If we believe the Gospels, so much of what we pray for has been already given to us; still we continue to pray for God’s promised love and forgiveness. Why do we do that? Do we not trust the record that God has left for us? Here are a few examples of his promises to […]
When Jesus says we are to love God with all of ourselves and to love our neighbors as ourselves[Mark 12: 28-31], he is showing us the way. And when he says we are to forgive another 70 times [Matthew 18:22], he is telling us to forgive always, that there should be no limit to our […]
I love to read the pithy sayings on church signs around Charlotte. But I think the best one I have seen is at Grace UMC on Woodlawn Road that reads like this: “EGO stands for Edging God Out.” Our egos are the great challenge in the search for a deeper, truer relationship with God. We […]
Paul wrote in Galatians 5:14 that all the law is “fulfilled in the Second Commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Let’s think about what this really means. Are we to love our neighbor as we love ourselves or as if he or she is me? Or is what I have come to believe about this […]
The way of prayer is to be attendant on God in all that we do. This takes a deep listening for God’s “still, small voice” within, a back and forth with God about what we’re to do now and how we’re to do it. It’s a 24-hour a day attunement to the Divine. […]
This week I am writing about love from the point of view that the spiritual life consists of developing the capacity to love as God loves and to have integrity. (Next week’s blog will be about integrity.) God is love. How we define love—our own capacity as humans to love–is a very watered down […]
Extend your hospitality to all people, all kinds. Welcome them as if they were your best friend, a beloved member of your family. Think of the Parable of the Prodigal Son[1] and the sayings of Jesus about how God sends his sun to shine on the evil and the good and his rain to fall […]
A small bird lands on a branch of a bush without disturbing the branch. A small bird weighs almost nothing. That’s how light a burden our possessions, our work, our friends, our loved ones should feel to us. Everything that we “own” are gifts for the journey through our life here on earth. We have […]
There are many paths into the Life of the Spirit: through Bible study and focus on God, through meditation or prayer, to name a few, but to me one of the most powerful is gratitude. Gratitude is an acknowledgement of all we’ve been given by God: LIFE ITSELF! which is an incredible gift, talents and […]
If I print my blog on pretty paper or wrap it up like a Christmas present with a beautiful bow, will I disguise this truth about modern people and God? Or maybe I should just whisper it: we are pretty disappointed in God. Oh, nobody much talks about this, but I believe this disappointment is […]