A Few Things I Believe    | page 1 of 2 | next >

by Lynne Hybels

I believe in lighting a candle in the morning, looking out the window, and doing nothing for a good twenty minutes.  Most of us could use a lot more nothing in our lives. 

I believe my friends keep me sane.  For years I lived in isolation, an introvert introverting, and I almost lost my mind.  I do better when I live in community. 

I believe in stories, yours and mine, for they are the basis of community.  And they have the power to heal, inspire and awaken us. 

I believe great-grandmas and newborns and women of every age in-between do better when their lives intersect often. 

I believe devoted aunts and uncles are critical to the wellbeing of every child.  (It doesn’t much matter whether they’re aunts and uncles by blood or in spirit.)

I believe women are the bell-weather for a society; the future of a culture depends on how women are treated.

I believe we must live intentionally and choose hard everyday or we will lose our own best self.  We need to say no often so we can say a few important yeses. 

I believe most of us need to simplify our lives.  That looks different for each person but it always seems to require getting rid of something (household clutter, clothes we never wear, destructive relationships, photos of people we don’t know, responsibilities we shouldn’t have accepted to begin with).

I believe that suffering can be redemptive, that the deepest pain can become the most beautiful poetry.  But it’s not easy.

I believe in the power of play and that a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down. Sometimes I can only get my work done if I play very loud music.

I believe in silence—as prayer, as spiritual practice, as healing balm.

I believe there are times when we must not be silent.  There are issues we need to cry and scream about: that millions of women and children are sold into the sex trade each year, that a billion people live on less than a dollar a day, that we are raping the earth with our careless use of resources.

I believe in recycling and that disposable plastics should be outlawed. 

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