We Manifest the Glory of God

Inspirational Quotes for the Day:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 

(Quote from Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love (1992). John Eldredge writes about his response to this quote in Waking the Dead on page 87, below.)

When I first read this quote, I thought, No, that’s not true. We don’t fear our glory. We fear we are not glorious at all. We fear that at bottom, we are going to be revealed as . . . disappointments. But as I thought about it more, I realized we do fear our glory. We fear even heading this direction because, for one thing, it seems prideful. Now pride is a bad thing, to be sure, but it’s not prideful to embrace the truth that you bear the image of God. Paul says it brings glory to God. We walk in humility because we know it is a glory bestowed. It reflects something of the Lord’s glory. (John Eldredge) 

I (Lyndon Perry) agree with Eldredge. Although not "powerful beyond measure" (as Williamson states) we human beings, created a little below the angels, are indeed glorious (small g) beings. And that is something for which we can glorify the Father, who is all Glorious (big g).

By the way, Waking the Dead (2000) is a good book. I also enjoyed Eldredge's two books on masculinity, Wild at Heart and The Way of the Wild Heart. You can discover more of his writings at Wild at Heart. 

Note: I wrote this blog post back in 2007. These three books by Eldredge were very inspirational to me during this time. What books have been meaningful in your past journey? What books are inspiring you during this current chapter of your life?