the quotable Chuang
Me? Quotable? I’m not much for sound bites, and haven’t figured out (or tried all that hard) at wordsmithing for limited-time media. 
Now, on the other hand my son Jeremiah, was quoted eccentrically in today’s Washington Post’s KidPost page, featuring his 4th-grade classroom’s tulip planting project. When asked what tulip bulbs smelled like, he answered, “faintly ominous.” The parents are so delighted! 🙂
I supposed I occasionally stumble upon it, and write words that touch the heart & soul of others. Here’s two that I found mentioned in the blogosphere.
Quoted by a pastor in Texas (and recently inserted as his blog slogan):
It takes a lifetime to just begin to understand the truth. It’s a long journey, and one that is filled with adventure. To not go is to become mostly bored, and resigned to finding entertainment as stimulus to ease the soul ache. [source]
Quoted by someone in Korea:
There are people who feel that they must have a pulpit to speak from, or they must write books, or they must do “Christian ministry”, or they must accomplish a certain number of items of things in their life, and that’s where they derive their energy and passion. And there are people who think it is more spiritual to do professional ministry whether as a minister or a missionary. I have come to realize that this is an off-balance view. [source]
How God uses me and my words doesn’t make much sense to me. I preached a sermon yesterday that a number of people really appreciated, even got a handful of hugs, and yet I wasn’t feeling too good about delivering it. Strange place for me to be.
[update 10/22/06: finally got my 10/08 sermon online – mp3 audio]
D.J.,
When you wield a sharp sword it will cut to the hearts of men and women. Your words are well sharpened, and touch hearts. Thanks for letting God use you.
Mike
Hey DJ, would appreciate it if you could let us download your sermon. Any chance of that happening? Thanks.
I’m with John. I want to hear that sermon. I’m also behind Mike, you do wield your words well.
“faintly ominous” — i’m stealing that one. Great line, mr. jeremiah!
Oh boy… for tulip bulbs? Too funny!! I’d love to hear his thoughts regarding my compost pile…
About your sermon and how you didn’t feel like delivering it… funny, isn’t it? … after speaking so much at this point, I realize that sometimes I really am no more than the messenger… I’ve taken nothing for myself from the talk, but others are pulling at it in fistfuls… this is always humbling, because I discover that my satisfaction matters less than God’s secret works…
L.L., I felt more nervous as I went on, and was glad to finish, and was glad to hear good feedback from more than a handful of people. They didn’t notice my nervousness, and I certainly didn’t apologize up front or call attention to it. (Though, I am blogging about it after the fact.) What I’m kind of trying to figure out, deconstruct my feelings, and processing out loud, is that while public speaking is something that I can do okay, I wish I could have better feelings about doing it more often. Right now, it seems to be a 50/50 hit-or-miss kind of thing with my feelings about public speaking or preaching or teaching, even when I’m equally prepared.
The best sermons are often those we don’t think are that good. I guess God does that to keep us humble
DJ, enjoyed listening to the sermon. Indeed it reveals your humility and the invitation of God for us to open our lives. Thanks so much.