The Quotes

“There is a twilight zone in our hearts that we ourselves cannot see. Even when we know quite a lot about ourselves-our gifts and weaknesses, our ambitions and aspirations, our motives and our drives-large parts of ourselves remain in the shadow of consciousness. This is a very good thing. We will always remain partially hidden to ourselves. Other people, especially those who love us, can often see our twilight zones better than we ourselves can. The way we are seen and understood by others is different from the way we see and understand ourselves. We will never fully know the significance of our presence in the lives of our friends. That's a grace, a grace that calls us not only to humility, but to a deep trust in those who love us. It is the twilight zones of our hearts where true friendships are born.”
Henri J.M. Nouwen

“I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”
Jon Katz

The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some chasm that yawns between us and reality, is part of our inconsolable secret. And surely, from this point of view, the promise of glory, in the sense described, becomes highly relevant to our deep desire. For glory means good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgment, and welcome into the heart of things. The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last.”
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

If a conflict occurs between two parties, both parties may misunderstand the other and perhaps even hate one another. And yet its possible that misunderstanding and possible hatred is one-sided – that one may love the other while the other hates the former. These might be called enemies. One is the enemy of the other but it is not mutual. We have basically two ways to look at God and from there much divergence occurs: 1) God must change his mind about us or 2) we must change our mind about God. We may be God’s enemies, but that is our opinion of him, not his opinion of us.
Bill Colwell Jr

“From now on we don’t look at anyone from a human point of view. Even though we once viewed Christ this way, we don’t do so any longer. That’s why anyone who is in Christ is a new being—what was old is gone, the new has come! God did all this by changing us from enemies into friends through Christ. He gave us this same work of changing God’s enemies into his friends. For God was in Christ bringing the world back from hostility to friendship with him, not counting anyone’s sins against them, and giving us this message to change his enemies into his friends. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God is pleading through us: ‘Please, won’t you come back and be God’s friend?’ God made Jesus, who never personally sinned, experience the consequences of sin so that we could have God’s character of right.”
Paul, the Apostle - 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 The Free Bible Version