Dignity comes not from control, but from understanding who you are and taking your rightful place in the world. - Gordon Atkinson
No one forgives with more grace and love than a child. - Gordon Atkinson
Your world is made of your memories, and your memories are given to you by your world. The whispering voice of happenstance is always in our ears. 'This is the world. This is the way things are. Look. Pay attention. Remember.' - Gordon Atkinson
The human heart cannot love the whole world. And if you try to put the whole world into your heart, you will eventually lose touch with your own humanity. - Gordon Atkinson
Fidelity to commitment in the face of doubts and fears is a very spiritual thing. - Gordon Atkinson
When someone allows you to bear his burdens, you have found deep friendship. - Gordon Atkinson
The universe seems wondrous to me, with or without God. It has powerful lines and uncompromising ways. Patience and time sit like sages on the planets, strong and impersonal. There is a stark beauty to all of this. - Gordon Atkinson
This isn't good or bad. It's just the way of things. Nothing stays the same. - Gordon Atkinson
Doubting God's existence is okay and perfectly acceptable within Christianity as long as the person doubting remains obedient and committed to the Christian path. - Gordon Atkinson
When someone is giving you their theology, their God words, you should listen hard and be very gentle. The time to deliver your God words is when you are asked. - Gordon Atkinson
I believe love is primarily a choice and only sometimes a feeling. If you want to feel love, choose to love and be patient. - Gordon Atkinson
Forgiveness is the healing of wounds caused by another. You choose to let go of a past wrong and no longer be hurt by it. Forgiveness is a strong move to make, like turning your shoulders sideways to walk quickly on a crowded sidewalk. It's your move. - Gordon Atkinson
It really doesn't matter if the person who hurt you deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. You have things to do and you want to move on. - Gordon Atkinson
I have been truthful all along the way. The truth is more interesting, and if you tell the truth you never have to cover your tracks. - Gordon Atkinson
Good writing takes more than just time; it wants your best moments and the best of you. - Gordon Atkinson
External signs of wealth and success are often cheap storefronts that hide internal mediocrity or even incompetence. - Gordon Atkinson
It's not foresight or hindsight we need. We need sight, plain and simple. We need to see what is right in front of us. - Gordon Atkinson
And so faith is closing your eyes and following the breath of your soul down to the bottom of life, where existence and nonexistence have merged into irrelevance. All that matters is the little part you play in the vast drama. - Gordon Atkinson
I think people want their illusions and writers are mostly illusion. When you read their words, you read a flattened, incomplete version of the writer. - Gordon Atkinson
The only comfort comes in thinking about how nice it was to know them, and how nice it was to brush against goodness for a season. - Gordon Atkinson
Integrity combined with faithfulness is a powerful force and worthy of great respect. - Gordon Atkinson
You can't love anyone until you understand that you can't love everyone. - Gordon Atkinson
Some things you do because you want to. Some things you do because of the needs of others in your family. - Gordon Atkinson
Memory is a giggling sprite and will not be tamed. She takes flight the moment the present becomes the past. - Gordon Atkinson
When you really trust someone, you have to be okay with not understanding some things. - Gordon Atkinson
Knowing that there is worse pain doesn't make present pain hurt any less. - Gordon Atkinson
You can pray for someone even if you don't think God exists. - Gordon Atkinson
One thing is clear to me. You can't know everything you'd like to know. You can't do everything you'd like to do. You can't read everything you'd like to read. You must hold onto some things and let go of others. Learning to make that choice is one of the big lessons of this life. - Gordon Atkinson
Love the ones you can. Touch the ones you can reach. Let the others go. - Gordon Atkinson
I write because I'm afraid to say some things out loud. - Gordon Atkinson
If you want to write you must have faith in yourself. Faith enough to believe that if a thing is true about you, it is likely true about many people. And if you can have faith in your integrity and your motives, then you can write about yourself without fear. - Gordon Atkinson
When life seems chaotic, you don't need people giving you easy answers or cheap promises. There might not be any answers to your problems. What you need is a safe place where you can bounce with people who have taken some bad hops of their own. - Gordon Atkinson
My life is the story of a man who always wants to carry too much. My spiritual quest is the painful process of learning to let go of things not essential. - Gordon Atkinson
Forgiveness does not always lead to a healed relationship. Some people are not capable of love, and it might be wise to let them go along with your anger. Wish them well, and let them go their way. - Gordon Atkinson