. One of the musicians had brought up the subject of money—of unions, and, with a gesture toward the spot where Eric stood, of working conditions. Vivaldo’s eyes darkened, his face became still, and he looked briefly down at Ida. She watched the musician who was speaking with a proud, bitter look on her face. “So maybe you better give it another thought, gal,” the musician concluded. “I’ve thought about it,” she said, looking down, touching one of the earrings. Vivaldo took this hand in his, and she looked up at him; he kissed her lightly on the tip of the nose. “Well,” said another musician, wearily, “we better be making it on in.” He turned and entered the bar, saying, “Excuse me, man” to Eric as he passed. Ida whispered something in Vivaldo’s ear; he listened, frowning. His hair fell over his forehead, and he threw his head back, sharply, with a look of annoyance, and saw Eric. For a moment they simply stared at each other. Another musician, entering the bar, passed between them. Then, Vivaldo said, “So there you are. I didn’t really believe you’d make it; I didn’t really believe you’d be back.” “But I’m here,” said Eric, grinning, “now, what do you think of that?” Vivaldo suddenly raised his arms and laughed—and the policeman moved directly behind him, glowering, seeming to wait for an occult go-ahead signal—and covered the space between himself and Eric and threw both arms around him. Eric nearly dropped the glass he was holding, for Vivaldo had thrown him off balance; he grinned up into Vivaldo’s grinning face; and was aware, behind Vivaldo, of Ida, inscrutably watching, and the policeman, waiting. “You fucking red-headed Rebel,” Vivaldo shouted, “you haven’t changed a bit! Christ, I’m glad to see you, I’d no idea I’d be so glad to see you.” He released Eric, and stepped back, oblivious, apparently, to the storm he was creating. He dragged Eric out of the bar, into the street, over to Ida. “Here’s the sonofabitch we’ve been talking about so long, Ida; here’s Eric. He’s the last human being to get out of Alabama.”

• From Henry Miller on Writing (1964)

  So daring! So risqué! And what a night we made of it afterwards at Bousquet’s! Those were the days, drunk or sober, I always rose at 5 A.M. sharp to take a spin on my Bohemian racing wheel to Coney Island and back. Sometimes, skeetering over the thin ice of a dark winter morning, the fierce wind carrying me along like an iceboat, I would be shaking with laughter over the events of the night before—just a few hours before, to be exact. This, the Spartan regime, combined with the feasts and festivities, the one-man study course, the pleasure reading, the argument and discussions, the clowning and buffoonery, the fights and wrestling bouts, the hockey games, the six-day races at the Garden, the low dance halls, the piano-playing and piano teaching, the disastrous love affairs, the perpetual lack of money, the contempt for work, the goings-on in the tailor shop, the solitary promenades to the reservoir, to the cemetery (Chinese), to the duck pond where, if the ice were thick enough, I would try out my racing skates—this unilateral, multilingual, sesquipedalian activity night and day, morning, noon and night, in season and out, drunk or sober, or drunk and sober, always in the crowd, always milling around, always searching, struggling, prying, peeping, hoping, trying, one foot forward, two feet backward, but on, on, on, completely gregarious yet utterly solitary, the good sport and at the same time thoroughly secretive and lonely, the good pal who never had a cent but could always borrow somehow to give to others, a gambler but never gambling for money, a poet at heart and a wastrel on the surface, a mixer and a clinker, a man not above panhandling, the friend of all yet really nobody’s friend, well … there it was, a sort of caricature of Elizabethan times, all gathered up and played out in the shabby purlieus of Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, the foulest city in the world, this place I sprang from* —a cheese-box of funeral parlors, museums, opera houses, concert halls, armories, churches, saloons, stadiums, carnivals, circuses, arenas, markets Gansevoort and Wallabout, stinking Gowanus canal, Arabian ice cream parlors, ferry houses, dry docks, sugar refineries, Navy Yard, suspension bridges, roller skating rinks, Bowery flophouses, opium dens, gambling joints. Chinatown, Rumanian cabarets, yellow journals, open trolley cars, aquariums, Saengerbunds, turnvereins, newsboys’ homes. Mills’ hotels, Peacock Alley lobbies, the Zoo, the Tombs, the Ziegfeld Follies, the Hippodrome, the Greenwich Village dives, the hot spots of Harlem, the private homes of my friends, of the girls I loved, of the men I revered—in Greenpoint, Williamsburg.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  The readers are supposed to be already "in Christ," saved and sanctified "in Christ," and holding all their social and domestic relations and discharging their duties "in Christ." They are "grown together"1122 with Christ, sharing in his death, burial, and resurrection, and destined to reign and rule with him in glory forever. On the basis of this new relation, constituted by a creative act of divine grace, and sealed by baptism, they are warned against every sin and exhorted to every virtue. Every departure from their profession and calling implies double guilt and double danger of final ruin. Occasions and calls for correspondence were abundant, and increased with the spread of Christianity over the Roman empire. The apostles could not be omnipresent and had to send messengers and letters to distant churches. They probably wrote many more letters than we possess, although we have good reason to suppose that the most important and permanently valuable are preserved. A former letter of Paul to the Corinthians is implied in 1 Cor. 5:9: "I wrote to you in my epistle;"1123 and traces of further correspondence are found in 1 Cor. 16:3; 2 Cor. 10:9; Eph. 3:3. The letter "from Laodicea," referred to in Col. 4:16, is probably the encyclical Epistle to the Ephesians. The Epistles of the New Testament are without a parallel in ancient literature, and yield in importance only to the Gospels, which stand higher, as Christ himself rises above the apostles. They are pastoral letters to congregations or individuals, beginning with an inscription and salutation, consisting of doctrinal expositions and practical exhortations and consolations, and concluding with personal intelligence, greetings, and benediction. They presuppose throughout the Gospel history, and often allude to the death and resurrection of Christ as the foundation of the church and the Christian hope. They were composed amidst incessant missionary labors and cares, under trial and persecution, some of them from prison, and yet they abound in joy and thanksgiving. They were mostly called forth by special emergencies, yet they suit all occasions. Tracts for the times, they are tracts for all times. Children of the fleeting moment, they contain truths of infinite moment. They compress more ideas in fewer words than any other writings, human or divine, excepting the Gospels. They discuss the highest themes which can challenge an immortal mind—God, Christ, and the Spirit, sin and redemption, incarnation, atonement, regeneration, repentance, faith and good works, holy living and dying, the conversion of the world, the general judgment, eternal glory and bliss. And all this before humble little societies of poor, uncultured artisans, freedmen and slaves! And yet they are of more real and general value to the church than all the systems of theology from Origen to Schleiermacher—yea, than all the confessions of faith. For eighteen hundred years they have nourished the faith of Christendom, and will continue to do so to the end of time. This is the best evidence of their divine inspiration.

• From Becoming Myself: A Psychiatrist's Memoir (2017)

  On a couple of occasions when I was permitted to suture the skin at the end of the procedure, the laser-eyed surgeon rapped me sharply on the knuckles with some surgical instrument and barked at me for tying “grocery-store knots.” Naturally I had the urge to respond, “Of course I’m tying grocery-store knots—I grew up in a grocery store!” But I never dared: the senior surgeons were formidable and seriously intimidating. By sheer chance, three of my close friends from George Washington Medical School were also accepted into the Mount Sinai internship, and the four of us stayed in two adjoining rooms—we would be on call and sleep at the hospital every other night for the entire year. While on my obstetrics rotation at the end of my first month of internship, Marilyn went into labor and Dr. Gutmacher, the department head, delivered by C-section our second child, Reid Samuel Yalom. It had been my turn to assist in the delivery room that day, but Dr. Gutmacher advised me to observe instead. Standing only a few feet away from Marilyn, I had the great pleasure and thrill of seeing Reid draw his first breath. Public transportation from our apartment to Mount Sinai was very poor, and taxis were far too expensive. For the first couple of months I drove my car to the hospital, but after accumulating a number of parking tickets, I hit upon the idea of a motor scooter. By chance I learned of an art professor at Yale who had bought a beautiful new Lambretta, but because of a severe gastric ulcer, had been advised by his physician to sell it. I phoned him, took a train one Sunday to New Haven, fell in love with the Lambretta, and drove it back to New York the same day. Thereafter the parking problem was solved: I rode the Lambretta to work, took it onto the elevator, and parked it in my room. Several times, Marilyn and I drove down Broadway, parked the Lambretta easily, and attended the theater. M y internship offered no psychiatry rotation, but I hung around the psychiatry department and attended clinical and research presentations. One project of great interest to me involved a newly discovered compound, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), reputed to have psychedelic effects. Two young researchers in the department were examining whether LSD affected subliminal perception (that is, perception that occurs outside of awareness), and they asked for volunteers for a brief experiment. I volunteered. LSD had been synthesized so recently that the only known way of testing its effects was a loony Siamese fighting fish method. When squaring off for battle, the fish always assumed precise formations, and a very few drops of LSD to their water tank profoundly altered their behavior. The number of drops required to disrupt the fighting fish formation became the measure of the potency of the LSD.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  The gentlemen, after various discourse among themselves, concurring all in one opinion, committed the response to Niccoluccio Caccianimico, for that he was a goodly and eloquent speaker; whereupon the latter, having first commended the Persian usage, declared that he and all the rest were of opinion that the first master had no longer any right in his servant, since he had, in such a circumstance, not only abandoned him, but cast him away, and that, for the kind offices done him by the second, themseemed the servant was justly become his; wherefore, in keeping him, he did the first no hurt, no violence, no unright whatsoever. The other guests at table (and there were men there of worth and worship) said all of one accord that they held to that which had been answered by Niccoluccio; and Messer Gentile, well pleased with this response and that Niccoluccio had made it, avouched himself also to be of the same opinion. Then said he, 'It is now time that I honour you according to promise,' and calling two of his servants, despatched them to the lady, whom he had let magnificently dress and adorn, praying her be pleased to come gladden the company with her presence. Accordingly, she took her little son, who was very handsome, in her arms and coming into the banqueting-hall, attended by two serving-men seated herself, as Messer Gentile willed it, by the side of a gentleman of high standing. Then said he, 'Gentlemen, this is the thing which I hold and purpose to hold dearer than any other; look if it seem to you that I have reason to do so.'

• From The Decameron (1353)

  It seemed to Salabaetto as he were in Paradise and he cast a thousand glances at the lady, who was certes very handsome, himseeming each hour was an hundred years till the slave-girls should begone and he should find himself in her arms. Presently, at her commandment, the girls departed the chamber, leaving a flambeau alight there; whereupon she embraced Salabaetto and he her, and they abode together a great while, to the exceeding pleasure of the Florentine, to whom it seemed she was all afire for love of him. Whenas it seemed to her time to rise, she called the slave-girls and they clad themselves; then they recruited themselves somedele with a second collation of wine and sweetmeats and washed their hands and faces with odoriferous waters; after which, being about to depart, the lady said to Salabaetto, 'So it be agreeable to thee, it were doing me a very great favour an thou camest this evening to sup and lie the night with me.' Salabaetto, who was by this time altogether captivated by her beauty and the artful pleasantness of her fashions and firmly believed himself to be loved of her as he were the heart out of her body, replied, 'Madam, your every pleasure is supremely agreeable to me, wherefore both to-night and at all times I mean to do that which shall please you and that which shall be commanded me of you.' Accordingly the lady returned to her house, where she caused well bedeck her bedchamber with her dresses and gear and letting make ready a splendid supper, awaited Salabaetto, who, as soon as it was grown somewhat dark, betook himself thither and being received with open arms, supped with all cheer and commodity of service. Thereafter they betook themselves into the bedchamber, where he smelt a marvellous fragrance of aloes-wood and saw the bed very richly adorned with Cyprian singing-birds[417] and store of fine dresses upon the pegs, all which things together and each of itself made him conclude that this must be some great and rich lady. And although he had heard some whispers to the contrary anent her manner of life, he would not anywise believe it; or, if he e'en gave so much credit thereto as to allow that she might erst have cozened others, for nothing in the world could he have believed that this might possibly happen to himself. He lay that night with her in the utmost delight, still waxing more enamoured, and in the morning she girt him on a quaint and goodly girdle of silver, with a fine purse thereto, saying, 'Sweet my Salabaetto, I commend myself to thy remembrance, and like as my person is at thy pleasure, even so is all that is here and all that dependeth upon me at thy service and commandment.' Salabaetto, rejoiced, embraced and kissed her; then, going forth of her house, he betook himself whereas the other merchants were used to resort.

• From Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication (2002)

  gnosis) to escape the trappings of this evil material world, a world that, in their belief, was not created by the true God but came into being as a result of a cosmic disaster. Since the nineteenth century, the issue of whether Gnosticism was principally Christian or not has been debated. Based in part on documents from the Nag Hammadi library, scholars have continued to question whether Gnosticism antedated or postdated Christianity. Christ was an aeon (divine being) who revealed the truth necessary for salvation. Salvation came by learning one’s true nature as divine and by acquiring the secret knowledge that can bring liberation from this material world. The Gospel of Truth is one of those gnostic books we had known about from the writings of Irenaeus but did not have in our possession until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library. Its title comes from its opening line, which reads, in part, ““The Gospel of Truth is joy for those who have received from the Father of Truth the grace of knowing him...” This is not, however, a gospel in the way we usually think of one: There is no word about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Instead, it is the “good news” of the salvation he has brought by bringing the truth that can free the soul from its bondage to material things. This is one of the most powerful and moving expositions of the joy of salvation to survive from Christian antiquity. Among other things, it shows that gnostic Christians were not just wild profligates or misguided intellectuals, as their patristic opponents claimed. This is a text filled with heartfelt gratitude to God for the unexpected grace of salvation that has been received. 28 Many scholars attribute the work to a famous gnostic Christian, Valentinus. Valentinus was from Alexandria, Egypt, but moved to Rome sometime around the year 130 A.D. He was active as a Christian writer, orator, and leader over the course of the next thirty years or so. According to Tertullian, he turned on the church only after his bid to become bishop failed. We have some fragments of his writings. If the Gospel of Truth does go back to him, it shows that his opponents were right to attribute to him unusual poetic powers, as can be seen even in the Coptic translation of this text (it was originally in Greek). The book discusses many central issues for Christians in the second century: the nature of God, the character of this world, the person of Christ, and the work of salvation he brought and how one should respond to it. Strikingly, its views stand diametrically opposed to those that eventually became dominant in Christianity and have The gnostic Gospel of been handed down to the present. Truth maintains that people are saved by Eventually, Christianity maintained that this Sac receiving the correct world was the intentional creation of the one true God and, as such, was made good (even knowledge of who

• From Confessions of the Flesh (The History of Sexuality, Vol. 4) (2021)

  Recall that the monastic life whose art and discipline Cassian defines has contemplation as its goal. One who renounces the world seeks to attain that “principal good” which is established “in theory, that is, in contemplation.” When the soul has entered that state, it will have “no other food than the knowledge of God and the joy of his beauty.” The knowledge relation underlies the soul’s relation to God. And even at the moment when the relation becomes a junction, a fusion, a possession, it’s still in the form of knowledge, or more exactly according to the model of the gaze and the light, that Cassian theorizes it. Consequently, for him chastity doesn’t have the same role that virginity has in the authors I spoke of previously. For them, it was a matter of preserving integrity that would allow the soul to reach the Bridegroom without ever experiencing any defilement. For Cassian, the role of chastity is to ensure a “purity of heart” or a “purity of mind” that makes the knowledge relation possible: such that there is no cloudiness in one’s gaze, nothing shadowy escaping the light, no stain to mar the transparency. In sum, Cassian, like Evagrius, replaces the series virginity-integrity-spiritual nuptials that one finds clearly developed in authors like Basil of Ancyra with the series chastity–purity of heart–contemplation.

• From Every Woman's Battle: Discovering God's Plan for Sexual and Emotional Fulfillment (2003)

  What about you? Do you have this kind of love relationship with Christ? Do you experience the inexplicable joy of intimacy with the One who loves you with a passion far deeper, far greater than anything you could find here on earth? I know from experience that you can. HOW DO I GET THERE FROM HERE? Maybe you are wondering how to get from where you are now to this much deeper, more gratifying level of intimacy with Jesus Christ. It would help to look at where our spiritual journey begins as believers and how our relationship with God evolves as we travel down the path toward spiritual maturity. Life coach and international lecturer Jack Hill (www.royal-quest.com) explains that there are six progressive levels of relationship with God, as found in the following metaphors in scripture: • potter/clay relationship • shepherd/sheep relationship • master/servant relationship • friend/friend relationship • father/daughter relationship • groom/bride relationship I believe God gave us these metaphors to increase our understanding of His many-faceted personality and to help us comprehend the depth of His perfect love for us (although the human mind can not fathom such depth). These metaphors illustrate the maturing of our love relationship with God. Just as children develop physically until they reach adulthood, believers in Christ develop spiritually in stages as we walk down the road to spiritual maturity. As we examine the dynamics of each of these stages, perhaps you can discern what level of intimacy you are currently experiencing in your walk with God. You can also determine what level of connection you can anticipate as your relationship with God continues to blossom. POTTER/CLAY RELATIONSHIP

• From Every Woman's Battle: Discovering God's Plan for Sexual and Emotional Fulfillment (2003)

  Communicating intimately with our husbands is very similar to giving a squirrel a nut. Requiring it is futile. Intimacy can, however, be inspired. I used to go to bed expecting that my husband would talk with me for a while, not just about superficial stuff, but really engage in deep conversation. Even though I had heard psychologists explain that a man is capable of speaking only so many words each day and that they are almost all used up by the time he gets home from work, I thought I could drag it out of him. Needless to say, I usually went to sleep disappointed. Sometimes I went to sleep devastated, as I was trying to carry on a meaningful conversation and the only response I ultimately got once I stopped talking was “Zzzzzzzzzz.” Then I heard about this squirrel-and-nut theory and decided I may as well test it. I would go to bed with my husband at a decent hour, but rather than expecting to talk, I would simply say goodnight and allow him to drift off to sleep. After a few nights of this, Greg asked, “Are you upset with me about something?” “No, why do you ask?” I replied. “You’ve just been awfully quiet lately,” he explained. I smiled and said, “I’m not trying to give you the silent treatment, honey. I just know you are tired at night after a long day at work, and I want you to get plenty of rest.” Later that same night, we were getting in bed when Greg began asking me about my day and what I planned to do tomorrow. I responded, but didn’t elaborate a great deal. Surprisingly, he kept asking more questions. Then he began telling me about some of the things that he’d had on his mind lately, asking me questions about what I think. We wound up talking for over an hour, and then moved closer to each other to lie in each other’s arms. We decided to pray together, and by the time Greg finished praying, my desire to give him my body was positively overwhelming! Did he mind staying up a few more minutes to receive the gift I longed to give him? Absolutely not! We stumbled onto something that night many years ago that we’ve never forgotten: True sexual fulfillment comes not just from a physical connection, but from an intimate mental, emotional, and spiritual connection as well. Although some nights we both drift off without much being said simply because we are both so tired, we have many nights when these intimate, brain-picking, heart-rendering, soul-searching conversations take place spontaneously. Sex doesn’t always follow, but when it does, it’s an incredibly fulfilling experience because the passion between us has been inspired, not required. SERVE YOUR SPOUSE AS IF HE’S YOUR BEST FRIEND

• From Girls & Sex (2016)

  A week after her blackout, Holly hooked up again with Robert, the boy she’d started seeing at the end of the previous semester, and the two finally had sex. It was amazing. “I woke up the next morning happy that I had sex with someone I wasn’t in a relationship with, who I know and like as a person, who is a sweet guy,” she said. “We were able to enjoy ourselves, experiment—and we both had orgasms. We’ve agreed we want to keep this casual. If there’s anything going on with us, it’s ‘friends with benefits.’ We are definitely friends. Maybe if it continues, perhaps I’ll want it to be something more. But that’s an ‘if,’ because this is all new.” Looking back, Holly couldn’t believe how far she’d come. Only a year ago, she was a virgin. Only a year ago, she would have said she’d need to be in a committed relationship for at least six months before she’d have intercourse. “That’s clearly changed,” she said. “I’ve pushed the line, pushed the line, pushed the line. But it’s interesting where it’s taken me. I don’t know if it’s the culture around me that tells me my behavior is okay, so therefore I’m fine with it, or if it’s because I’m older and more mature and have grown as a person.” She shook her head, incredulous. “It’s been such a strange journey.”

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  Anna also wrote at some length to her daughter. And won- der of wonders, from Violet Peacock there arrived an embar- rassingly gushing epistle. She would look Stephen up when next she was in Paris; she was longing, so she said, to renew their old friendship — after all, they two had been children together. Gazing at Mary with very bright eyes, Stephen’s thoughts must rush forward into the future. Puddle had been right, it was work that counted — clever, hard-headed, understanding old Puddle! Then putting an arm round Mary’s shoulder: ‘ Nothing shall ever hurt you,’ she would promise, feeling wonderfully self- sufficient and strong, wonderfully capable of protecting. 2 Tuar summer they drove into Italy with David sitting up proudly beside Burton. David barked at the peasants and challenged the dogs and generally assumed a grand air of importance. They de- cided to spend two months on Lake Como, and went to the Hotel Florence at Bellagio. The hotel gardens ran down to the lake — it was all very sunny and soothing and peaceful. Their days were passed in making excursions, their evenings in drifting about on the water in a little boat with a gaily striped awning, which latter seemed a strange form of pleasure to David. Many of the guests at the Florence were English, and not a few scraped an acquaint- ance with Stephen, since nothing appears to succeed like success in a world that is principally made up of failure. The sight of her book left about in the lounge, or being devoured by some en« THE WELL OF LONELINESS 423 grossed reader, would make Stephen feel almost childishly kappi; she would point the phenomenon out to Mary. ‘Look,’ she would whisper, ‘ that man’s reading my book! ’ For the child is never far to seek in the author. Some of their acquaintances were country folk and she found that she was in sympathy with them. Their quiet and painstaking outlook on life, their love of the soil, their care for their homes, their traditions were after all a part of herself, bequeathed to her by the founders of Morton. It gave her a very deep sense of pleas- ure to see Mary accepted and made to feel welcome by these grey- haired women and gentlemanly men; very seemly and fitting it appeared to Stephen. And now, since to each of us come moments of respite when the mind refuses to face its problems, she resolutely thrust aside her misgivings, those misgivings that whispered: ‘ Supposing they knew — do you think they’d be so friendly to Mary? ’

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  38 “So let it be clearly known by you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you; 39 and through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior and follows Him] is k justified and declared free of guilt from all things, from which you could not be justified and freed of guilt through the Law of Moses. 40 “Therefore be careful, so that the thing spoken of in the [writings of the] Prophets does not come upon you: 41 ‘LOOK , YOU MOCKERS , AND MARVEL , AND PERISH and VANISH AWAY ; FOR I AM DOING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS , A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE , even IF SOMEONE DESCRIBES IT TO YOU [telling you about it in detail].’ ” [Hab 1:5 ] 42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving [the synagogue], the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation of the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, talking to them were urging them to continue in the grace of God. Paul Turns to the Gentiles 44 On the next Sabbath almost the entire l city gathered together to hear the word of the Lord [about salvation through faith in Christ]. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things said by Paul, and were slandering him. 46 And [at the same time] Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and confidently, saying, “It was necessary that God’s message [of salvation through faith in Christ] be spoken to you [Jews] first. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, now we turn to the Gentiles. 47 “For that is what the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES , SO THAT YOU MAY BRING [the message of eternal] SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH .’ ” [Is 49:6 ] 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying [praising and giving thanks for] the word of the Lord; and all those who had been appointed (designated, ordained) to eternal life [by God] believed [in Jesus as the Christ and their Savior]. 49 And so the word of the Lord [regarding salvation] was being spread through the entire region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout, prominent women and the leading men of the city, and instigated persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them forcibly out of their district. 51 But m they shook its dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. [Matt 10:14 ; Mark 6:11 ] 52 And the disciples were continually filled [throughout their hearts and souls] with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

• From Another Country (1962)

  They were almost there. Come on come on come on come on. Come on! He began to gallop her, whinnying a little with delight, and, for the first time, became a little cold with fright, that so much of himself, so long damned up, must now come pouring out. Her moans gave way to sobs and cries. Vivaldo. Vivaldo. Vivaldo. She was over the edge. He hung, hung, clinging to her as she clung to him, calling her name, wet, itching, bursting, blind. It began to pour out of him like the small weak trickle that precedes disaster in the mines. He felt his whole face pucker, felt the wind in his throat, and called her name again, while all the love in him rushed down, rushed down, and poured itself into her. After a long time, he felt her fingers in his hair and he looked into her face. She was smiling—a thoughtful, baffled smile. “Get your big, white self off me. I can’t move.” He kissed her, weary as he could be, and peaceful. “Tell me something first.” She looked sly and amused and mocking; very much like a woman and very much like a shy, little girl. “What do you want to know?” He shook her, laughing. “Come on. Tell me.” She kissed him on the tip of his nose. “It never happened to me before—not like this, never.” “Never?” “Never. Almost—but no, never.” Then, “Was I good for you?” “Yes. Yes. Don’t ever leave me.” “Let me get up.” He rolled over on his back and she got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He watched the tall, dusty body, which now belonged to him, disappear. He heard water running in the bathroom, then he heard the shower. He fell asleep. He woke up in the early afternoon. Ida was standing before the stove, singing. If you can’t give me a dollar, Give me a lousy dime— She had washed the dishes, cleaned up the kitchen, and hung up his clothes. Now she was making coffee. Just want to feed This hungry man of mine. Book Two: ANY DAY NOW Why don’t you take me in your arms and carry me out of this lonely place? —CONRAD, Victory 1 Eric sat naked in his rented garden. Flies buzzed and boomed in the brilliant heat, and a yellow bee circled his head. Eric remained very still, then reached for the cigarettes beside him and lit one, hoping that the smoke would drive the bee away. Yves’ tiny black-and-white kitten stalked the garden as though it were Africa, crouching beneath the mimosas like a panther and leaping into the air. The house and the garden overlooked the sea. Far down the slope, beyond the sand of the beach, in the thunderous blue of the Mediterranean, Yves’ head went under, reappeared, went under again. He vanished entirely.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  22 “So for now you are in grief; but I will see you again, and [then] your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away from you your [great] joy. Prayer Promises 23 “In that day you will not [need to] ask Me about anything. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name [as My representative], He will give you. 24 “Until now you have not asked [the Father] for anything in My name; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy may be full and complete. 25 “I have told you these things in figurative language (veiled language, proverbs); the hour is now coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 “In that day you will ask in My name, and I am not saying to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf [because it will be unnecessary]; 27 for the Father Himself [tenderly] loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father. 28 “I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” 29 His disciples said, “Ah, now You are speaking plainly to us and not in figures of speech! 30 “Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; because of this we believe [without any doubt] that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now [at last] believe? 32 “Take careful notice: an hour is coming, and has arrived, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, leaving Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.] John 17 The High Priestly Prayer 1 W HEN JESUS had spoken these things, He raised His eyes to heaven [in prayer] and said, “Father, the a hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify You. 2 “Just as You have given Him power and authority over all mankind, [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life b to all whom You have given Him [to be His—permanently and forever]. 3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent. 4 “I have glorified You [down here] on the earth by c completing the work that You gave Me to do.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [1 Thess 1:10 ] 4 a Brothers and sisters beloved by God, we know that He has chosen you; 5 for our good news [regarding salvation] came to you not only in word, but also in [its inherent] power and in the Holy Spirit and with great conviction [on our part]. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your benefit. 6 You became imitators of us and [through us] of the Lord, after you welcomed our message in [a time of] great trouble with the joy supplied by the Holy Spirit; 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in b Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has resounded from you and has echoed [like thunder], not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place [the news of] your [great] faith in God has spread, so that we never need to say anything about it. 9 For they themselves report about us, telling what kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to [look forward and confidently] wait for [the coming of] His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who [personally] rescues us from the coming wrath [and draws us to Himself, granting us all the privileges and rewards of a new life with Him]. 1 Thessalonians 2 Paul’s Ministry 1 F OR YOU know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you has not been ineffective (fruitless, in vain), 2 but after we had already suffered and been outrageously treated in Philippi, as you know, yet in [the strength of] our God we summoned the courage to proclaim boldly to you the good news of God [regarding salvation] amid great opposition. 3 For our appeal does not come from delusion or impure motives, nor [is it motivated] by deceit [our message is complete, accurate, and based on the truth—it does not change]. 4 But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel [that tells the good news of salvation through faith in Christ], so we speak, not as [if we were trying] to please people [to gain power and popularity], but to please God who examines our hearts [expecting our best]. 5 For as you well know, we never came with words of flattery nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness— 6 nor did we seek glory and honor from people, neither from you nor from anyone else, though as apostles of Christ we had the power to assert our authority. 7 But we behaved gently when we were among you, like a devoted mother tenderly caring for her own children. 8 Having such a deep affection for you, we a were delighted to share with you not only God’s good news but also our own lives, because you had become so very dear to us.

• From Every Woman's Battle: Discovering God's Plan for Sexual and Emotional Fulfillment (2003)

  Too often we try to sit in His presence at 6 A.M., half-awake in our nightgowns, feeling anything but glamorous and passionate. Remember the painstaking process of getting ready for a hot date with that someone special? A process that we only wish we had time for in these “got to get myself and everyone else ready in forty-five minutes or less” days? Make time for a spiritual spa weekend. Take all of your favorite bath-and-beauty products and pamper yourself to go before the King. You’ll be amazed at how, when you feel pretty on the outside, passion flows freely from the inside. Your heart of worship will soar and you won’t want to stop talking with God, just like you could have conversed all night with that special date long ago. Although God certainly loves us even with unshaven legs, no makeup, and a bed-head hairdo, He also deserves to occasionally have His princess sit at His feet while she is looking and feeling her best. Intercessor’s Retreat Many women have such a burden for others, but the burden of a busy schedule keeps us from praying until we feel a peace for those individuals. Take your Bible, your address book, some pretty stationery, and a pen, and run away for an extended time of intercession. Pray for those you are closest to and anyone else that God lays on your heart. Ask God to give you a special scripture to pass on to those individuals that you care so much about, and write it in a sweet note to them. Whether I am struggling, striving, surviving, or succeeding, it feels so good to get a note from a friend or family member saying, “You’ve been on my heart and I am praying for you.” It feels even better to be the one to brighten someone else’s day with such a note. “Thanks for the Memories” Retreat Of all the gifts God gives us in life, are there any we cherish more than fond memories of special occasions with family and friends? I’ve often thought, “Even if my house burns to the ground and I lose everything, I’ll still have my memories.” My next thought is usually, “And if I ever smell smoke, I’m grabbing my photo albums first!” Invest in a nice scrapbook, some creative-patterned scissors, and some colorful, acid-free paper and pens. Gather up all those pictures you have tossed into a box over the years and go on this “Thanks for the Memories” retreat with a grateful heart for all the wonderful people in your life and for all the fond moments you’ve shared. Give thanks to God for each and every photo in your album and pray a special blessing on each face that adorns your pages. “Leaving a Legacy of Love” Retreat

• From Girls & Sex (2016)

  The girls cracked up. “But, then,” Annie added, “my mom was kind of a hippie. So she would tell me to forget all that. She’d say, ‘It’s really important to test-drive a car before you buy it; you don’t just kick the wheels.’” When Brooke was in middle school, her mother gave her a pile of old-school sex-positive books such as Our Bodies, Ourselves. (“They all had these totally seventies covers,” she recalled. “It was hilarious!”) As for Caitlin, whose public high school passed out free condoms, when she was fifteen her mom took her to a “woman-friendly” sex store to buy a vibrator. “She said, ‘I think it’s really important that you get in touch with your own body and sexuality before you start having sex with someone else.’” Neither Caitlin nor Brooke ever imagined saving her virginity for marriage. Until meeting Christina, they’d never met anyone who’d even considered it. “I think my mother’s exact words were ‘Virginity is a patriarchal construct,’” Caitlin said, and laughed. She had intercourse for the first time at sixteen, with a boy whom she would date for the next three years. “I would have actually done it earlier, with a different guy, my sophomore year,” she said, “but he never initiated it. And I’m glad. Because I would have. Not because I wanted to have sex with him, but because I wanted to please him and I wanted to feel important. When I finally did have sex, it was only two months into my relationship, but I felt like I wanted to. It was really empowering to be absolutely sure of that decision and to realize that I hadn’t been ready before but now I definitely was.” Brooke’s first intercourse was younger still, at fifteen. She had imagined it would happen with a boy she cared about—she never used the word love—in the kind of romantic, gauzy setting you’d find in a vintage Summer’s Eve douche commercial: on the edge of a cliff with the Pacific Ocean crashing against the rocks below. “I was probably thinking more about what it would be like to remember it later than the act itself,” she admitted. “Like, how it would sound as a story.”

• From Another Country (1962)

  I didn’t really take it seriously until my agent called me. And then Bronson called me, too, because, you see, there’s going to be a kind of conflict with Happy Hunting Ground. We’re set to go into rehearsal next month, and, who knows? maybe it’ll be a hit. So we’ve got to iron that out.” “But they’re willing to do almost anything to get Eric,” Cass said. “That’s not entirely true,” said Eric, “don’t listen to her. They’re just very interested, that’s all. I don’t believe anything until it happens.” He took a blue handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped his face. “Let’s go in,” he said. “Baby,” said Vivaldo, “you’re going to be a star.” He kissed Eric on the forehead. “You son of a bitch.” “Nothing is set,” said Eric, and he looked at Cass. He grinned. “I’m really part of an economy drive. They can get me cheap, you know, and they’ve got almost everybody you ever heard of lined up for the other roles—so my agent explained to me that my name goes below the title—” “But in equal size,” said Cass. “One of those and introducing deals,” said Eric, and laughed. He looked pleased about his good news for the first time. “Well, baby, it looks like you’ve made it now,” said Ida. “Congratulations.” “Your clairvoyant Frenchman,” Cass said, “was right.” “Only what are they going to do about that ante-bellum accent?” asked Vivaldo. “Look,” said Eric, “let’s go see this movie. I speak French in it.” He threw an arm around Vivaldo’s shoulder. “Impeccably.” “Hell,” Vivaldo said, “I don’t really feel like seeing a movie. I’d much rather take you out and get you stinking drunk.” “You’re going to,” said Eric, “as soon as the movie’s over.” And they came, laughing, through the doors just as the French film began. The titles were superimposed over a montage of shots of Paris in the morning: laborers on their bicycles, on their way to work, coming down from the hills of Montmartre, crossing the Place de la Concorde, rolling through the great square before Notre Dame. In great close-ups, the traffic lights flashed on and off, the white batons of the traffic policemen rose and fell; it soon became apparent that one had already picked up the central character and would follow him to his destination; which, if one could judge from the music would be a place of execution. The film was one of those politics, sex, and vengeance dramas the French love to turn out, and it starred one of the great French actors, who had died when this film was completed. So the film, which was not remarkable in itself, held this undeniable necrophilic fascination. Working with this actor, being on the set while this man worked, had been one of the great adventures of Eric’s life.