man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul. pessimism is at best an emotional half-holiday; joy is the uproarious labor by which all things live.
— g.k chesterton
“in this world you will have tribulation, but take heart: I have overcome the world.”
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
— hebrews 12:1-3, the message
