“Grant, O Lord, that my tongue may never stray from the path of truth, nor my lips speak what does not edify; and let every word that proceeds from me be seasoned with charity and shaped by Your wisdom. Strengthen me, that in all my speech I may reflect Your light, turning neither to idle talk nor to harshness, but …

“Truth is so beloved by God that He would have us speak it even when it brings us harm; for falsehood is never pleasing to Him.” –Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) Source: Girolamo Savonarola, Sermon on Psalm 51 (1496), in Prediche sopra il Salmo Quam bonus Israel Deus, ed. Piero Misciattelli (Florence: G. C. Sansoni, 1930), 112. Reflection: Where in my own …

“Truth is the good of the intellect, and its act is to know; hence the intellect is perfected by truth.” –Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Source: Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I–II, q. 57, a. 1. Reflection: How might my commitment to truth in speech shape the way others experience God’s goodness through my words?

A Prayer Before Study [as we gear up for a new school year] “Creator of all things, true Source of light and wisdom, lofty origin of all being, graciously let a ray of your brilliance penetrate into the darkness of my understanding and take from me the double darkness in which I have been born, an obscurity of both sin …

“Lord, keep the door of my lips, that no corrupt communication may proceed out of my mouth, but that all may be seasoned with salt, ministering grace unto the hearers. Let the law of kindness be in my tongue, that I may speak what is good for the use of edifying, and may glorify Thee in all my conversation.” —William …

“There is a courtesy due to all men; and a Christian should be the last man in the world to withhold it. If our zeal is embittered by expressions of anger, it will not accomplish the righteousness of God.” —John Newton (1725–1807), Anglican pastor, hymn writer, and spiritual director Source: John Newton, Cardiphonia, vol. 2 (London: J. Johnson, 1781), 78. …

“Uncle Bud” Robinson: Enduring Lessons from an Early Twentieth-Century Simple Folk Preacher Now Available Author: Abram J. Book Foreword: Steven Hoskins Total pages: 142 Price: $20.00 Purchase (from publisher, amazon, ingramspark) Description Reuben “Uncle Bud” Robinson, born a moonshiner’s son in Tennessee and converted under the preaching of a traveling circuit rider while working as a Texas ranch hand, persevered …