Religious Behaviour And Experience

"Hence the fool's paradise, the statesman's scheme, The air-built castle, and the golden dream, The maid's romantic wish, the chemist's flame, And poet's vision of eternal fame."

"Luke: I can't keep the vision out of my head. They're my friends. I've gotta help them."

"Fond man! the vision of a moment made! Dream of a dream! and shadow of a shade!"

"But shapes that come not at an earthly call, Will not depart when mortal voices bid."

"Hence, dear delusion, sweet enchantment hence!"

"Where there is no vision, the people perish."

"My thoughts by night are often filled With visions false as fair: For in the past alone I build My castles in the air."

"An angel stood and met my gaze, Through the low doorway of my tent; The tent is struck, the vision stays; I only know she came and went."

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions."

"Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, An angel, writing in a book of gold; Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the presence in the room he said— "What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head, And, with a look made all of sweet accord, Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord.""

"I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes."

"I wonder if ever a song was sung but the singer's heart sang sweeter! I wonder if ever a rhyme was rung but the thought surpassed the meter! I wonder if ever a sculptor wrought till the cold stone echoed his ardent thought! Or, if ever a painter with light and shade the dream of his inmost heart portrayed!"

"Visions of glory, spare my aching sight! Ye unborn ages, crowd not on my soul."

"So little distant dangers seem: So we mistake the future's face, Ey'd thro' Hope's deluding glass; As yon summits soft and fair, Clad in colours of the air, Which to those who journey near, Barren, brown, and rough appear."

"And like a passing thought, she fled In light away."

"Circa beatitudinem perfectam, quæ in Dei visione consistit."

"Our revels now are ended. These, our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air; And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind."

"O visions ill foreseen! Better had I Liv'd ignorant of future, so had borne My part of evil only."

"Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimæras dire."

"It is a dream, sweet child! a waking dream, A blissful certainty, a vision bright, Of that rare happiness, which even on earth Heaven gives to those it loves."

"Such are the common people of the soul, Of whom the stars write not in their bright scroll. These, when the sunshine at the noontide makes Golden confusion in the forest brakes, See no sweet shadows gliding o’er the grass, Which seems to fill with wild flowers as they pass ; These, from the twilight music of the fount Ask not its secret and its sweet account ; These never seek to read the chronicle Which hides within the hyacinth’s dim-lit bell: They know not of the poetry which lies Upon the summer rose’s languid eyes; They have no spiritual visitings elysian, They dream no dreamings, and they see no vision."

"The people's prayer, the glad diviner's theme! The young men's vision, and the old men's dream!"

"Some of these visions can be lots of fun and really absorbing, you know, but if you stay stuck right there it’s a waste of time. A really simple method for letting go of them is not to look at what you see in the vision, but to look at what’s doing the seeing. Then the things you don’t want to see will disappear on their own."

"The vision you saw was real, but what you saw in the vision wasn’t."

"Myth is a story of a vision; it is a presentation of that vision told in terms of the vision’s symbols, characters, chronology, and import. It is a vehicle of transmission, of sharing, of renewal, and as such plays an integral part in the ongoing psychic life of a people."

"The Indian way includes ample room for vision translated into meaningful action and custom and thought, and it is because of the centrality of the vision to the life of the peoples of America that the religious life of the tribe endures, even under the most adverse circumstances. Vision is a way of becoming whole, of affirming one’s special place in the universe, and myth, song, and ceremony are ways of affirming vision’s place in the life of all the people. Thus it renews all: the visionary and his relatives and friends, even the generations long dead and those yet unborn."

"A man who has had a vision is a fully functioning adult, possessing an identity that is of both ritual and practical significance to himself and his peers. [...] Until he has a vision the youth is not an adult, that is, a ritually acknowledged member of his community. He has no adult name, a circumstance that marks him as a “child” who cannot take on his adult responsibilities in the community."

"Confess yourself to heaven; Repent what's past; avoid what is to come."

"Nor do we find him forward to be sounded But, with a crafty madness, keeps aloof, When we would bring him on to some confession Of his true state."

"Open Confession is good for the Soul."

"He's half absolved, who has confessed."

"Stan: But our friend Timmy can't really talk. All he can do is say his own name, so he can't really confess his sins. So is he goin' to go to hell?"

"Stan: We're goin' to church. We've sinned and so we have to confess again."

"Confess and be hanged."

"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."

"A confession is wholly and incontestably voluntary only if a guilty person gives himself up to the law and becomes his own accuser."

"One thing they specially commend, that the blush of shame in the penitent is a severe punishment, which makes him more cautious for the future, and anticipates divine punishment, by his punishing himself. As if a man was not sufficiently humbled with shame when brought under the cognizance of God at his supreme tribunal. Admirable proficiency—if we cease to sin because we are ashamed to make one man acquainted with it, and blush not at having God as the witness of our evil conscience!"

"The Lord anciently enjoined the people of Israel that they should repeat the words after the priest, and make public confession of their iniquities in the temple; because he foresaw that this was a necessary help to enable each one to form a just idea of himself. And it is proper that by confession of our misery, we should manifest the mercy of our God both among ourselves and before the whole world. It is proper that this mode of confession should both be ordinary in the Church, and also be specially employed on extraordinary occasions, when the people in common happen to have fallen into any fault. Of this latter description we have an example in the solemn confession which the whole people made under the authority and guidance of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 1:6, 7). ... And it matters not though in one assembly it may sometimes happen that a few are innocent, seeing that the members of a languid and sickly body cannot boast of soundness. Nay, it is scarcely possible that these few have not contracted some taint, and so bear part of the blame."

"The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works."

"Confess debt, and beg days. Confessing a fault makes half amends for it."

"It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution."

"There is no refuge from confession but suicide; and suicide is confession."

"Proximum ab innocentia tenet locum verecunda peccati confessio."

"Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

"I own the soft impeachment."

"Confess thee freely of thy sin; For to deny each article with oath Cannot remove nor choke the strong conception That I do groan withal."

"Every man or woman who turns to Christ must bear in mind that they are breaking with their old master, and enlisting under a new leader. Conversion is a revolutionary process."

""Follow me!" The publican "rose up." This implies immediate action. It was now or never with him. So you must act with prompt obedience. He did the first thing Jesus bade him do. Are you willing to do as much? If not, you are deciding against Christ, and that means death."

"Conversion by the Holy Spirit is a spiritual illumination of the soul. God's grace lights up the dark heart. And when a man has once been kindled at the cross of Christ, he is bound to shine."

"In every sound convert the judgment is brought to approve of the laws and ways of Christ, and subscribe to them as most righteous and reasonable; the desire of the heart is to know the whole mind of Christ; the free and resolved choice of the heart is determined for the ways of Christ, before all the pleasures of sin, and prosperities of the world; it is the daily care of his life to walk with God."