Sunday Song: Drawn To You
Audrey Assad’s new album Evergreen comes out next month (February 23, 2018). One of the singles already released is… Read More
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The Approach Is Everything
Happy 2018!
Father Lester Bach said,
Without diminishing our beliefs, we approach others with love rather than domination.
We approach others with a desire to share what is important to us rather than make them feel insignificant or stupid.
We approach others with a readiness to understand them rather than presuming… Read More
Not Your Typical Blessing
As we look over the edge into 2018, I offer this blessing… and it’s not your typical blessing.
Written by the Benedictine Sister Ruth Fox of Sacred Heart Monastery for a Dickinson State University graduation in 1985, this blessing is often referred to as the Four-Fold Benedictine Blessing:
May God bless you with DISCONTENT with easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live from deep within your heart.
May God bless you with ANGER at… Read More
Here’s My Favorite Books I Read In 2017
Here’s my favorite books I read in 2017, in no particular order (not all of these books were released in 2017—some are much older… I just read them this year – also, click on the picture of the book to view on Amazon):
Barking to the Choir by Father Greg Boyle
Glory Happening by Kaitlin Curtice
Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God by Brian Zahnd
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Peaches for… Read More
Advent Day 22 (Conclusion): Your Name Is Written On His Heart
*photo above: Nolan Jones enjoying some time on stage after church one Sunday during Advent
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. —Titus 2.11
I believe Christ came for all.
Think about those who came to see the newborn child. Shepherds: these guys were the night-shift, minimum wage earners… they smelled like sheep, they hadn’t bathed in a while.
Then later you have the Magi. I mean… these guys are different. Certainly outsiders. Mystics. Star-gazers. Not exactly your typical church-goers.
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, you see this same attraction… the outsiders were drawn to him. The misfits and weirdos. The outcasts. The sinners.
Yes, Jesus came for us all. I believe Christ went to the cross and took on himself the sins of the world.
And this is the Good News: we have been included.
And the angel said to them: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. —Luke 2.10-11
Good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born… a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
We dream of a world where there is something for everyone.
A job. Healthcare. Food. Love. Family. Peace everywhere.
It seems like an impossible dream. Like, not in this world… but maybe in some other place, in a galaxy far, far away.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have healthcare for all. Wouldn’t it be nice to have housing for all. Wouldn’t it be nice to have peace for all. Wouldn’t it be nice to have food for all. Wouldn’t it be nice to have family for all.
Wouldn’t it.
But we easily dismiss these concepts as unrealistic. Beyond our reach. Fantasy. Something our world will never provide.
So when we start talking about God’s love for all, God’s gift of salvation for all, Christ’s arrival for all, and a table that welcomes all…
Well, it’s easy to once again dismiss the notion as… Read More
Advent Day 21: God Approaches
In a world obsessed with Power, Spectacle, Propaganda and Dominance,
Advent challenges our notions about how God works.
God doesn’t barge in.
God doesn’t coerce and bully.
God doesn’t come with all guns blazing on an ego trip.
God approaches in… Read More
Advent Day 20: She Makes Oranges
The Christian religion asks us to put our trust not in ideas, and certainly not in ideologies, but in a God Who was vulnerable enough to become human and die, and Who desires to be present to us in our ordinary circumstances. —Kathleen Norris
In Phil Needham’s book When God Becomes Small, he shares the following…
I love the story Kathleen Norris tells about her three-year old niece. The girl’s father would drive her to day care in the morning on the way to work, and her mother would pick her up on the way home.
Often the mother would peel an orange and bring it to her daughter when she picked her up.
One day Norris came across her niece playing “Mommy’s office” on the front porch of their home. She asked her niece what her mommy (a stockbroker and financial planner) did at work.
“Without hesitation, and with a conviction I relish to this day,” says Norris, “she looked up at me and said, ‘She… Read More
Advent Day 19: The Darkest Day
Someone I enjoy following on Twitter is Robert Macfarlane. He’s written a book called The Lost Words, and this is what I look forward to in his tweets as well… descriptions of old words used to describe things in nature.
Here is an example:
Word of the day: “midwinter” – the day of shortest sunlight, when the sun reaches its lowest maximum height in the sky, and after which the light begins its slow climb back. The winter solstice; the year’s true turn; my day of most hope.
Today is December 21, the darkest day of the year. It’s nice knowing that it can only… Read More
Advent Day 18: Game Changing Inclusion
*photo above: Ashah taking in the sights from the “Top of the Rock” (Rockefeller Center’s observation deck) on our recent vacation in NYC
The only thing more boring than being asked to look at someone else’s vacation pictures is…
Being asked to listen to a description of someone else’s genealogy.
Indulge me for a moment.
Most of us skip over the first chapter of Matthew because, genealogy. It’s a list of names.
And if you read it in the old King James Version, it uses that wonderful term “begat.” Abraham begat Isaac.
How’d he do that? Haha. OK, maybe that’s another post for another time.
Well, actually, it’s kinda crucial to the point of this post… so here we go with the procreating explanation:
Abraham did not begat Isaac by himself. No sir. He had some help. In fact, he did very little to begat. Sure, he contributed, but it was… Read More
Advent Day 17: A Word About Doubt… The Struggle is a Sign of Life
Not long ago, a friend corresponded with me—asking some questions about faith and admitting that they, for a while, had been struggling with doubt. To the best of my ability, I tried answering the questions posed. Then I responded to the part about doubt… this is what I said:
Just a word concerning doubt and uncertainty… the struggle isn’t bad, the struggle is a sign of life. Faith without struggle, without resistance, without doubt isn’t really faith at all.
God can handle your doubts and your struggles.
Certainty isn’t the goal. God doesn’t fit neatly into our theological boxes (He never asked us to put him in there anyway). Those boxes leave no room for wonder or mystery or “I don’t know.” I’m happy to hear that you are alive, struggling, fighting… it’s… Read More