In our wishes, small urgings, dreams and fantasies, we are given intimations of the way we are to go. It is our way alone and cannot be learned by reading books or listening to scholars or following others. We can learn our way only by taking seriously the sign that we see and the small…
Category: Meditation
On This Rock
“YOU ARE PETER, AND ON THIS ROCK I will build my church,” said Jesus to Simon Peter (Matt. 16:18). I had always envisioned this as the rock-strengthened church standing firm against all the onslaughts and batterings of hell’s forces. “Not so,” a scientist who was also a lay minister once told me, “I see that…
Harmonics 5
* * * “… we can avoid many problems by following God’s laws; but we can’t control everything. God, however, always has a plan for our lives. This plan is meant to bless us and give us hope for the future. Whenever doubt threatens to cloud God’s promises, we can know that, no matter the…
A Better Way: Light a Candle!
The phrase "it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness" is a very slight alteration on the less common Chinese proverb "’Don’t curse the darkness – light a candle." The advice given is "if something is wrong, do something about it rather than complain. – Everything2 You can start now by lighting a…
We Need Others
WE NEED OTHERS to explore with us the edges of our fear and faith. We grow spiritually only in and through our relationship with God and with others. – Rueben P. Job and Marjorie J. Thompson Companions in Christ: Embracing the Journey (via Upper Room Daily Reflections) It’s becoming harder as I grow older to…
Harmonics 4
* * * During my last visit in Germany for a Preaching Teaching Tour through the churches and schools, one of the most memorable churches I remember was Christ Church on Martin Luther Street in Lauf. Apart from the wonder pastor and his members, there was a piece of artwork in the entrance of the…
God Is Here
THE MOST AUDACIOUS enlivening, freeing, joy-creating, humbling, life-transforming reality of the Christian faith is not that God will be with us, but that God is here, right now. God is here in the midst of suffering, in the midst of short-coming, in the midst of triumph, in the midst of our greatest fulfillment, and in…
Blessed Easter 2008: The Morning of New Life
HOLY JESUS, I hear God’s mighty “Yes!” in your Resurrection. You invite me to live also, and I want to say “Yes!” to you. Take me out of the tomb that imprisons me, lead me into the morning of new life, and walk with me wherever your love may lead. Amen. – Peter Storey…
Self-Forgetful
TAKE FROM ME, gracious God, all that separates me from you — my sense of past sin, my pride in present achievements, my anxieties for the future. Make me self-forgetful as I gaze on you, and let me know the joy of finding my true self in you. Amen. – Helen Julian CSF The Road…
God of New Beginnings, Pilgrimages of Faith
GOD OF NEW BEGINNINGS, you call us in strange ways, often disrupting our customary life to make pilgrimages of faith. When we hear that call and obey, sustain and strengthen us for what lies ahead. Amen. – Richard Morgan Settling In: My First Year in a Retirement Community (via Upper Room Daily Reflections) The…