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We should judge of things as to whether they help or hinder our main purpose; whether they further or hinder our judgment; whether they make us more or less spiritual, and so bring us nearer to the fountain of goodness, God himself; whether they will bring us peace or sorrow at the last; whether they commend us more or less to God, and whether they are the thing in which we shall approve ourselves to him most. We should also judge of things now as we shall do hereafter when the soul shall be best able to judge, as when we are under any public calamity, or at the hour of death, when the soul gathers itself from all other things to itself. RICHARD SIBBES  ( Source: The Bruised Reed ) 

And these, all these are mine I know each sinew of their small frames I hear their fear at night I watch their fun And when they laugh, so do I in joy I see them invent themselves even their shyness is a delight to me I cherish their innocence And these, all these are mine. And if, when I return I find just one who has been defiled One desecrated by your corruption One invaded by your lust One chained to your perversion One burgled of purity One dominated by your tyranny

Just finished reading the short book  Thinking it through  by Martin Salter. The book is very helpful in helping us to think clearly about issues. Here are some very helpful observations I picked up from it: 1 . A helpful tool for processing questions is the "six honest serving men":  who  is the authority;  why  are they the best person to speak on the question;  how  do they come to their conclusions;  what  exactly is the question for consideration;  where , geographically and culturally, is the question being discussed; and,  when , historically, are we thinking about the question?  2 . The challenge of sound thinking is determining which authority (or combination of authorities) is best placed to inform a particular decision. We all appeal to some authority; the question is whether that's a good call or not.