#ray

From Les Miserables: All at once, in the midst of this profound calm, a fresh sound arose; a sound as celestial, divine, ineffable, ravishing, as the other had been horrible. It was a hymn which issued from the gloom, a dazzling burst of prayer and harmony in the obscure and alarming silence of the night; women's voices, but voices composed at one and the same time of the pure accents of virgins and the innocent accent of children, -- voices which are not of the earth, and which resemble those that the newborn infant still hears, and which the dying man hears already. This song proceeded from the gloomy edifice which towered above the garden. At the moment when the hubbub of demons retreated, one would have said that a choir of angels was approaching through the gloom. Cosette and Jean Valjean fell on their knees. They knew not what it was, they knew not where they were; but both of them, the man and the child, the penitent and the innocent, felt that they must kneel. These voices had this strange characteristic, that they did not prevent the building from seeming to be deserted. It was a supernatural chant in an uninhabited house. While these voices were singing, Jean Valjean thought of nothing. He no longer beheld the night; he beheld a blue sky. It seemed to him that he felt those wings which we all have within us, unfolding. The song died away. It may have lasted a long time. Jean Valjean could not have told. Hours of ecstasy are never more than a moment. ↗

— Victor Hugo

#hope #prayer #faith

I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered. ↗

— Jean Ingelow

#been #god #i #lived #prayers

The relationship to one's fellow man is the relationship of prayer, the relationship to oneself is the relationship of striving; it is from prayer that one draws the strength for one's striving. ↗

— Franz Kafka

#fellow #fellow man #man #oneself #prayer

How do we listen to his voice? With the ear of our heart. With love. Love has ears, as love has eyes. Just be there, and love him, and let him love you." (35). Easier said than done. "What will happen then? What will we hear? Let God take care of that. Seek only him, do not use him as a means to seek any other end. He is not your Santa, he is your Savior. I cannot tell you what he will give you, except for one thing: he will give you himself. He will give you more of himself the more you want him, that is, the more you love him. He wants to pour infinite riches into your soul; prayer is a way of opening up your soul so more of God can enter. ↗

— Peter Kreeft

#god #prayer #faith

The cool wind blew in my face and all at once I felt as if I had shed dullness from myself. Before me lay a long gray line with a black mark down the center. The birds were singing. It was spring. ↗

— Burl Ives

#birds #black #blew #center #cool

I read a poem every night, as others read a prayer. ↗

— Tahar Ben Jelloun

#every night #i #night #others #poem

And it is to rock the soul and lead the person to immorality, corruption - to forget their prayers, to forget their God. And thus the world has partaken of the spirit of the Negro race, accepting their ways. ↗

— Warren Jeffs

#corruption #forget #god #immorality #lead

In our home there was always prayer - aloud, proud and unapologetic. ↗

— Lyndon B. Johnson

#aloud #always #our #prayer #proud

I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, so I ask you to confirm me with your prayers. ↗

— Gerald R. Ford

#am #ask #aware #ballots #confirm

I am not unaware that leaders betray, and sell out, and play false. ↗

— Mary Harris Jones

#betray #false #i #i am #leaders