Consider the Birds Quotes

“ 'Tragedy admires man. Comedy feels a bit sorry for him.' We think we are kings or queens, masters of the universe or at least our own destiny. We forget that a foot may crush us, or that the wind may knock us down. We are not in control. We are subject to gas and sloughing skin and dirty pores. Most of our joints will eventually fail us. We have big brains which we can imagine great things, but we can't really get off the ground. It's like we have wings but we can't fly.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“We might like to think of ourselves as autonomous beings who get to decide who we are going to be, but we are likely much more malleable than we think. We are often defined by the structure that keeps us captive. In some ways our desires are so socially constructed that they can't rightfully be called our own.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“God is loving the world into fully being.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“Falling in love and identifying birds have similar effects.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“It is understandable that we want a powerful God, but I’m not sure that desire really leads us to more truth, or more goodness, or a better world.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“Perhaps Jesus was prescient when he compared himself to a hen; we have certainly had our way with him—caging and packaging.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“There is no one I find as tiresome as myself. Talk about ubiquitous. It’s so difficult to find someplace quiet apart from myself, hard to keep me out of the room for even a moment. I just keep following myself around wherever I go, monotonously chirping.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“Scripture keeps pressing us to hear this: God loves what is ubiquitous.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“Not one sparrow is forgotten in the sight of God.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“Tenerife giant rats, Madagascar’s hissing cockroach, Galápagos turtles, and King Kong are all examples of island gigantism.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“Sometimes we don’t have great imaginations for beauty. Sometimes we don’t have great imaginations for God. We are confined and limited by stereotypes and preconceived expectations. I believe that the word of God, far from confirming everything we already think we know, can surprise us. We are borne on vulture’s wings.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“When labels start coming into our heads (loathsome, ugly, loser, winner), we should question them—recognize a label as the insubstantial thing it is, and let it go.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

“What God gives is always in the form of gift, not exchange.”
― Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible