When our institutions lack movement to propel them forward, the Spirit, I believe, simply moves around them, like a current flowing around a rock in a stream..without that soul work that teaches us to open our deepest selves to God and ground our souls in love, no movement will succeed and no institution will stand..it is the linking of action and contemplation, great work and deep spirituality, that keeps goodness, rightness, beauty, and aliveness flowing..as Pope Francis has said, this moment calls for social poets: sincere and creative people who will rise on the wings of faith to catch the wind of the Spirit, the wind of justice, joy, and peace. (p. 180) . Brian D. McLaren
About This Quote

The quote, "when our institutions lack movement to propel them forward, the Spirit moves around them like a current flowing around a rock in a stream" refers to how the human spirit moves around the structures of the world. It is not always possible for people to improve their institutions. However, when institutions do not move forward, it is because people are not working for progress. They are not working on what is right or wrong.

They are busy just making money or being happy in their own world. The quote also refers to how people must open themselves up to the Spirit of God if they are going to have any success. People need to be more spiritual in order to go ahead with progress.

Source: The Great Spiritual Migration: How The Worlds Largest Religion Is Seeking A Better Way To Be Christian

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More Quotes By Brian D. McLaren
  1. We must understand the essence of our faith to be something other than a list of opinions, propositions, or statements that our group holds but cannot prove. (p. 22)
  2. I’m sure I am wrong about many things, although I’m not sure exactly which things I’m wrong about. I’m even sure I’m wrong about what I think I’m right about in at least some cases.
  3. Accumulating orthodoxy makes it harder year-by-year to be a Christian than it was in Jesus' day.
  4. If you love someone, you will want to understand them and accept them as they grow and change; similarly, loving yourself involves a never-ending process of self-understanding and self-acceptance through life's ups and downs..we are finally coming to understand that love for neighbor and love...
  5. Oppression theology and supremacist spirituality developed in the belief ecosystem of an angry God who needed appeasement in order to dispense grace, who favored some and disfavored others, and who welcomed the favored into religious institutions that accumulated and hoarded privilege and protected the status...
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