The Wooden Bowl

What goes around comes around.
I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now. A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table.
But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.
The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about father," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor."
So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl!
When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometime he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.
The four-year-old watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?"
Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.
The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.
That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.
On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
I've learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.
I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life.."
I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.
I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.
I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.
I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.
People love that human touch - holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
I've learned that I still have a lot to learn!

Decide To Grow

"Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and a person can find every truth connected with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul." - As A Man Thinketh

The classic book Acres of Diamonds is the story of a person who sold his home and land to travel far and wide in search of diamonds, only to die penniless. As the story goes, the new owner discovered diamonds on the very property that the old owner had ignored.
A lot of times I think we act the same way when we're trying to "fix" something in our life. Whether it's happiness or self-esteem or love that we seek, many times we look outside of ourselves to find the answer. We look to a spouse, a friend, a child or a parent to fill the void. Perhaps we expect the answer to come from our pursuit of our occupation or other interest. Or we expect a new home, a new car or a new boat to satisfy our "hunger."
But, alas, like the poor farmer in Acres of Diamonds, our search comes up empty handed. And just like the story, diamonds are waiting to be discovered in our own back yard. As James Allen points out, the only way to find the gold and diamonds is to "dig deep into the mine of the soul." It is here, he says, that we will find 'Every Truth' connected to our being.
One of my most favourite authors, Jim Rohn, says, "the greatest source of unhappiness comes from inside." Conversely, that's also where the greatest (and only) source of true happiness comes from.
Instead of searching far and wide, spend some time every day searching inside. Instead of expecting something outside to fill you up, learn to fill yourself from within. Make a commitment to read more of the materials that will help you discover who you are. Make a decision to grow. As Jim Rohn also says, "What you become directly influences what you get."
And that's worth thinking about.

- Vic Johnson

Jesus Weeps with Us

In Either Way, I Win: God's Hope for Difficult Times, Lois Walfrid Johnson writes about visiting Oklahoma City, a city that was changed forever by the terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which killed 168 people:
In the national memorial building on the Murrah Building site, 168 empty chairs are placed in the location where each person sat when he or she died.
Beyond that memorial and across another street is a statue constructed by St. Joseph's Catholic Church. The statue's powerful image represents a tall, white-robed Christ. He stands with his back to the busy street and the place where the federal building once stood. The representation of Christ faces a brick wall in which there are 168 empty spaces—one space for each person who died. With bowed head Jesus faces that symbol of loss, covers his face with one hand, and weeps.
In whatever suffering we know, in whatever "Why, God?" we ask, we cannot forget one important truth: Jesus Christ weeps with us.

—Kevin Miller, vice president, Christianity Today International

Growing Saints Takes Time

The church should be a community of dates instead of pumpkins. Pumpkins you can harvest in six months. Dates have to be planted and tended by people who will not live to harvest them. Dates are for future generations.

It Will Pass

A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!"
"It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly. A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!"
"It will pass," the teacher replied matter-of-factly.

Persistence

I believe there are three kinds of people. There are winners, who know what they want and understand their potential and the possibilities. They take life on. Next are losers, who don't have a clue as to who they are. They allow circumstances to shape their lives and their self-image.
I believe there is a third group as well. This consists of potential winners whose lives are just slightly out of alignment. I call them wayward winners. It may be that they just need to learn how to be real winners. Perhaps they've hit a bump or two that has knocked them off course and they are temporarily befuddled. A failed relationship, a lost job, financial problems, unformed goals, a lack of parental support, illness„many things can send us off course temporarily.
Wayward winners are not lost souls; they just need some tweaking and coaching and nudging to get them back on course. A map might be nice. Many of these wayward winners are easily identifiable because they are always searching.
Right now, there are many wayward winners out there braving rain, sleet and snow because they, too, still believe that they have untapped talents. They attend motivational seminars and listen to inspirational tapes and they plunge onward, believing that sooner or later they will find their way again.
Other wayward winners have temporarily given up. They are damaged and disoriented, their confidence badly eroded. They tend to drift through life numbly. The friends and relatives and loved ones of wayward winners see that they are out of sync and wonder why they can't be satisfied, why they don't settle down. They wonder how people who have such obvious abilities and great potential can be so disoriented and unsure.
It is difficult for others to understand the rawness of a broken heart or the aching emptiness of an unguided spirit. You and I know. We have been there. Wayward winners know that there are possibilities out there, but too often they feel locked out from them. Some are afraid to risk any more because of what they have risked and lost already.
I know now that as difficult as it may be for you wayward winners to do, it is necessary to continue to test yourselves. Even though you have been hurt before, it is the only way to grow. We all have the capacity to change, to lead meaningful and productive lives by awakening our consciousness.
You know there are going to be tough times as you go about changing your life, so brace yourself and you will be able to handle them. When you get into your seat on an airplane, what is the first thing they tell you to do? Fasten your seat belt. Brace yourself for the turbulence.
When you decide to move your life to the next level of accomplishment, you must fasten your mental and spiritual seat belts because it is going to be a while before you reach that comfortable level again. You will reach it, but you must endure the turbulence of change in order to grow.
Try this technique to help you through the difficult times of change and growth. Find four reasons why you cannot succumb to your fears and your troubles. Find those deep sources of motivation that can lift you out of the turbulence and above the clouds. You must change your life because, for example:
You have not yet tapped the talents given you.
You want to leave something more for your children.
You want to live life rather than letting life live you.
You want to do what makes YOU happy.
It is in these rocky early moments of bringing change to your life that you discover who you are. In the prosperous times, you build what is in your pocket. In the tough times, you strengthen what is in your heart. And that is when you gain insight into yourself, insight that leads to self-mastery and an expansion of your consciousness as a life-force in both your personal and professional lives.

Les Brown

Holiness

Holiness is not perfection according to human criteria; it is not reserved for a small number of exceptional persons. It is for everyone; it is the Lord who brings us to holiness, when we are willing to collaborate in the salvation of the world for the glory of God, despite our sin and our sometimes rebellious temperament.

Pope John Paul II, at the beatification of Father Damien of Molokai

On the Seven Spiritual Weapons

Jesus Christ gave up his life that we might live," she said. "Therefore, whoever wishes to carry the cross for his sake must take up the proper weapons for the contest, especially those mentioned here. First, diligence; second, distrust of self; third, confidence in God; fourth, remembrance of the Passion; fifth, mindfulness of one’s own death; sixth, remembrance of God’s glory; seventh, the injunctions of Sacred Scripture following the example of Jesus Christ in the desert".

St. Catharine of Bologna (1413-1463)

No "Simple" Faith

It is no good asking for a simple religion. After all, real things aren't simple. They look simple, but they're not. The table I'm sitting at looks simple: but ask a scientist to tell you what it's really made of—all about the atoms and how the light waves rebound from them and hit my eye and what they do to the optic nerve and what it does to my brain—and, of course, you will find what we call "seeing a table" lands you in mysteries and complications which you can hardly get to the end of. …
Reality, in fact, is always something you couldn't have guessed. That's one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It's a religion you couldn't have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we'd always expected, I'd feel we were making it up. But, in fact, it's not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have. So let's leave behind all these boys' philosophies—these over-simple answers.

- C.S. Lewis in The Case for Christianity. Christianity Today, Vol. 34, no. 4.

Yooster Evangelism

Have you heard of Yooster? It is a brilliant marketing initiative. "You get free stuff", my daughter told me. Here's how it works, as explained to me by the expert in my home (and corroborated by the official website). "The people who run Yooster are this advertising company sort of thing, and they send you these products and you tell your friends and they go out and buy it. It's a word of mouth thing." You have to register online and set up your profile. If you match a certain demographic you can get certain products and participate in their opinion polls ostensibly influencing the direction of the products development. Not bad!
"It's a word of mouth thing." Now that's interesting. "Why?" I asked my resident expert. "Why do they go to all that trouble?" "Because, people will do what their friends do Dad!" She's right.
It's evangelism - that's what it is. Good-news telling! This is the Jesus' plan for world wide mission. Evangelism is simply a group of people who have experienced life in Jesus and found that it is very good; then they go and tell others. It's a word of mouth thing.
But it's not really the same, is it? Yooster is cool. Evangelism feels stale and awkward. Evangelism is such a big "TELL" or is that "yell". It doesn't feel like the sort of thing you should do to your friend - evangelise her. Sounds like a medical procedure. Why do the marketers think this is going to work for them? Is Yooster really that cool? I continued my informal research.
"So", I asked my daughter, "How would you ask your friend to buy the product?" "I wouldn't" she said. "If it was say, perfume, I'd just wear it and they'd say, you smell nice and I'd say yeah - Yooster!"
What if evangelism were about SMELLING first and telling second? What if Paul's doxology were right: "But thanks be to God, who ... through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ.' (2 Cor 2:14). Then the most important thing for me would be that I put on Christ every day, and be ready to give an answer (Gal 3:7; 1 Peter 3:15).
And, think about it. We have something so much better to say than Yooster!

- Allan Demond, Chair Crossover Australia, March 2007

An Early Education

From Anthony Bloom's Beginning to Pray: "I remember a certain number of (my father's) phrases. In fact there are two things he said which impressed me and have stayed with me all my life. One is about life. I remember he said to me after a holiday, 'I worried about you' and I said, 'Did you think I'd had an accident?' He said, 'That would have meant nothing, even if you had been killed. I thought you had lost your integrity.' Then on another occasion he said to me, 'Always remember that whether you are alive or dead matters nothing. What matters is what you live for and what you are prepared to die for.' These things (says Bloom) were the background of my early education and show the sense of life that I got from him."

A Lenten Reflection

Jesus was not brought down by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God's will from their own. Temple police are always a bad sign. When chaplains start wearing guns and hanging out at the sheriff's office, watch out. Someone is about to have no king but Caesar.
This is a story that can happen anywhere at anytime, and we are as likely to be the perpetrators as the victims. I doubt that many of us will end up playing Annas, Caiaphas or Pilate, however. They may have been the ones who gave Jesus the death sentence, but a large part of him had already died before they ever got to him - the part Judas killed off, then Peter, then all those who fled. Those are the roles with our names on them - not the enemies but the friends.
Whenever someone famous gets in trouble, that is one of the first things the press focuses on. What do his friends do? Do they support him or do they tell reporters that, unfortunately, they had seen trouble coming for some time? One of the worst things a friend can say is what Peter said. We weren't friends, exactly. Acquaintances might be a better word. Actually, we just worked together. For the same company, I mean. Not together, just near each other. My desk was near his. I really don't know him at all.
No one knows what Judas said. In John's Gospel he does not say a word, but where he stands says it all. After he has led some 200 Roman soldiers and the temple police to the secret garden where Jesus is praying, Judas stands with the militia. Even when Jesus comes forward to identify himself, Judas does not budge. He is on the side with the weapons and the handcuffs, and he intends to stay there.
Or maybe it was not his own safety that motivated him. Maybe he just fell out of love with Jesus. That happens sometimes. One day you think someone is wonderful and the next day he says or does something that makes you think twice. He reminds you of the difference between the two of you and you start hating him for that - for the difference - enough to begin thinking of some way to hurt him back.
I remember being at a retreat once where the leader asked us to think of someone who represented Christ in our lives. When it came time to share our answers, one woman stood up and said, "I had to think hard about that one. I kept thinking, Who is it that told me the truth about myself so clearly that I wanted to kill him for it?" According to John, Jesus died because he told the truth to everyone he met. He was the truth, a perfect mirror in which people saw themselves in God's own light.
What happened then goes on happening now. In the presence of his integrity, our own pretense is exposed. In the presence of his constancy, our cowardice is brought to light.

- Barbara Brown Taylor, "Truth to Tell," from "The Perfect Mirror," copyright 1998 Christian Century Foundation., 89-92.

Ego in Charge

Ashleigh Brilliant, that odd vestige of the '70s who scribbled his offbeat humor on hippie postcards, once penned: "All I ask of life is a constant and exaggerated sense of my own importance."

Who Do We Imitate?

A man walking through the forest saw a fox that had lost its legs, and he wondered how it lived. Then he saw a tiger come up with game in its mouth. The tiger ate its fill and left the rest of the meat for the fox.
The next day God fed the fox by means of the same tiger. The man began to wonder at God's greatness and said to himself, "I took shall rest in a corner with full trust in the Lord and he will provide me with all that I need."
He did this for many days but nothing happened, and he was almost at death's door when he heard a voice say, "O you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth. Stop imitating the disabled fox and follow the example of the tiger."

source unknown

God Uses Broken Things

God uses broken things. Broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.

Vance Havner

St Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be..
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you....
May you be content knowing you are a child of God....
Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you...

Jesus Is Persecuted

Jesus, the favourite Child of God, is persecuted. He who is poor, gentle, mourning; he who hungers and thirsts for uprightness; is merciful, pure of heart and a peacemaker is not welcome in this world. The Blessed One of God is a threat to the established order and a source of constant irritation to those who consider themselves the rulers of this world. Without his accusing anyone he is considered an accuser, without his condemning anyone he makes people feel guilty and ashamed, without his judging anyone those who see him feel judged. In their eyes, he cannot be tolerated and needs to be destroyed, because letting him be seems like a confession of guilt.
When we want to become like Jesus, we cannot expect always to be liked and admired. We have to be prepared to be rejected.

- Henri Nouwen

Just for This Morning

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.
Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.
Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.
Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given. I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore. And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day...

People Come Into Your Life For A Reason

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person. When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.!
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant .
Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

from an email circulating

The Burden-Bearer

I asked the Lord, "Please help me to be a Burden-Bearer - to help others bear their loads". Then I realised what a poor job I was doing bearing my own burdens. If I could not bear my own burdens alone, how could I ever hope to bear the burdens of others?
Then, I changed my prayer to, "Lord, help me to point others to the Great Burden-Bearer". [Jesus] said "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden" (bearing burdens) "and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light". (Mat 11:28-30)
Isaiah had prophesied of Him, "Surely, He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." (Isa 53:4) In other words, in spite of the fact that He had borne the griefs and sorrows (burdens) of the whole world, His work would be ignored by most. They would go on trying to bear their own burdens, in total disregard of the fact that He had borne them for them. How needless!...
While I can give assistance in bearing physical burdens, give moral support, and speak words of comfort and encouragement to those who are carrying them, I can never actually bear their real burdens for them. I can only point them to the One who has, and can.
The words of the chorus I had heard so many years ago ring true, "The world's Burden-Bearer is Jesus. Your Jesus. My Jesus." But we must personally cast our own burdens upon Him. He is as close as the mention of His name. I point you to Him today.

- Handy F. Nevers

Empowered to Pray

Prayer is the gift of the Spirit. Often we wonder how to pray, when to pray, and what to pray. We can become very concerned about methods and techniques of prayer. But finally it is not we who pray but the Spirit who prays in us.
Paul says: "The Spirit ... comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words; and he who can see into all hearts knows what the Spirit means because the prayers that the Spirit makes for God's holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God" (Romans 8:26-27). These words explain why the Spirit is called "the Consoler."

- Henri Nouwen

Empowered to Speak

The Spirit that Jesus gives us empowers us to speak. Often when we are expected to speak in front of people who intimidate us, we are nervous and self-conscious. But if we live in the Spirit, we don't have to worry about what to say. We will find ourselves ready to speak when the need is there. "When they take you before ... authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say" (Luke 12:11-12).
We waste much of our time in anxious preparation. Let's claim the truth that the Spirit that Jesus gave us will speak in us and speak convincingly.

- Henri Nouwen

On the Journey Towards Accepting my Anger

Anger is the one emotion that children are not encouraged to have or express. When children laugh or cry, they receive sympathy and encouragement from their parents. Not so with anger. Children are disciplined for expressing anger, manipulated out of feeling it, or sent to their rooms because of it. They learn that there is a place for all their other emotions but that anger is dangerous. Of course, children who are not encouraged to show anger appropriately become adults who don't trust their anger. I have spent much of my life learning to befriend my anger.
Some time ago, I was giving a retreat for women on prayer, and after talking for a couple of sessions, I told a story meant as an aside. When I am angry with my kids, I will often pray, silently, "Go before me, Lord!" while thinking, "Lord, you had better get there before I do". This story led to many conversations and prayer times about retreatants' fear of their anger and the power that unresolved anger has in our lives, so much so that the theme of our next retreat was "learning to come to terms with our anger".
My little story had tapped into a desire to increase our understanding of our anger. Sharing our need to acknowledge and befriend our anger in the context of prayer and spiritual friendship can help us heal our distrust of this uncomfortable emotion. Then we can be healthy ourselves and create healthy homes.

- Sheilagh Ashworth

Joint Heirs with Christ

In and through Jesus we come to know God as a powerless God, who becomes dependent on us. But it is precisely in this powerlessness that God's power reveals itself. This is not the power that controls, dictates, and commands. It is the power that heals, reconciles, and unites. It is the power of the Spirit. When Jesus appeared people wanted to be close to him and touch him because "power came out of him" (Luke 6:19).
It is this power of the divine Spirit that Jesus wants to give us. The Spirit indeed empowers us and allows us to be healing presences. When we are filled with that Spirit, we cannot be other than healers.

- Henri Nouwen

God's Holy Ordinance

Marriage is more than your love for each other. It has a higher dignity and power, for it is God's holy ordinance, through which He wills to perpetuate the human race till the end of time. In your love you see only your two selves in the world, but in marriage you are a link in the chain of the generations, which God causes to come and to pass away to His glory, and calls into His kingdom.
In your love, you see only the heaven of your own happiness, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is more than something personal - it is a status, an office. Just as it is the crown, and not merely the will to rule, that makes the king, so it is marriage, and not merely your love for each other, that joins you together in the sight of God and man.
As high as God is above man, so high are the sanctity, the rights, and the promise of marriage above the sanctity, the rights, and the promise of love. It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer in "A Wedding Sermon from Prison"

Joint Heirs with Christ

We continue to put ourselves down as less than Christ. Thus, we avoid the full honour as well as the full pain of the Christian life. But the Spirit that guided Jesus guides us. Paul says: "The Spirit himself joins with our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17).
When we start living according to this truth, our lives will be radically transformed. We will not only come to know the full freedom of the children of God but also the full rejection of the world. It is understandable that we hesitate to claim the honor so as to avoid the pain. But, provided we are willing to share in Christ's suffering, we also will share in his glory (see Romans 8:17).

- Henri Nouwen

Called To Witness And Serve

There was a woman in one of the churches I pastored who, it seemed to me, was always picking on me. She seemed sure that her young pastor was unable to do anything just the way it should be done. One day she lectured me about the way I did funerals. She let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I had better make the gospel exceedingly clear in my funeral sermons, because she had friends and relatives who would be at her funeral who might never hear the gospel if they did not hear it at her funeral. I didn't mean to be offensive as I blurted out, "Mrs. Jones, don't blame me for that."
We all have responsibilities to carry out God's call to witness and to serve. And we had better get on with responding to that call right away. Whether it be death or the sound of the trumpet that heralds His coming, there will be an end to the time that we have available to address those urgent concerns.

- Tony Campolo in "Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God"

God's Breath Given to Us

Being the living Christ today means being filled with the same Spirit that filled Jesus. Jesus and his Father are breathing the same breath, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the intimate communion that makes Jesus and his Father one. Jesus says: "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:10) and "The Father and I are one" (John 10:30). It is this unity that Jesus wants to give us. That is the gift of his Holy Spirit.
Living a spiritual life, therefore, means living in the same communion with the Father as Jesus did, and thus making God present in the world.

- Henri Nouwen

Being Clothed in Christ

Being a believer means being clothed in Christ. Paul says: "Every one of you that has been baptised has been clothed in Christ" (Galatians 3:26) and "Let your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 13:14). This being "clothed in Christ" is much more than wearing a cloak that covers our misery. It refers to a total transformation that allows us to say with Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me" (Galatians 2:20).
Thus, we are the living Christ in the world. Jesus, who is God-made-flesh, continues to reveal himself in our own flesh. Indeed, true salvation is becoming Christ.

- Henri Nouwen

Claiming the Identity of Jesus

When we think about Jesus as that exceptional, unusual person who lived long ago and whose life and words continue to inspire us, we might avoid the realisation that Jesus wants us to be like him. Jesus himself keeps saying in many ways that he, the Beloved Child of God, came to reveal to us that we too are God's beloved children, loved with the same unconditional divine love.
John writes to his people: "You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children - which is what we are." (1 John 3:1). This is the great challenge of the spiritual life: to claim the identity of Jesus for ourselves and to say: "We are the living Christ today!"

- Henri Nouwen

Patient Living

A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live out the situation to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us... Patient people dare to stay where they are. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there... nurturing the moment.

- Henri J.M. Nouwen in an article titled "A Spirituality of Waiting"

On the Journey Towards Accepting my Anger

The journey toward accepting my anger is a long one. Accepting a part of myself that often does not get used well confronts and challenges me. Accepting the anger that rises up within me takes a step of maturity. For when I accept my anger, I realise it has a place. It is not something to deny or disregard. It is not something to fear or from which to run. When I accept my anger, I welcome it into the many rooms within me. Denying anger a place could give it greater power to wend its way into rooms where it should not be. Someone once told me, "Anger turned inward leads to depression."
Accepting my anger gives it a place at the table as a welcome guest. Anger holds no greater power than the other guests at the table but is nonetheless welcome. When all are offered hospitality at the table of our spiritual life, we may be surprised to "taste and see that God is good."

- Keith Reynolds

Being Like Jesus

Very often we distance ourselves from Jesus. We say, "What Jesus knew we cannot know, and what Jesus did we cannot do." But Jesus never puts any distance between himself and us. He says: "I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father" (John 15:15) and "In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works" (John 14:12).
Indeed, we are called to know what Jesus knew and do what Jesus did. Do we really want that, or do we prefer to keep Jesus at arms' length?

- Henri Nouwen

Jesus Is in the World Not of It

The Beatitudes offer us a self-portrait of Jesus. At first it might seem to be a most unappealing portrait - who wants to be poor, mourning and persecuted? Who can be truly gentle, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, and always concerned about justice? Where is the realism here? Don't we have to survive in this world and use the ways of the world to do so?
Jesus shows us the way to be in the world without being of it. When we model our lives on his, a new world will open up for us. The Kingdom of Heaven will be ours, and the earth will be our inheritance. We will be comforted and have our fill; mercy will be shown to us. Yes, we will be recognised as God's children and truly see God, not just in an afterlife, but here and now (see Matthew 5:3-10). That is the reward of modelling our lives on the life of Jesus!

- Henri Nouwen

God's Grandeur

Psalms presents a world that fits together as a whole, with everything upheld by a personal God watching over it.
This message, above all, leaped out at me during my frustrating attempts to read the Psalms in Colorado. I could not fit together all the contradictory messages I was reading, but the magnificent wilderness setting at least affirmed the message of God's grandeur, His worthiness. Wilderness brings us down a level, reminding us of something we'd prefer to forget: our creatureliness. It announces to our senses the splendour of an invisible, untamable God. How could I not offer praise to the One who dreamed up porcupines and elk, who splashed bright green aspen trees across hillsides of gray rock, who transforms the same landscape into a new work of art with every blizzard?

- Philip Yancey in "The Bible Jesus Read"

Solitude Is Source of Freedom

Ministry must be done in a rhythm of engagement and withdrawal. Wise followers of Christ have always understood solitude to be the foundational practice. Jesus engaged in it frequently. But what makes it so important? Solitude is the one place where we gain freedom from the forces of society that otherwise relentlessly mold us. It is (in one old phrase) the "furnace of transformation."
Dallas Willard noted an experiment done with mice a few years ago. A researcher found that when amphetamines are given to a mouse in solitude, it takes a high dosage to kill it. Give it to a group of mice, and they start hopping around and hyping each other up so much that a fraction of the dosage will be lethal—so great is the effect of "the world" on mice. In fact, a mouse given no amphetamines at all, placed in a group on the drug, will get so hyper that in 10 minutes or so it will be dead. "In groups," Willard noted, "they go off like popcorn."
You'd think only mice would be so foolish as to hang out with other mice that are so hopped up, so frantically pursuing mindless activity for no discernible purpose that they put their own lives at risk.

- John Ortberg

Jesus Is a Peacemaker

Jesus, the Blessed Child of the Father, is a peacemaker. His peace doesn't mean only absence of war. It is not simply harmony or equilibrium. His peace is the fullness of well-being, gratuitously given by God. Jesus says, "Peace I leave to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you" (John 14:27).
Peace is Shalom - well-being of mind, heart, and body, individually and communally. It can exist in the midst of a war-torn world, even in the midst of unresolved problems and increasing human conflicts. Jesus made that peace by giving his life for his brothers and sisters. This is no easy peace, but it is everlasting and it comes from God. Are we willing to give our lives in the service of peace

- Henri Nouwen

Jesus Is Pure of Heart

Jesus, the Beloved of God, has a pure heart. Having a pure heart means willing one thing. Jesus wanted only to do the will of his heavenly Father. Whatever Jesus did or said, he did and said it as the obedient Son of God: "What I say is what the Father has taught me; he who sent me is with me, and has not left me to myself, for I always do what pleases him" (John 8:28-29). There are no divisions in Jesus' heart, no double motives or secret intentions. In Jesus there is complete inner unity because of his complete unity with God.
Becoming like Jesus is growing into purity of heart. That purity is what gave Jesus and will give us true spiritual vision

- Henri Nouwen

Jesus Is Merciful

Jesus, the Blessed Child of God, is merciful. Showing mercy is different from having pity. Pity connotes distance, even looking down upon. When a beggar asks for money and you give him something out of pity, you are not showing mercy. Mercy comes from a compassionate heart; it comes from a desire to be an equal. Jesus didn't want to look down on us. He wanted to become one of us and feel deeply with us.
When Jesus called the only son of the widow of Nain to life, he did so because he felt the deep sorrow of the grieving mother in his own heart (see Luke 7:11-17). Let us look at Jesus when we want to know how to show mercy to our brothers and sisters.

- Henri Nouwen

Jesus Hungers and Thirsts for Uprightness

Jesus, the Blessed Son of God, hungers and thirsts for uprightness. He abhors injustice. He resists those who try to gather wealth and influence by oppression and exploitation. His whole being yearns for people to treat one another as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the same God.
With fervour he proclaims that the way to the Kingdom is not saying many prayers or offering many sacrifices but in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and the prisoners (see Matthew 25:31-46). He longs for a just world. He wants us to live with the same hunger and thirst.

- Henri Nouwen

Jesus Mourns

Jesus, the Blessed One, mourns. Jesus mourns when his friend Lazarus dies (see John 11:33-36); he mourns when he overlooks the city of Jerusalem, soon to be destroyed (see Luke 19:41-44). Jesus mourns over all losses and devastations that fill the human heart with pain. He grieves with those who grieve and sheds tears with those who cry.
The violence, greed, lust, and so many other evils that have distorted the face of the earth and its people causes the Beloved Son of God to mourn. We too have to mourn if we hope to experience God's consolation

- Henri Nouwen

Freeing Transformation

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:16,17)
There is no union with God without transformation.
Paradoxically, the person who has struggled with personal transformation and become psychologically stronger is the person who can be empty and receptive before God. This vulnerability is an act of strength, since we no longer need to hold tightly to a false self that protects us from our inner pain and fears.
We are free at last.

- Mary Conrow Coelho in "The Weavings Journal"

Last Words Ought To Be Listened To

People often save their most important instructions, their most profound thoughts, their deepest concerns, and their most heartfelt expressions for last . . .
The Holy Spirit did not miss the opportunity to record the last words of Jesus before He left this earth. And as we might expect, those words are deeply significant. In both the Gospel of Matthew and the books of Acts, we read our Lord's parting instructions to His disciples - and to all who follow Him - before He was taken up from sight.
Think of it! We have a written record of the very words the Son of God uttered before ascending to the right hand of His Father in heaven. And these are the words - perhaps more than any others - that Jesus wanted to echo in His disciples' ears as He left them.
He didn't say: "Organise a political action committee."
He didn't say: "Remember to work for justice and visualise world peace."
He didn't say: "Be tolerant of one another," "Save the whales," Celebrate diversity," or "Commit random acts of kindness."
He didn't say: "Arm yourselves and take dominion over Rome."
What He did say was as clear as bright sunlight on a cloudless morning. There was nothing obscure or hazy about His final instructions.
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:6-8)

- David Jeremiah in "Jesus' Final Warning"

Jesus is Gentle

Jesus, the Blessed One, is gentle. Even though he speaks with great fervour and biting criticism against all forms of hypocrisy and is not afraid to attack deception, vanity, manipulation and oppression, his heart is a gentle heart. He won't break the crushed reed or snuff the faltering wick (see Matthew 12:20). He responds to people's suffering, heals their wounds, and offers courage to the fainthearted.
Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, sight to the blind, and freedom to prisoners (see Luke 4:18-19) in all he says, and thus he reveals God's immense compassion. As his followers, we are called to that same gentleness.

- Henri Nouwen

Being Christ's Church In A Consumerist Culture

Eugene Peterson is just about the best and most eloquent biblical interpreter that we have today. He keeps urging us to keep close to the theological purposes of the church and its ministry. We are not merely commanded to reach out to the world, we are commanded to reach out in the name of Christ. In a consumeristic culture, if we are not careful, the church becomes reduced to just another lifestyle option to be used by us for our own selfish purposes, just another means to get what we want before we allow Jesus to use us to get what he wants. In our efforts to reach out to the world in evangelism and church growth, we end up offering the world the same thing that it could acquire elsewhere.
Here is a Peterson quote about the local church that I think we pastors need to placard over our office doors and ponder every time we go to work for the church:
'The congregation is not about us. It is about God. The operating biblical metaphor regarding worship is sacrifice. But this is not the American way. The major American innovation in the congregation is to turn it into a consumer enterprise. Americans have developed a culture of acquisition, an economy that is dependent on wanting and requiring more. We have a huge advertising industry designed to stir up appetites we didn't even know that we had. We are insatiable. It didn't take long for some of our colleagues to develop consumer congregations. If we have a nation of consumers, obviously the quickest and most effective way to get them into our churches is to identify what they want and offer it to them Satisfy their fantasies, promise them the moon, recast the gospel in consumer terms - entertainment, satisfaction, excitement and adventure, problem-solving, whatever. We are the world's champion consumers, so why shouldn't we have state-of-the-art consumer churches?' (Eugene H. Peterson, Transparent Lives, Christian Century, November 29, 2003, pg. 24.)
It's not about us. It's about God! I appreciated Peterson's reminder.

- William Willimon

Jesus is Poor

Jesus, the Blessed One, is poor. The poverty of Jesus is much more than an economic or social poverty. Jesus is poor because he freely chose powerlessness over power, vulnerability over defensiveness, dependency over self-sufficiency. As the great "Song of Christ" so beautifully expresses: "He... did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, ... becoming as human beings are" (Philippians 2:6-7). This is the poverty of spirit that Jesus chose to live.
Jesus calls us who are blessed as he is to live our lives with that same poverty.

- Henri Nouwen

On the Journey Towards Accepting my Anger

Recently, I got angry in public. That still feels like an accomplishment to me-to express anger rather than focus it inwards. I just wish I knew how to do it better. I tend to store up anger until I can say it 'right' or do the 'right' thing. Sometimes, when I can't control my reactions, I come on way too strong. This is my worst fear-to rage like my father did-but I know that I can express anger without harm. I am working on it.
I know that I am not alone in my community of L'Arche in striving to follow the Christian teaching to speak to my brothers and sisters with truth in love. But what is the truth? And how do we express our truth in a way that the other person can hear it? We can be paralysed by a false idealism that we need to be perfect to be more honest and direct. If we believe this, we end up wounding each other with false kindness.
On my journey toward expressing my anger compassionately, I look for role models. I am inspired by Stephen Lewis, the Canadian who is the U.N. Secretary-General's envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, as he rages eloquently against Western passivity in the face of this horrible pandemic. It helps me to see Jesus struggling with anger in the Gospels. Some of my friends with intellectual disabilities inspire me by their example. It takes a true humility; yet in time, with grace, anger expressed with love might liberate us.

- John Guido

Jesus' Self-Portrait

Jesus says: "Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for uprightness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness" (Matthew 5:3-10). These words offer us a self-portrait of Jesus. Jesus is the Blessed One. And the face of the Blessed One shows poverty, gentleness, grief, hunger, and thirst for uprightness, mercy, purity of heart, a desire to make peace, and the signs of persecution.
The whole message of the Gospel is this: Become like Jesus. We have his self-portrait. When we keep that in front of our eyes, we will soon learn what it means to follow Jesus and become like him.

- Henri Nouwen

Jesus, the Blessed One

Jesus is the Blessed One. The word benediction, which is the Latin form for the word blessing, means "to say (dicere) good things (bene)." Jesus is the Blessed One because God has spoken good things of him. Most clearly we hear God's blessing after Jesus has been baptised in the river Jordan, when "suddenly there was a voice from heaven, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him'" (Matthew 3:16-17).
With this blessing Jesus starts his public ministry. And all of that ministry is to make known to us that this blessing is not only for Jesus but also for all who follow him.

- Henri Nouwen

Loving God Through Loving Others

From Saul Bellow's collection of traditional Jewish tales comes this story:
In a small Jewish town in Russia, there is a rabbi who disappears each Friday morning for several hours. His devoted disciples boast that during those hours their rabbi goes up to heaven and talks to God.
A stranger moves into town, and he's skeptical about all this, so he decides to check things out. He hides and watches. The rabbi gets up in the morning, says his prayers, and then dresses in peasant clothes. He grabs an axe, goes off into the woods, and cuts some firewood, which he then hauls to a shack on the outskirts of the village. There an old woman and her sick son live. He leaves them the wood, enough for a week, and then sneaks back home.
Having observed the rabbi's actions, the newcomer stays on in the village and becomes his disciple. And whenever he hears one of the villagers say, "On Friday morning our rabbi ascends all the way to heaven," the newcomer quietly adds, "If not higher."

- Jim McGuiggan, Jesus, Hero of Thy Soul (Howard Publishing, 1998), p.15

Jesus' Compassion

Jesus is called Emmanuel which means "God-with-us" (see Matthew 1: 22-23). The great paradox of Jesus' life is that he, whose words and actions are in no way influenced by human blame or praise but are completely dependent on God's will, is more "with" us than any other human being.
Jesus' compassion, his deep feeling-with us, is possible because his life is guided not by human respect but only by the love of his heavenly Father. Indeed, Jesus is free to love us because he is not dependent on our love.

- Henri Nouwen

Jesus' Freedom

Jesus was truly free. His freedom was rooted in his spiritual awareness that he was the Beloved Child of God. He knew in the depth of his being that he belonged to God before he was born, that he was sent into the world to proclaim God's love, and that he would return to God after his mission was fulfilled. This knowledge gave him the freedom to speak and act without having to please the world and the power to respond to people's pains with the healing love of God.
That's why the Gospels say: "Everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all" (Luke 6:19).

- Henri Nouwen

It's A Decision

Sooner or later in all of our lives we come to a fork in the road where we have to make a choice. Either we go on putting our trust in our own strength and in that which others may offer us in the human realm, or we choose the other realm and make our journey toward God. Hope in God is a decision we make. It is something that we choose.

- David Jeremiah in "Jesus' Final Warning"

Making Adjustments

Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and bring Him nearer to our own image.

- A. W. Tozer, "The Pursuit of God"

The Unfinished Business of Forgiveness

What makes us cling to life even when it is time to "move on"? Is it our unfinished business? Sometimes we cling to life because we have not yet been able to say: "I forgive you, and I ask for your forgiveness." When we have forgiven those who have hurt us and asked forgiveness from those we have hurt, a new freedom emerges. It is the freedom to move on.
When Jesus was dying he prayed for those who had nailed him to the cross: "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). That prayer set him free to say, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46).

- Henri Nouwen

The Breath of God Within Us

When we speak about the Holy Spirit, we speak about the breath of God, breathing in us. The Greek word for "spirit" is pneuma, which means "breath." We are seldom aware of our breathing. It is so essential for life that we only think about it when something is wrong with it.
The Spirit of God is like our breath. God's spirit is more intimate to us than we are to ourselves. We might not often be aware of it, but without it we cannot live a "spiritual life." It is the Holy Spirit of God who prays in us, who offers us the gifts of love, forgiveness, kindness, goodness, gentleness, peace, and joy. It is the Holy Spirit who offers us the life that death cannot destroy. Let us always pray: "Come, Holy Spirit, come."

- Henri Nouwen

Grandpa's Hands

This is good; I'll never look at my hands the same!
Grandpa, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. He didn't move, just sat with his head down staring at his hands. When I sat down beside him he didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat I wondered if he was OK. Finally, not really wanting to disturb him but wanting to check on him at the same time, I asked him if he was OK.
He raised his head and looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking," he said in a clear strong voice.
"I didn't mean to disturb you, Grandpa, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you w ere OK," I explained to him.
"Have you ever looked at your hands," he asked. "I mean really looked at your hands?"
I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point he was making. Grandpa smiled and related this story:
"Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life.
They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor.
They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back.
As a child my Mother taught me to fold them in prayer.
They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots.
They held my rifle and wiped my tears when I went off to war.
They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent.
They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son.
Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special.
They wrote the letters home and trembled and shook when I buried my Parents and Spouse and walked my Daughter down the aisle.
Yet, they were strong and sure when I dug my buddy out of a foxhole and lifted a plow off of my best friend's foot.
They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand.
They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body.
They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw.
And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.
These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of my life.
But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home.
And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of Christ ."
I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember God reached out and took my Grandpa's hands and led him home.
When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and wife I think of Grandpa. I know he has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God. I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon my face.

source unknown

The Healer, Not The Enabler

Many times I have treated God the Father like the prodigal did. I have cried out for the quick fix. I have demanded that God bail me out, fix me up, and move with power on my behalf.
"Lord, just solve this problem; I don't want to wait. I need help now!"
In the parable, the father did not go drag the son out of the pigpen. And God will not do that for us, either. Because He loves us so deeply, He will give us the dignity of choice. God's purpose in our lives is to heal us, not enable us.

- Ted Roberts in "Pure Desire"

Love Will Remain

Hope and faith will both come to an end when we die. But love will remain. Love is eternal. Love comes from God and returns to God. When we die, we will lose everything that life gave us except love. The love with which we lived our lives is the life of God within us. It is the divine, indestructible core of our being. This love not only will remain but will also bear fruit from generation to generation.
When we approach our deaths let us say to those we leave behind, "Don't let your heart be troubled. The love of God that dwells in my heart will come to you and offer you consolation and comfort."

- Henri Nouwen

On the Journey Towards Accepting my Fears

Remember The Wizard of Oz? Dorothy ran away so that old meany Myra Gulch wouldn't take away her dog, Toto. Dorothy's return was interrupted when a tornado hurled her into the land of the Munchkins. From there she journeyed to the wizard, and then home. The whole adventure was both wonderful and terrible.
As a child, I was mesmerised and initially thankful when the Good Fairy, Glinda, pointed Dorothy down the yellow brick road. But when the Wicked Witch of the West appeared, I was terrified. And finally, when the Wizard of Oz demanded Dorothy bring him the witch's broomstick, I was fainting with fear.
Today I marvel at the story and at how, on the road, Dorothy was joined by those who impersonated her needs: the scattered Scarecrow longing for a brain (wisdom), the stiff Tin Man aspiring to have a heart (love), and the cowardly Lion seeking courage to be king of the forest!
Returning home to love, I also have many fears: abandonment, loss of loved ones, failure, disillusionment, hurt, anger, pain, vulnerability, and death. As is Dorothy's in the film, my journey to welcome my fear is unfolding. Growing old, I recognise the road more clearly: let wisdom guide me into a network of loving friends. These relationships inspire me with courage to disempower fear.
So, I ask God to put the spirit of these friends within:
May Wisdom guide our steps.
May Love see us through.
And may Courage sustain our hope.

- Sue Mosteller

The Promise of Prayer

In prayer we gain the confidence that, in the midst of all that is happening, God is at work bringing about a good that we can never anticipate (Romans 8:28). If we feel God-forsaken (and there will be such times), prayer will drive away that despair. In prayer we experience the indescribable assurance of the Holy Spirit that all will be well. I love the verse that reads, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but we have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:15-16). But the best news of all comes from the same eighth chapter of Romans - the promise and confidence that all things will work together for an incomprehensible good. It's a promise that we know will be realised, because the Holy Spirit - that crucial third member of the Trinity - prays to the heavenly Father on our behalf, thus overcoming our own limitations in prayer.
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:26-28)

- Tony Campolo, "Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God"

Making Our Deaths Gifts

How do we make our deaths gifts for others? Very often people's lives are destroyed, harmed, or permanently wounded by the deaths of their relatives or friends. We have to do whatever we can to avoid this. When we are near death what we say to those who are close to us, whether in spoken or in written words, is very important. When we express gratitude to them, ask forgiveness for our shortcomings and offer forgiveness for theirs, and express our sincere desire that they continue their lives without remorse but remembering the graces of our lives, then our deaths can become true gifts.

- Henri Nouwen

Survival Mode

When you're in severe pain or distress, life becomes pretty simple. You're in survival mode, and you have neither the heart nor the strength to spread around your emotional energy. As Chuck Swindoll might say, "Life gets boiled down to the nubbies."
Instrument-certified pilots know what this is all about. When visibility drops to nil, and storms rage around them, it is second nature for them to focus on the "artificial horizon" gauge on their instrument panel. No matter what their senses might tell them or what weird phenomena they see through the windscreen, they know the gauge will give them their true position and keep them flying level. They may feel as though they are in a steep dive, or even flying upside down. Yet their eyes must lock onto that gauge, and they must respond accordingly. When it comes to survival, it doesn't really matter what they feel like; what matters is what their instruments say.

- Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton, "More Jesus, Less Religion"

Dying with Grateful Hearts

We often wonder how death will occur for us. Through illness, accident, war, or a natural disaster? Will our deaths happen suddenly or gradually? There are no answers for these questions, so we really should not spend time worrying about them. We don't know how our lives will end, and this is a blessed ignorance! But there is an important question that we should consider: When our time to die comes, will we die in such a way that those we leave behind are not devastated by grief or left with feelings of shame or guilt?
How we leave others depends largely on how we prepare ourselves for death. When we can die with grateful hearts, grateful to God and our families and friends, our deaths can become sources of life for others.

- Henri Nouwen

Our Neighbours

Because we cannot see Christ, we cannot express our love to Him, but our neighbours we can always see, and we can do to them what, if we saw Him, we would like to do to Christ
- Mother Teresa in "Life in the Spirit" -

Praying to Die Well

Many people say, "I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of dying." This is quite understandable, since dying often means illness, pain, dependency, and loneliness.
The fear of dying is nothing to be ashamed of. It is the most human of all human fears. Jesus himself entered into that fear. In his anguish "sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood" (Luke 22:44). How must we deal with our fear of dying? Like Jesus we must pray that we may receive special strength to make the great passage to new life. Then we can trust that God will send us an angel to comfort us, as he sent an angel to Jesus.

- Henri Nouwen

Emptiness and Fullness

Emptiness and fullness at first seem complete opposites. But in the spiritual life they are not. In the spiritual life we find the fulfillment of our deepest desires by becoming empty for God.
We must empty the cups of our lives completely to be able to receive the fullness of life from God. Jesus lived this on the cross. The moment of complete emptiness and complete fullness become the same. When he had given all away to his Abba, his dear Father, he cried out, "It is fulfilled" (John 19:30). He who was lifted up on the cross was also lifted into the resurrection. He who had emptied and humbled himself was raised up and "given the name above all other names" (see Philippians 2:7-9). Let us keep listening to Jesus' question: "Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" (Matthew 20:22).

- Henri Nouwen

A Mother's Persistence In Prayer

The story is told of Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. This fourth-century woman had a son who was so perverse that almost anyone else's child would have been considered to be no problem at all in comparison. But through Augustine's difficult years of rebellion, Monica never stopped praying for her son and she lived for the time when he might give his life over to God.
One day, Augustine announced to his mother that he was leaving his home in the city of Hippo to live in Rome. He wanted to go to the big city where the action was, and he let it be known that Hippo was no place for a lover of nightlife, like himself. When she heard the news, Monica's heart broke. She was sure that by going away to Rome her son would be lost to her and to God forever. She begged Augustine not to do this and, in an act of desperation, pleaded with him to go and sit with her in the church while she prayed about it. He yielded to his mother's request that he go to church with her, but while Monica was on her knees in prayer, Augustine sneaked off to the harbor and boarded a ship sailing for Rome. When Monica discovered what had happened, she was deeply hurt, but she never despaired; she just kept on hoping and praying.
While in Rome, Augustine quite miraculously came to Christ through the witness of St. Ambrose. Under Ambrose, he was nurtured into Christian discipleship, and when it was learned that the city of Hippo needed a new bishop to lead their church, Ambrose recommended the once wayward son of that town for the office.
Can you imagine the surprise and joyful amazement of Monica the day she went down to the dock with others from her church to meet their new pastor? None other than her own Augustine walked down the gangplank! The mother who never gave up on her son had been rewarded. Monica's story is a reminder to mothers everywhere that where there's life, there's hope.

- Tony Campolo in "Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God"

Friendship Is A Sheltering Tree

Some years ago author Samuel Coleridge wrote a book called "Youth and Age" in which he reflected over his past and the strength of his younger years. One of the most moving lines in his entire book is the statement: "Friendship is a sheltering tree...".
How true...how terribly true! When the searing rays of adversity's sun burn their way into our day, there's nothing quite like a sheltering tree - a true friend - to give us relief in its cool shade. Its massive trunk of understanding gives security as its thick leaves of love wash our face and wipe our brow. Beneath its branches many discouraged souls have found rest.
Beneath whose branches are you refreshed today? Should I remind you that a real, genuine, deep, solid friend is exceedingly rare? Either you're still looking through the forest... or, like me, you're enjoying shade and shelter today beside your God-given tree.

- Don Cuff

Drinking the Cup

After firmly holding the cups of our lives and lifting them up as signs of hope for others, we have to drink them. Drinking our cups means fully appropriating and interiorising what each of has acknowledged as our life, with all its unique sorrows and joys.
How do we drink our cups? We drink them as we listen in silence to the truth of our lives, as we speak in trust with friends about ways we want to grow, and as we act in deeds of service. Drinking our cups is following freely and courageously God's call and staying faithfully on the path that is ours. Thus our life cups become the cups of salvation. When we have emptied them to the bottom, God will fill them with "water" for eternal life.

- Henri Nouwen

As I Grow Older

Lord, as I grow older, I think I would rather be known as …
- thoughtful, rather than gifted,
- loving, versus quick or bright,
- gentle, over being powerful,
- a listener, more than a great communicator,
- available, rather than a hard worker,
- sacrificial, instead of successful,
- reliable, not famous,
- content, more than driven,
- self-controlled, rather than exciting,
- generous, instead of rich,
- and compassionate, more than competent,
I want to be a foot-washer.

source unknown

God's powerlessness

Jesus is God-with-us, Emmanuel. The great mystery of God becoming human is God's desire to be loved by us. By becoming a vulnerable child, completely dependent on human care, God wants to take away all distance between the human and the divine.
Who can be afraid of a little child that needs to be fed, to be cared for, to be taught, to be guided? We usually talk about God as the all-powerful, almighty God on whom we depend completely. But God wanted to become the all-powerless, all-vulnerable God who completely depends on us. How can we be afraid of a God who wants to be "God-with-us" and needs us to become "Us-with-God"?

- Henri Nouwen

Light, Life And Hope

"What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:3b-5 NRSV)

What might happen to us and within us and among us if we were indeed to prepare our hearts and follow the star...?
We might begin to believe that the Light will indeed shine in the darkness and that the darkness will never overcome it. We might begin to know in our hearts that no darkness that we find ourselves in is too dark for us after all, that the One who made us will come searching for us again and again, choosing to come and be among us, choosing to share in that darkness and to burst it apart with light and life and hope.

- Robert Benson in "The Night of the Child"

A Defining Moment In History

"So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God is with us'." (Matthew 1:22,23 NKJV)
I have often referenced the quote by the talk show host Larry King, in his response to a particular question: "If you could select any one person across all of history to interview, who would it be?" Mr. King's answer was that he would like to interview Jesus Christ. When the questioner followed with, "And what would you like to ask Him?" King replied, "I would like to ask Him if he was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me."

- Ravi Zacharias in "Questions I Would Like to Ask God"

Clothing

All these changes did the Merciful One make,
stripping off glory and putting on a body;
for He had devised a way to reclothe Adam
in that glory which he had stripped off.
He was wrapped in swaddling clothes,
corresponding to Adam's leaves,
he put on clothes
in place of Adam's skins;
He was baptised for Adams sin,
He was embalmed for Adam's death,
He rose and raised Adam up in His glory.
Blessed is He who descended
put Adam on and ascended.

St Ephrem the Syrian
Hymns on the Nativity XXIII.13
Translated by Sebastian Brock

Lifting the Cup

When we hold firm our cups of life, fully acknowledging their sorrows and joys, we will also be able to lift our cups in human solidarity. Lifting our cups means that we are not ashamed of what we are living, and this gesture encourages others to befriend their truths as we are trying to befriend ours. By lifting up our cups and saying to each other, "To life" or "To your health," we proclaim that we are willing to look truthfully at our lives together. Thus, we can become a community of people encouraging one another to fully drink the cups that have been given to us in the conviction that they will lead us to true fulfillment.

- Henri Nouwen

On the Journey Towards Accepting my Fears

"Sometimes it's really hard to get up in the morning," the rabbi told us.
He was middle-aged, but he had a very young, enthusiastic spirit as he told us about his synagogue in Jerusalem where people with intellectual disabilities not only were welcome but had become key members of the community. We laughed as he told us funny stories about how people with disabilities had helped to break down barriers between groups in his synagogue. He acknowledged that his congregation's openness to people with intellectual disabilities had caused some to leave - yet far more new people had joined, attracted by the spirit of acceptance and inclusion.
The rabbi also shared with us some of his own story - about meeting his wife on a kibbutz and, with her, making the decision to stay in Israel and raise their children, now talented young adults off on their own. This remarkable man told us all that, but what I remember, word for word, was that one sentence of admission, "Sometimes it's really hard to get up in the morning." We had asked him what it was like to live in the midst of such conflict and insecurity, and he had told us the truth.
It is sometimes hard for me too. I don't live in war-torn Israel, but some mornings I am also afraid of the day. I am grateful for having met that vulnerable rabbi that day in Jerusalem. He took the risk to share with us the humanity of his fear. His story gave me courage to accept my own.

- Carl MacMillan

Holding the Cup

We all must hold the cups of our lives. As we grow older and become more fully aware of the many sorrows of life - personal failures, family conflicts, disappointments in work and social life, and the many pains surrounding us on the national and international scene - everything within and around us conspires to make us ignore, avoid, suppress, or simply deny these sorrows. "Look at the sunny side of life and make the best of it," we say to ourselves and hear others say to us. But when we want to drink the cups of our lives, we need first to hold them, to fully acknowledge what we are living, trusting that by not avoiding but befriending our sorrows we will discover the true joy we are looking for right in the midst of our sorrows.

- Henri Nouwen

Evil and the Crucified God

'What, after all, would it look like if the true God came to deal with evil? Would he come in a blaze of glory, in a pillar of cloud and fire, surrounded by legions of angels? Jesus of Nazareth took the total risk of speaking and acting as if the answer to the question were this: when the true God comes back to deal with evil, he will look like a young Jewish prophet journeying to Jerusalem at passover-time, celebrating the kingdom, confronting the corrupt authorities, feasting with his friends, succumbing in prayer and agony to a cruel and unjust fate, taking upon himself the weight of Israel's sin, the world's sin, Evil with a capital E. When we look at Jesus in this way we discover that the cross has become for us the new Temple, the place where we go to meet the true God and know him as saviour and redeemer. The cross becomes the place of pilgrimage where we stand and gaze at what was done for each one of us. The cross becomes the sign that pagan empire, symbolized in the might and power of sheer brutal force, has been decisively challenged by a different power, the power of love, the power that shall win the day.'

- N.T. Wright, 'Evil and the Justice of God', p 62

Time To Prepare

Advent is a season of preparation. During Advent, we know that we are about to celebrate Christ's birth, which is cause for joy. But we may also feel a little nervous, wondering if this event is more than we can handle. This seems natural; after all, we are about to celebrate a life-changing, world-changing event. Christ's birth is no easy thing to understand. As we anticipate an event of such mystery and magnitude, perhaps we sense that we need some time to prepare. Thankfully, Advent offers us this gift of time.

- Sarah Parsons

Drink Deeply

The God of love and liberation remembers who we are and who we can be. This Divine Artist sees beneath the surface of our worst behaviour the depths and heights of our actions, the light and shadow of our motivations, and the length and breadth of our capacity for compassion and love.
On this day, if you and I will only listen to this amazing God, we will discover God' s great care for us. We are the flock of God's own keeping. We are the creation of God's own hand. Come quietly into God's presence. Envision the natural world through which we journey. Offer to God your own unique echo of the music of the seas and the weather; join in the celebration of the birds and the fields. Raise your sights to the stars and the galaxies. Just beneath the surface of our daily routine runs the living water of an everlasting spring. Strike it in faith. Drink deeply. Draw strength for today.

- Diane Luton Blum in "The Upper Room Disciplines 2002"

If We Pray, God Will Hear

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me."
(Micah 7:7, NIV)

If you're like me, you have those times in your Christian walk when you think that God's not listening. "He has better things to do," you think, "than listen to me pray for the umpteenth time about this problem." When I start to have those thoughts, it helps me to remember that God created the universe out of nothing, and He is constantly involved in upholding it. And even more importantly, He loves to hear the prayers of His children because He created us to pray, to need Him. He may not answer right away, but he does listen. When we pray, God's listening as intently to us as a new mother listens to her sleeping infant.
We truly live in a universe that is saturated by God and His love, and we can agree with Micah that "God will hear me."

- Matt Donnelly, Christianity Online

The Wonderful Truth

God's astounding and radical intervention in our human history cannot be contained in the tame and timid displays of Christmas lights, catchy slogans, or the exchange of gifts.
Advent confronts us once again with God's unparalleled effort to communicate the message that all humankind is embraced and held close by a God of love. Jesus Christ has come, is present with us, and will come again in final victory when all darkness, pain, and evil will be no more.
In Advent we begin again to try to make plain the wonderful truth of the most extraordinary good news the world has ever heard. Soon we will join the angelic chorus in singing, "Christ the Savior is born."

- Norman Shawchuck and Rueben P. Job in "A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God"

With Devastating Humility

By far the most significant event in the whole course of human history will be celebrated, with or without understanding, at the end of this season, Advent. What we are in fact celebrating is the awe-inspiring humility of God, and no amount of familiarity with the trappings of Christmas should ever blind us to it. God’s intervening into human history came about with an almost frightening quietness and self-effacement, and as millions will testify, he will come once again with the same silence and the same devastating humility into any heart ready to receive him.

- J. B. Phillips

The Cup of Life

When the mother of James and John asks Jesus to give her sons a special place in his Kingdom, Jesus responds, "Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" (Matthew 20:22). "Can we drink the cup?" is the most challenging and radical question we can ask ourselves. The cup is the cup of life, full of sorrows and joys. Can we hold our cups and claim them as our own? Can we lift our cups to offer blessings to others, and can we drink our cups to the bottom as cups that bring us salvation?
Keeping this question alive in us is one of the most demanding spiritual exercises we can practice.

- Henri Nouwen

God's Generosity

God is a god of abundance, not a god of scarcity. Jesus reveals to us God's abundance when he offers so much bread to the people that there are twelve large baskets with leftover scraps (see John 6:5-15), and when he makes his disciples catch so many fish that their boat nearly sinks (Luke 5:1-7). God doesn't give us just enough. God gives us more than enough: more bread and fish than we can eat, more love than we dared to ask for.
God is a generous giver, but we can only see and enjoy God's generosity when we love God with all of our hearts, minds, and strength. As long as we say, "I will love you, God, but first show me your generosity," we will remain distant from God and unable to experience what God truly wants to give us, which is life and life in abundance.

- Henri Nouwen

Signposts on the Way to God

How do we know about God's love, God's generosity, God's kindness, God's forgiveness? Through our parents, our friends, our teachers, our pastors, our spouses, our children ... they all reveal God to us. But as we come to know them, we realise that each of them can reveal only a little bit of God. God's love is greater than theirs; God's goodness is greater than theirs; God's beauty is greater than theirs.
At first we may be disappointed in these people in our lives. For a while we thought that they would be able to give us all the love, goodness, and beauty we needed. But gradually we discover that they were all signposts on the way to God

- Henri Nouwen

Through Me

Through me let there be kind words,
a warm smile, and a caring heart.
Through me let there be a willingness to listen
and a readiness to understand.
Through me let there be dependability,
steadfastness, trust and loyalty.
Through me let there be compassion,
forgiveness, mercy and love.
Through me let there be every quality
I find, O Lord, in Thee.

source unknown

Gratefully Sharing The Good News

Gratitude causes us to share the gospel of Christ boldly. We want others to experience this great thing that Christ has done in us. This truth is beautifully illustrated in a story my teacher, Dr. J. T. Seamands, loved to tell about a clubfooted boy in England. He lived in a small town with his widowed mother. Because of his deformity he could not walk properly. A businessman, who was a friend of the family, visited them one day and told them of a doctor in London who was having great success in operating on young people with club feet. "If you will give me permission," said the friend, "I will take your son to London and see what this doctor can do for him. I will take care of all the expenses." The mother gratefully accepted the offer.
The boy was taken to London. The operation was a success. The businessman kept the mother informed of her son's progress. Finally she got a telegram saying that the businessman and her son would be returning by train.
The mother could hardly believe her eyes as she saw the son walking up to her. He leaped into her arms and started to say, "Mother, I will ... " but that is as far as he got. The mother stopped him and said, "Son, don't say a word. Just run up and down the platform and let Mother see how you can do it."
He ran up and down once or twice and then went to his mother and began to say something. But again she cut him short and had him run up and down the platform. Finally, the mother was satisfied and the son was able to say what he wanted to say. "Mother, I will never be satisfied until you meet the doctor in London. He's the most wonderful man in the world."
Evangelism is just like that. It is a grateful person sharing with another what Christ has done in his life and can do in this other person's life too. As D. T. Niles used to say, "Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread."

- Ajith Fernando in "The Christian's Attitude Toward World Religions"

Sharing Freely Our Knowledge

Often we think that we do not know enough to be able to teach others. We might even become hesitant to tell others what we know, out of fear that we won't have anything left to say when we are asked for more.
This mind-set makes us anxious, secretive, possessive, and self-conscious. But when we have the courage to share generously with others all that we know, whenever they ask for it, we soon discover that we know a lot more than we thought. It is only by giving generously from the well of our knowledge that we discover how deep that well is.

- Henri Nouwen

Seeing the Miracle of Multiplication

The opposite of a scarcity mentality is an abundancy mentality. With an abundancy mentality we say: "There is enough for everyone, more than enough: food, knowledge, love ... everything." With this mind-set we give away whatever we have, to whomever we meet. When we see hungry people we give them food. When we meet ignorant people we share our knowledge; when we encounter people in need of love, we offer them friendship and affection and hospitality and introduce them to our family and friends.
When we live with this mind-set, we will see the miracle that what we give away multiplies: food, knowledge, love ... everything. There will even be many leftovers.

- Henri Nouwen

The Temptation to Hoard

As fearful people we are inclined to develop a mind-set that makes us say: "There's not enough food for everyone, so I better be sure I save enough for myself in case of emergency," or "There's not enough knowledge for everyone to enjoy; so I'd better keep my knowledge to myself, so no one else will use it" or "There's not enough love to give to everybody, so I'd better keep my friends for myself to prevent others from taking them away from me." This is a scarcity mentality. It involves hoarding whatever we have, fearful that we won't have enough to survive. The tragedy, however, is that what you cling to ends up rotting in your hands.

- Henri Nouwen

For the Second Sunday of Advent

It is Advent again. We call this time Advent because it reminds us of what comes from God for the creation of his kingdom on earth. There are many today who sigh to heaven, “Saviour, come now!” But they are not sighing for the sake of God’s kingdom. They cry out like this only when they are in trouble and want God to help them. And they don’t know of any help that is more effective than to have a Saviour come and put a quick end to their troubles.
When it comes to the things of God, however, we must not be concerned for what is ours, but only for what belongs to Christ. We should do this not merely for our own edification; we must become workers for God. This leads us to God’s vineyard, a place where there is not a great deal of talk, but where everyone is intent on deeds.

- C. F. Blumhardt

Cultural Strength

Like an effective sports coach it is essential to get to know both the strengths and the weaknesses of each culture and to position them accordingly. This idea is hinted at in a poster found in Switzerland that declares:

HEAVEN is
a French chef,
a German engineer,
an Italian lover
and everything organized by the Swiss.

HELL is
an English chef,
a German police officer,
a French engineer,
a Swiss lover
and everything organized by an Italian.

Cultural appreciation is also vital in matters of faith. Highlighting the various forms of Christian expression someone said:
The English love the Gospel because it gives them something to talk about.
The Welsh love the Gospel because it gives them something to sing about.
The Irish love the Gospel because it gives them something to fight about.
The Scots love the Gospel because it gives them something for nothing!
Affirming our language and appreciating our unique cultural gifts is one of the first steps in building a community.

source unknown

Prayer Presence

We often have a kind of notion, as part of this highfalutin, noble picture of ourselves as pray-ers, that when we pray we need to be completely attentive and we need to be fully engaged and we need to be concentrating and we need to be focused. But the fact is, if prayer is our end of a relationship with God, that's not the way we are with the people we love a large portion of the time. We simply are in their presence. We're going about our lives at the same time in each other's presence, aware and sustained by each other, but not much more than that. However we are, however we think we ought to be in prayer, the fact is we just need to show up and do the best we can do. It's like being in a family.

- Roberta Bondi

Whose Advent?

Though Advent (literally "arrival") has been observed for centuries as a time to contemplate Christ's birth, most people today acknowledge it only with a blank look. For the vast majority of us, December flies by in a flurry of activities, and what is called "the holiday season" turns out to be the most stressful time of the year.
It is also a time of contrasting emotions. We are eager, yet frazzled; sentimental, yet indifferent. One minute we glow at the thought of getting together with our family and friends; the next we feel utterly lonely. Our hope is mingled with dread, our anticipation with despair. We sense the deeper meanings of the season but grasp at them in vain; and in the end, all the bustle leaves us frustrated and drained.

Charles Moore