Letters of Myriam - Chapter 4 - Quotes from Christopher
Episode #71: Letters of Myriam - Chapter 4 - Quotes from Christopher
Jan,16 2026
<-#70: Letters of Myriam - Chapter 3 - To Daniel#72: Letters of Myriam - Chapter 5 - More Quotes from Christopher ->Many of very personal letters of Myriam have direct quotes from Christopher. These are the first twenty
1
He said while we shelled beans,
"People treat the commandments like fence posts.
But posts rot.
The soil between them is what keeps the animals fed."
2
About the story of Jonah he told me,
"Everyone argues about the fish.
No one asks why the prophet hated the people he was sent to save.
The miracle was not the swallowing.
It was that God still used a stubborn man."
3
When a neighbor quoted, "Spare the rod,"
Christopher answered,
"Solomon wrote many things in a tired world.
Christ held children on His knees.
If the two disagree, I know whose knees I trust."
4
He read the parable of the talents and said,
"This is not about coins.
It is about fear.
The buried coin was a frightened heart."
5
On the story of Sodom he surprised us:
"Hospitality was the law they broke first.
Violence came second.
Cities die when guests become enemies."
6
He spoke of Paul's words on obedience:
"Paul was organizing a quarrelsome people.
Christ was teaching a hungry one.
Do not confuse a shepherd's crook with a plow."
7
I asked whether Eve was truly to blame.
He laughed and said,
"If curiosity were a curse,
God would not have given us eyes."
8
Concerning the flood he murmured,
"Perhaps the story is not about how many drowned
but about how few remembered to build something."
9
A woman worried about hell for her unbaptized child.
Christopher answered,
"Breath is the first sacrament.
God is not so small as to punish a silence He Himself allowed."
10
He read, "Be perfect as your Father is perfect,"
and shook his head.
"Perfect there means complete.
A crooked tree is complete when it bears fruit."
11
On the verse about modest dress he said,
"Modesty is not cloth.
It is the way a person carries power over another."
12
Someone asked if the Bible forbade laughter on holy days.
He replied,
"If joy were a sin,
why would the Psalms sound like drums?"
13
He reflected on the Good Samaritan:
"Christ made the hero a heretic on purpose.
He wanted us to trip over our labels."
14
When Daniel worried about contradictions,
Christopher told him,
"Two seeds may look different
and still grow from the same rain."
15
About fasting he said,
"Skipping a meal to feel holy is easy.
Sharing a meal with someone you dislike is harder."
16
He considered the words, "Render unto Caesar,"
and added quietly,
"Give Caesar what belongs to fear.
Keep for God what belongs to courage."
17
To a man who feared doubt,
"Faith without questions
is a barn with the doors nailed shut."
18
He once summarized the Beatitudes for the children:
"Blessed are the tired,
for they have carried something real."
19
On Revelation he admitted,
"I do not understand that book.
Perhaps it was written for storms I have not met."
20
And lastly, the sentence I never forgot:
"Scripture is a river.
Drink from it, but do not try to bottle it.
Bottled water forgets how to sing."
<-#70: Letters of Myriam - Chapter 3 - To Daniel#72: Letters of Myriam - Chapter 5 - More Quotes from Christopher ->