It's always good to start the new year with some words of wisdom. I was blessed last year to be in the incredibly wise Megan DeVore's Philosophical Inquiry class, and throughout the semester I scribbled down things she would say that I thought were extraordinary. Here are the words of Megan DeVore, collected in one space, hopefully to inspire you as the new year begins.

"Salvation is less like a snapshot and more like a film."

"He is clad in the colors of the sunset."

"What it means to love when nothing else is left."

"You're okay with the lack of false fluorescent lighting?"

"We are in a very fascinating existence, you and I."

"The Bible is a very saucy book."

"Aristotle is far from dead... 2,300 years later, and he is still shouting."

"We are messy, we are broken, we are blessed."

"A sanctifying of that which is material."

"Even our shrubberies are perfectly curated to look like cubes."

"In over-scheduling, we lose that sense of sacred other-ness."

"Philosophy is always a prophet of the future."

"Watch out for Hegel... he's always lurking."

"Man is a synthesis of the temporal and the eternal."

"It's easy for us to stand right next to the truth and not call it out."

"The Greek idea of meekness is strength under control."

"It's not the story of Abraham or Hagar or you... it is the story of God revealing himself through these people."

"You have a world that is crumbling at its' corners."

"We don't create philosophy in a vacuum... we rely on those who have come before us."

"Humans aren't bad... they are just very broken."

"Our bodies are tools, given movement by our souls."

"The physical and the spiritual constantly collide."

"Spiritual disciplines make your heart strong."

"If you're experiencing hope, chances are you've also gone through a lot of heartbreak."

"We have no theology of failure."

"That's what reality is-- magical and heartbreaking."

"Deep thoughts need a bit of percolation... like good coffee."

"Love God with all of your muchness."

"Truth, instead, knows us, and we in turn are transformed by Truth."