A growing sickness in the heart
Defective, lack of control
The cure is somewhere in the silence
But I’m crushed by the noise inside

Don’t lock the door on me
You’d kill me, face down, dead
Another part of me falls for you

Another day in the dark
Stranded in the night
Stranded in the cold

Don’t lock the door on me
You’d kill me, face down, dead
Another part of you gone to waste
Please hear me out
You’d kill me, face down, dead
Another day in the dark

Leave the moment alone
Leave the moment alone

–Gojira, “Stranded”–

—

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee.
–Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)–

Draw nigh to God,
and he will draw nigh to you.
–James 4:8 (KJV)–

Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.
–Philippians 4:6-7 (GNT)–

That they should seek the Lord,
if haply they might feel after him, and find him,
though he be not far from every one of us.
–Acts 17:27 (KJV)–

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God.
–Romans 8:16 (KJV)–

—

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

–The Apostles’ Creed–

—

Augustin Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer (Kegan Paul, 1910).

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Christian Publications, 1948).

Charles Finney, Sermons on the Way of Salvation (E. J. Goodrich, 1891), p. 195. Another revelation of God’s wrath he makes is in his juridical abandonment of sinners. God manifests his despair of doing any thing more for their salvation when he manifestly withdraws his Spirit and gives them over to hopeless abandonment. Withdrawing his Spirit, he leaves them in great moral blindness. They may have been able to see and to discriminate spiritual things somewhat before, but after God forsakes them, they seem almost utterly void of this power. Everything is dark; all is confused. The light of the Holy Spirit being withdrawn, it were practically vain for the sinner himself or for his sympathizing friends to expect his salvation. This mental darkness over all spiritual things is God’s curse on his rejection of truth, and significantly forebodes his speedy doom.

***

Just to keep things clear, I don’t recommend that Catholics should marry Protestants and vice versa. That can lead to spiritual confusion. But I have no problem cooperating with Catholics on conservative Christian talking points. Protestants differ from Catholics on Purgatory, progressive justification, relics, prayers to Mary and the saints, the pope, transubstantiation, and confession. These differences make it spiritually confusing for raising children under any meaningful catechism. However, for political causes and joint Christian causes, they have this in common: Jesus, prayer, holiness, the Bible, church attendance, straight marriage, pro-life, and works of mercy. Out of all the Protestants out there, I’d say charismatics and ecumenically minded Wesleyans have the most in common with Catholics. –J.B.