9 Quotes by Jean-Michel Hansen

Choose truth. Resist not-truth. Think courageously, meaning boldly. Reject the propaganda of the world. Choose truth. You won’t find it in the loudest, most insistent, most demanding voices. Truth is quiet. Very quiet. Truth is found in stillness and privacy. It brings peace. Be still. Choose truth. Believe. Be grateful.

The point is not simply to change the narrative. (An infinite number of narratives are possible.) The point is to exchange the false narrative for Truth.

Disbelievers doubt rumors of miracles. They insist on seeing things with their own eyes. Believers recognize small miracles, like the everyday love that exists in families. (Who else could love these people?) Perhaps the greater miracle is that God’s work is quiet and subtle, easily overlooked; perhaps the greater miracle is that His work doesn’t conform to the expectations or demands of those who do not believe in Him.

Like our bodies, our minds are also flawed. And, as in the case of the body, the flaws in our minds might also not be imperfections but rather divinely-designed invitations to seek healing through Jesus Christ, who is mighty to save. If this is the case, we must be humbly grateful for these flaws. And we must diligently seek His healing, thereby exercising our agency to receive the restoration that only He can provide. Christ only is the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Boys climb hills “because they are there.” Men climb mountains because they know there is something beyond them and they want to see it. They want to see what is “behind,” “farther in,” and “deeper down.” Men are not afraid of what they will find. They know something is there because no matter where man has looked, there has always been more. Armchair explorers call that more “randomness.” Real explorers call it God.

So why am I so reluctant to surrender to God? Why so slow to yield? Perhaps it is because I am not only in enemy-occupied territory, but because I am enemy-occupied territory.

If there is a devil—and I believe there is—his work is to divide. If there is a Savior—and I believe there is—His work is to unite. It follows, therefore, that where division is, the devil is nearby. My proper response to division, then, is to disengage myself from whatever is causing it. If I would be on the side of the Redeemer, then I will do His work: I will engage in acts of reconciliation; I will become a peacemaker.

Every assertion of my will is an illumination of His infinite patience. But the day will come when He will see that I have gotten as far as I can go. He will say, “Enough,” and my rebellion will end, either because I have finally seen truth and submitted myself to it, or because I finally admit that I cannot see it, and He mercifully calls me Home, where only truth exists.

The weaknesses, faults, and flaws in our bodies are easy enough to discover. As time passes, they increase. We lament them. But perhaps we miss the point. Perhaps our bodies are actually perfect, divinely designed to give each spirit precisely the tutoring it needs to learn dominion and overcome the self and the world. Perhaps one day we will discover that each flaw in our bodies is a magnificent gift that invites us to seek help at the hands of the Master Healer.