City of Tranquil Light Quotes

“Hsiao Lao smiled weakly. "He is a foolish God... Your God does not behave in the way I would expect." I laughed suddenly, for I had thought the same many times -- how foolish God is with me, my sweet, spendthrift, profligate Lord, bestowing on me things I would not have thought myself capable of. "It may seem that way, Hsaso Lao. He is foolish in His giving and in His care for us. He has spoiled me throughout my life.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“My faith feels tattered and threadbare and I am ashamed. What good is it if it does not see me through pain? But a scrap of faith is better than nothing, so I cling to it tightly.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“My father had told me when I was young that courage was not strength in the absence of fear but strength in the presence of fear, and I asked God for the courage to withstand whatever lay ahead. I felt His forgiveness wash over me, lessening my remorse.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“I opened Will’s Bible and translated part of the ninth Psalm: “ ‘I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee; I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“The term “middle age” fits where we are, for I see in him both the young man I fell in love with and the old one he will be. I see my own dear husband and I am struck by how deeply I love him, by how many times I have nearly lost him—and by how lost I would be without him.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“foolish God is with me, my sweet, spendthrift, profligate Lord, bestowing on me more gifts than I can number and certainly more than I deserve, believing in me more than makes sense, asking of me things I would not have thought myself capable of.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“I like this advice—how wise people seem when they give us the counsel we want!”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“...trusting that He will use my mistakes as well as my triumphs and knowing that He does not ask me to be perfect, or even good. He simply asks me to be His.… the heart of His Good News: that I am deeply and passionately loved exactly as I am, despite the faults that grieve me most, by a God who delights in me more than I can know— a God who created me so He could love me.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“As I’ve aged, this feeling of longing has intensified and become my companion. I have come to see it as a gift; being homesick feels right, a reminder that this earth is not my home. My ties to this world become more tenuous with each passing year, and the more deeply I feel this, the closer I feel to Christ.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“I have come to accept that at present I have only a partial view of reality; there are answers I will not be given until I leave this life. I know that my Lord is the God of wheat fields and oak trees, of mountains and valleys, and that His answers, like His works, often require time.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“This growing old is the great test, you know—
the challenge we’ve been preparing for all along.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light

“He shook his head. “Not yet. But I sense it on the horizon and it saddens me, which is why I felt the need to speak with you.” He paused and seemed to weigh his words. “When the time comes for you to leave—and it will come, of this I am certain—you must know that your leaving will bring our city great sadness, and that it is not our wish.”
― Bo Caldwell, City of Tranquil Light