Hills and Valleys are Out

John's grandma forwarded the transcript of an interview with Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life. While I'm familiar with Rick Warren (what media-conscious Christian isn't), I confess, I've never read the book.

But in the interview, he had some powerful insights into what we call the Christian walk. My top 3 quotes from the interview:

(1) "I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for."

(2) "God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings."

(3)
"In the happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
In the difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
In the quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
In the painful moments, TRUST GOD.
And, in every moment, THANK GOD."

Like any good journalist, I tried to find the original source of the interview online, but as I never claimed to be a PERSISTENT journalist, I didn't venture past Page 1 of my Google search. Here is one of the sites that offers what I think is the full text of the interview (which is short).