Blog Archives

The Human And Divine, pt. 1

1/31/2019

In Jesus, God was given a face and heart we could see.

Franciscan brother, Father Richard Rohr, has written a series of contemplations on the humanity of Jesus that help us to understand Jesus’ divinity.

“St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) brought attention to the humanity of Jesus. Prior to St. Francis, Christian paintings largely emphasized Jesus’ divinity, as they still do in most Eastern icons. Francis is said to have created the first live nativity. Before the thirteenth century, Christmas was no big deal. The liturgical emphasis was on the high holy days of Easter. But for Francis, incarnation was already redemption. For God to become a human being among the poor, born in a stable among the animals, meant that it’s good to be a human being, that flesh is good, and that the world is good—in its most simple and humble forms.

In Jesus, God was given a face and a heart that we could see. God became someone we could love. While God can be described as a moral force, as consciousness, and as high vibrational energy, the truth is, we don’t (or can’t?) really fall in love with abstractions or concepts. So, God became a person “that we could hear, see with our eyes, look at, and touch with our hands” (1 John 1:1).”

0 Comments

Are You The Word Of God?

1/27/2019

0 Comments

The truest form of worship to God, is being the visible and tangible expression of God’s love and grace in the world. This is what it means to be a church, and a follower of Jesus Christ.

Today is the third Sunday after Epiphany in Year C of the Common Lectionary. And many of you might wonder what that means? Basically, three weeks ago we celebrated the epiphany, which kicked off the church season we’re in. And Year C means we’re in the last year of a three year reading cycle.

The purpose of the lectionary is to make sure the church moves through the Bible. Which you’d think would be a common thing we do already. Even though it doesn’t cover all the books, the Lectionary helps us…as one of my professor said… crack open the gold leaf on the parts of the Bible that aren’t at the top of our reading list.

Every week there’s a passage from the Old Testament, a Psalm, an Epistle, and something from one of the four gospels. Some Christian denominations read all four selections, and then there are churches like us who only focus on one text to draw our lesson from. Today, I want to shake up the way we typically do things and read parts from all four recommended books.

The first is from Nehemiah 8:

All the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had given to Israel. He read from it facing the square from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law... And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground...So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. Ezra the priest...said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD..." (Nehemiah 8:1-12)

This is what worship looked like back when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem to rebuild their city after being held in captivity in Babylon for 60 years. And it’s not really that different than how most Christian churches practice today.

They read the scripture, they stood and knelt at different times. They prayed and bowed their heads in reverence to God. And like some do today, the people lifted up their arms to God with both heartbreak and joy as a way to feel God’s embrace.

The best part I think is after service they ate and drank together, making sure everyone was included – even those who had nothing to offer. The Bible tells us, Church is a community of people.

While Methodist worship differently than Mennonites, and Presbyterians differ from Pentecostals, most Christian churches share many rites and rituals with our ancient Jewish founders.

Church is a community. But did you notice who’s there in the congregation. The people who were at the Water Gate, a place where the residents of the city would come to draw clean water and be refreshed.

From the religious officials to the common person, young and old, male and female alike...anyone and everyone who was there was invited to hear the word of God and be refreshed by God’s Spirit. The Bible tells us Church is a community that is diverse.

Which takes us to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Picking up from last weeks topic of the variety of spiritual gifts, Paul continues in chapter 12 saying:

“For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit…Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body…If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose…As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you…” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,…and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect… If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-31)

The Bible makes it pretty clear that God wants everyone to partake in the worship experience. In fact, the more the merrier. But more than just butts in the seats, God wants us to actually show up. That is, to bring our spiritual gifts, the very gifts given to us to build up the Kingdom of God…but also to use our gifts to make worship more meaningful and multi-dimensional. You see, Church is a community that is diverse and dynamic.

Everyone needs to be welcomed, because through Christ everyone belongs to God. And this is important to stress, because we live in a world where people are increasingly becoming more disassociated with the community around them. Some scientist have argued loneliness and seclusion pose a greater health risk to our society than smoking or obesity.

It’s no secret that part of being human is having the need to belong. That’s why one of our goals here is to reach people who cannot or will not walk into a physical church structure. We made New Church to be a safe place where all opinions and all people are welcome to join us, wherever and whenever they want.

Humans also desire to be in a place where we can have significance or make a difference. For me, Jesus Christ, is such a place. Through him, God has welcomed me in a loving embrace. I am safe in God’s presence…free to be the best possible me...all for God’s glory. Just the same, God invites and welcomes you.

Jesus did not discriminate. Every one was equal, despite our differences. And no one was greater than the other. With Jesus, the Church community is diverse and dynamic, and always welcoming us to be who God made us to be.

Blake was a freshman in high school when he signed up to be a reader at the church. But many people thought it would be a mistake to give him the responsibility. You see, Blake was born with vision and hearing issues that affected his speech. Some worried that the congregation would have trouble understanding him.

Paul said, the members of the body that seem to be weaker, or different than us, are actually indispensable. We all have something to give for God’s purpose. And Blake was no different. So I honored his request. And I respected the concerns of his critics by projecting Blake’s readings on the screen so people could follow along. I was not surprised when Blake did a great job. And because of him, the PowerPoint presentation became a central element of our weekly worship.

Believe it or not, there were people who thought Jesus couldn’t do the job either. In the fourth chapter of Luke’s gospel, we get this story.

“Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:14-21)

The lectionary breaks Luke’s story into two parts. In the first part, Jesus returns to his hometown to celebrates sabbath in his parents synagogue. Maybe because his reputation had preceded him, Jesus was asked to give the reading and interpret the scripture, like Ezra once did. When he is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus locates a particular passage that talks about the Messiah.

Unlike Blake, who just wanted to participate in our sabbath worship, Jesus used this platform, and this prophetic text, to announce to the world both his ministry and his mission.

As Luke will go on to reveal, the congregation had trouble understanding Jesus too. Not because he had a speech impediment, but because they were only able to see him in one way. To them Jesus was just a kid from the hood, a local carpenter’s boy…no one of any prominence. Moreover, they get angry with Jesus for making this claim and attempt to kill him for doing so.

What does all this say about the way we do church? How do we gather. How might we honor God? Are we just showing up? Or are we truly living up to our greatest God-given self?

As the lectionary moves us through the Bible, we learn what true worship is to be. It’s not just standing and kneeling to get some cookies at the end. True worship is about hearing and doing of the will of God for the building up of God’s Kingdom.

For the Christian churches, this means continuing Jesus’ mission and ministry – bringing the good news to the poor, freeing those who are trapped in an unjust economic system, and providing care to the least of these our brothers and sisters.

It is right to honor God with our lips, but our words can fall on deaf ears if we refuse to honor God with our hearts and hands as well. For there is no greater praise we can give God than by living out Christ in the world. True worship – that which is truly pleasing to God – is being the manifestation of God’s love and grace in all that we do. Jesus did this. But do we?

In Psalm 19, our last reading, the writer tells us that:

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world... Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19)

The psalmist tells us that the natural world bears witness to God’s glory by living out it’s created goodness. So too is it with all of God’s people. To live in accordance to God’s law enables us to live as God made us to live. God sent Jesus to show us how it’s done. When we see and do as Jesus did, then we learn and teach the will of God for all to see God’s glory.

We might do church in a non-traditional way. But we struggle like everyone else to carry on the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ, in a world that continues to reject and crucify him. But this is what Jesus called us to do. So we do it. It might not be perfect, but I believe that even our struggle is pleasing to God when we live out Christ to the best of our ability.

Church is a community that is diverse and dynamic; a place that is welcoming and caring; and it always proclaims the presence of God’s love through Jesus Christ as a sacred act of worship.

This can happen in a building, in a backyard, or online, or at work or school. God doesn’t need a steeple or stain glass. But God needs us. We are the Body of Christ whose various gifts reveal to the world that the kingdom of God has come. It’s in our hearts. It’s in our hands. It’s here and now. This is how we church.

It is my hope that you will leave here today with this on your heart: The truest form of worship to God, is being the visible and tangible expression of God’s love and grace in the world. This is what it means to be a church, and a follower of Jesus Christ.

The lectionary opens our hearts and minds to how the Bible directs our calling. It allows our eyes to see the world, and ourselves, through God’s lenses.

By moving through the Bible, word-by-word, page-by-page and story-by-story, we learn how to live out the scripture in such a way that we can’t help but to become… the living word of God.

0 Comments

A Spiritual Gift For The Spiritual But Not RelIgious Types

1/20/2019

0 Comments

The Spirit of God activates the gifts we have so that we can serve God’s purpose and not just our own.

A sermon on: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

This week our house was used as a location for a TV show that is set in 1972. It was amazing to watch the transformation, as all the different departments worked like a well-choreographed ballet to transport us back in time. Lighting, sound, art and props, hair and make up, writers, actors and directors all working together to make this one pivotal scene the best that it can be.

This made me realize that are part of God’s wonderful production called life. When we work together for the good of God, we bring the Spirit of God to life. And with the Spirit comes all of God’s blessings. But in the production of worship, there is no union…at least not the hollywood kind where one person is responsible for only one job.

It’s not a secret that ministers wear many hats. More than just a pretty face in front of the camera, I am the preacher, the church secretary, gardener, and janitor to name a few. Behind the scene is Fiona, who not only operates the camera and sound equipment, but is also a greeter and sometimes the church babysitter for Sean, who some have described as the church’s version of Ed McMahn.

Kevin likes to help me break down the chairs after service, while Kathleen often helps to set up. And then there all of you who participate in our bible study, or give financial, spiritual, or emotional support. Not one person is more important than the other. And yet, each one of us plays a vital role in ushering in the kingdom of God.

Which takes us to today’s reading from the Apostle Paul who wrote this in his first letter to the Corinthian churches: Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ~ St. Paul the Apostle

For those who visit for the first time or who stumble upon us online, it doesn’t take long to see that we are not your typical church. We don’t really have pews, or a praise band or choir. But we have couches and chairs, and occasionally my wife will sing. And there’s not a lot of spontaneous prophetic oracles or speaking in tongues like what Paul writes about. However, there has been some colorful words muttered when we’ve lost our internet signal.

This is not to say we don’t share some similarities with those churches in Corinth, as well as most Christian churches throughout history. For example, we try to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ by living out a spiritually centered life based on following his example. And as you might have guessed, that’s not as easy as it sounds. But it’s not impossible either; especially when we take this spiritual journey together.

There seems to be a growing, unquenchable thirst for spirituality these days. Perhaps it’s because our world feels out of control, and many of us are desperately longing for something greater than ourselves to swoop in and make everything alright. But here at New Church, we believe that power has already come. And as Paul attests, it has come into each one of us. We believe that through Jesus, we all receive something great from God. It doesn’t matter if you’re spiritually devout or simply spiritual but not religious. What matters is how you respond to the Spirit that is in you and all around you.

How will you use the gifts God has given you to bring God’s peace and love in a world crying out for help?

Like Paul said, “Each person is given something to do that shows who God is.” These gifts are from God, blessed by God and given freely to all of God’s beloved children through the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that Jesus received. These gifts are not earned or deserved, but given to us out of God’s steadfast love for us. We call this grace. As Eugene Peterson wrote in the Message translation of Paul’s passage, “Everyone gets in on it. Everyone benefits.”

Through Jesus, God’s Spirit comes to us. And it’s in our receiving of God’s Spirit that we receive all we need to confront the problems we face.

Through Jesus, God’s Spirit comes to us. And it’s in our receiving of God’s Spirit that we receive all we need to confront the problems we face.

We can stay up all night worrying about political unrest, gun violence, systemic racism, and the senseless destruction of our environment.

Or we can use the gifts that God has given us, …the voices, the wisdom, the confidence or charisma… to make a real difference in the world.

Better yet we can combine our gifts by working together for a common good, we become more spiritually centered, enjoying the fullness of God’s peace.

Paul tells us there are “All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful.” There are the gifts of wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, performing miraculous acts, having a strong voice, and being able to interpret languages. And everyone gets in on this for the sole purpose of building up the church – the body of Christ, made up of all kinds of people, with all kinds of gifts, to continue Jesus’ ministry.

Each one of us plays a vital role in this purpose. You see, just as much as we need God…God needs us. And sometimes, as my friend Dawn reminded me, “God needs us more than we need God.” Just because your life might be good at the moment, it doesn’t mean there isn’t pain and suffering happening around you.

When something bad happens in the world, like a mass shooting or terrorist attack, someone will always say to me, “If there is a God, then why does bad stuff happen to good people?”   My only answer is “God could ask you the same question.”

But I don't think this reading today is not really about us. It’s about God. And more specifically, the Spirit of God that activates the gifts we have so that we can serve God’s purpose and not just our own. When our focus is on doing the will of God, our world begins to shift away from us and our problems, towards God and God’s salvation, where we can experience the true peace we desire.

William Sloane Coffin writes, “Spirituality means to me living the ordinary life extraordinarily well.” Or as one of the early church fathers put it, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive."

To understand what this kind of living means, all we have to do is look at the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. He is a perfect example of how to live fully and faithfully in God’s Spirit ...even if it would cost him is own life to do so.

While preaching in his hometown Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor…freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Like we discovered last week, we too have been ordained and anointed for this work. When we see and live out the ways of Jesus, we learn and teach the will of God so others can see God, even in the darkest of places.

So why is this important? Because it is God’s Spirit that gives us the gifts we need to find the joy we desire. It is God’s Spirit who empowers us to use our gifts in loving ways, to reveal Jesus’ good news that the Kingdom of God is already among us. And within us. The Spirit of God is here, in our hearts.

Jesus taught us that when we are kind to strangers, or show mercy to one another, the Spirit of God is there. When wrongs have been righted, and justice prevails, the Spirit of God is there. When the hungry are fed, the captives are released, the sick and dying are cared for, the Spirit of God is there.  When someone apologizes or accepts an apology that leads to healing a broken relationship, the Spirit of God is there. When bridges are built instead of walls, the Spirit of God is there. When love is present in our heart and homes, when people are welcomed, food is served and drinks are poured, the Spirit of God is there.

In other words, when we are fully present in life, giving our heart and time, so that others may come to see God’s fullness in their life… God’s Spirit is fully present and fully alive. And the peace of God prevails.

I invite you today to take this spiritual journey, and dwell in this Spirit of God by living in and living out the ministry of Jesus Christ, so that the world might experience God’s greatest gift of all, the gift of salvation for all.

0 Comments

Be❤️ed

1/13/2019

0 Comments

“You are my Child, the Beloved.”
- God

🥰

Kathleen and I first met in December of 1995. I was looking at an apartment that was rundown, too small, and just plain sad. That is, until I walked outside, and my opinion of the place instantly changed. Surrounded by cracked stucco, broken and mismatched chairs, and a ragtag garden to say the least, stood the reason I am here today.

Without being prompted, this barely 22-year-old woman confidently introduced herself. I would learn that her name was “Kathleen, not Kathy, Kate, nor Katherine; Just Kathleen. With a K!”she said. Right then and there, that name would be etched forever on my heart.

Six years after our initial meeting, the two of us would fret over what to name our first born child…who we were convinced was a boy. Turns out we’re wrong. Lingering in the bliss (or pain) of childbirth, we agreed Fiona Grace would be the perfect name to set the tone of our new family.

Our next child was easier because we decided a few months before she was born that Colleen would be her named. We did the same with our son, but when he we laid eyes on him, he didn’t look like the name we chose. Under pressure to put something down on the birth certificate so we could leave the hospital, Sean was literally named by committee. However, once we were home, I wanted to change his name. I lost that fight. As did his sisters who wanted to call him either Cosmo or Squirrel.

“What God creates, God loves. What God loves, God loves everlastingly.”
- St. Irenaeus of Lyon (140-202)

What’s in a name anyway? Why do we struggle to find the perfect one for a baby who we no nothing about? George Forman may have been on to something when he named all seven kids after himself.

Names are important. For starters, they make it easier for us to identify with one another. When my mom would say, “Ian” I know she meant me and not one of my siblings. When she yelled, “Ian Woodman Macdonald” I knew I was in trouble.

Some have said that a name can shape or define one’s personality. I can see some truth in that. Just ask any guy named Tony and you’ll understand what they’re talking about. There are those people will spend millions of dollars to turn their name into a brand. And remember when Prince changed his name to be symbol? It wasn’t quite the same as what Nike was able to do with Micheal Jordan. Names identify us. And names can define us.

Whether your name is on a building or the back of a jersey or above your phone number on a business card, no name is as important as the one God has given to each and every one of us.

Read Luke 3:21-22

All four gospels have recorded four different baptismal stories. Luke’s is interesting because it comes on the heels of a long, eloquently described Christmas story. Yet in what might be considered the most important tradition of Christian faith, Luke chooses to gives us just two skimpy verses in describing what will mark the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

It seems Jesus just walks up to the river bank, stands in line and waits his turn with everyone else. Saints and sinners alike intermingling as the heavens open and God not only claims Jesus, but names Jesus – My Son, the Beloved.

“Identity is always God’s first move,” writes Nadia Bolz-Weber. “Before we do anything wrong or before we do anything right, God has claimed us and named us as God’s own.” Son. Daughter. God’s beloved! That’s who we are.

Yet for some reason we tend to identify more with the people standing on the river bank – the broken and beaten down – then we do with the One whose name can heal us and lift us up. It’s easier to see ourselves as being too dirty or unworthy to enter the presence of God, than it is to see Jesus standing next to us and welcoming us to see otherwise.

Can you think of someone or something in your life that is trying to claim or name you? Family? Career? Anxiety? An institution? What about an ideal that makes you think you’re not good enough …much less worthy enough to be loved by God?

“The world tries to tell us who we are, but only God can do that. Everything else is just temptation.” It doesn’t matter if we named Sean, Cosmo or Squirrel or anything else. What matters is that God has claimed him and named him. Just as God has done with you.

“You are my Child, the Beloved.” This holy and sacred name comes straight from the mouth of our creator. And it tells me that we matter to God, and that we’re worthy of divine love...no matter of who we are, or what we’ve done or how the world might try to name us.

God has claimed us. And named us. And at our baptism God has also ordained us; cleansing us and anointing us for a much greater purpose. To share a name with Jesus, is to share in the fullness of his life, death, and resurrection as well.

Just as God called down from heaven to him, so too does God call out to us…inviting us to stand along the river banks of life, in solidarity with the misfits, the marginalized and the outcasts. It’s our turn now to let the whole world know they too are etched in God’s heart. To claim the name Beloved means to stand in the name of Jesus and allow God to define you – not the world or ego, anger, fear, or pain.

As we move into Lent, we will walk with Jesus from the raging waters of the Jordan River to the raw, rugged wilderness. But today, as you leave here, the same temptation Jesus faced in the world will be the same temptations that will confront you. Your first line of defense is to remember who you are, and the rock for which you were hewn. You are God’s beloved child.

To claim the name is to open your heart to God and practice living deeply, loving and acting faithfully, with kindness and charity. This is the way of Jesus, who shows us the way of God. This is the reality of which we are called to live. The reality of our identity, of who we are and what we are made of.

To be “beloved” means to be loved by God just as much as it is to be the love of God in the world. Love is in our name. So may love be the way people come to identify and define who you are. And who God is in you.

Last week I said, “When we see and observe Jesus, then we learn and teach the will of God.” This stayed with me all week. It had me asking myself, “How can I live up to this name in such a way that when people see me… they see only Jesus?”

The Apostle Paul writes, “As God’s beloved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Tolerate and forgive each other as God has done for you. Above all, clothe yourself with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule your hearts, to which you were called in the one body” (Colossians 3:12-15).

Through baptism we are made one with the Body of Christ. We are washed and welcomed into the universal church. As members of this heavenly body we are anointed and ordained by God to proclaim the good news of God’s redemption and grace given to us by Jesus Christ. And we do this by using words and deeds of love and peace.

To quote from the early church father, St. Iraneaus, “What God creates, God loves. What God loves, God loves everlastingly.” Whether or not you’ve been baptized, there is no limit to God’s love for you. But God wants more of you, all of you. “You are my beloved.” When Jesus heard these words spoken to him, his life and his purpose changed forever. It’s my hope that those words will do the same for you and for others, just as it did for me.

And so my challenge to you this week is to not only embrace the name of Christ, but to identify yourself by living it out the way he taught, and to do so faithfully and fearlessly.

You are God’s beloved. You are God’s love. God’s charity. God’s patience and forgiveness. You are the way of God’s grace and redemption. You are God’s beloved. Claimed. Named. And Ordained. Just as Jesus was, is, and will be forever.

I invite you to be with us as we learn the way of Jesus, and seek to teach the way of Jesus by carrying the ministry of God’s Love forward until heaven and earth become one body, sharing one name. The name of Love.

Work Cited
Bolz-Weber, Nadia. Pastrix. (Jericho: 2013).

0 Comments

Contemplating Those who Taught how to Contemplate

1/10/2019

0 Comments

Much has been said about this subject matter. So instead of adding more ink to the page, I offer you some words that have already been written down.

All forms of contemplation share the same goal: to help us see through the deceptions of self and world in order to get in touch with what Howard Thurman called “the sound of the genuine” within us and around us. Contemplation does not need to be defined in terms of particular practices, such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, or lectio divina. Instead, it can be defined by its function: contemplation is any way one has of penetrating illusion and touching reality. —Parker Palmer

The German mystic Meister Eckhart (1260–1328) said, “Let us pray to God that we may be free of God that we may gain the truth. . . .” There is no concept of God that can contain God, as Saint Augustine (354–430) preached, “If you comprehend it, it is not God.”

Thomas Keating described how contemplation evolves our perception of reality and God: Contemplation is awakening to the contemplative dimension of life. In the Eastern traditions some call it meditation or the path to enlightenment. Every development in contemplation reveals more and more of the mystery of silence and the importance of receptivity over effort, especially in prayer. It gives you a whole new perspective on reality. The effectiveness of action depends on the source from which it springs. If it is coming out of the false self with its shadow side, it is severely limited. If it is coming out of a person who is immersed in God, it is extremely effective.

[Contemplative] practices beckon earthbound bodies toward an expanded receptivity to holiness. . . . Receptivity is not a cognitive exercise but rather the involvement of intellect and senses in a spiritual reunion and oneness with God. . . . [The] contemplative moment is a spiritual event that kisses the cognitive but will not be enslaved to its rigidities. —Barbara Holmes

0 Comments

The job no one wants

1/8/2019

0 Comments

As I was cleaning around the house, I said to myself...”Why do I bother?” I’m sure I am not the only one who has uttered these words. I get frustrated because it seems like no one else is helping, cleaning or putting stuff away or even picking up the mess they make. (I am also aware that they probably say that about me too!)

Why do I bother? Because I want to be able to have counter space to work on and walk around the house without unnecessarily stubbing my toe or tripping over stuff. Sure it might be burdensome and drive me nuts, but doing my part gets the results I seek.

I am currently reading the Bible with a friend. We are currently beginning the words from the prophet Jeremiah. Like all the prophets, the major and minor ones, are called to clean up for God. Not because God makes a mess but because God needs a place to work.

Jeremiah pretty much says God could just stop doing what God does, throw up his hands and say “That’s all, folks. I’m going home and taking my ball with me.”

Thankfully, God doesn’t. God continues to sweep up the mess we humans make. From our countertops to the ground upon which we walk, God goes so far as to clean those hard to reach spots deep within our souls.

Why does God bother? Because God loves us that much. We matter to God. So much so that God is willing to put on the rubber gloves and get to work. If God didn’t then the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf would be rendered mute. It would be meaningless to God. And so would we.

God wants clean counters to work on. And this takes work from us. As I’ve learned with my own family, this work is easier and more productive when shared with others. But there will be those times when we have to gonit alone and just to do it; especially when no one else will.

0 Comments

<<Previous

The Human And Divine, pt. 1

In Jesus, God was given a face and heart we could see.

Are You The Word Of God?

The truest form of worship to God, is being the visible and tangible expression of God’s love and grace in the world. This is what it means to be a church, and a follower of Jesus Christ.

A Spiritual Gift For The Spiritual But Not RelIgious Types

The Spirit of God activates the gifts we have so that we can serve God’s purpose and not just our own.

Be❤️ed

“You are my Child, the Beloved.”
- God

🥰

Contemplating Those who Taught how to Contemplate

The job no one wants

Ian Macdonald

"...how he went about doing good..."
Acts 10:38

Archives

Author

Author

The Human And Divine, pt. 1

In Jesus, God was given a face and heart we could see.

Are You The Word Of God?

The truest form of worship to God, is being the visible and tangible expression of God’s love and grace in the world. This is what it means to be a church, and a follower of Jesus Christ.

A Spiritual Gift For The Spiritual But Not RelIgious Types

​The Spirit of God activates the gifts we have so that we can serve God’s purpose and not just our own.

Be❤️ed

“You are my Child, the Beloved.” - God

🥰

Contemplating Those who Taught how to Contemplate

The job no one wants

Ian Macdonald

"...how he went about doing good..."Acts 10:38

Archives

Author

Author

The Spirit of God activates the gifts we have so that we can serve God’s purpose and not just our own.

“You are my Child, the Beloved.”
- God

"...how he went about doing good..."
Acts 10:38