As I have pondered the Beatitudes[Matthew 5:3-12] and read diverse opinions about them, I remember most what I read about Jim Forest’s concept in The Ladder of the Beatitudes,” a step-by-step process which describes the journey with Christ. Each rung is dependent on us achieving the current step before we can continue. We can think […]

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.   […]

  What God requires of us is really so very simple: “act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. “[Micah 6:8 NIV] And yet nothing in our lives is more challenging of the culture in which we live and our attachment to it. It is the most challenging task we face and the lesson […]

Surely…[I am stunned at the thought of surely]. Surely goodness, surely mercy, The rest of my life. Wow! Surely…the psalmist trusts God and the promises, covenants, commandments, blessings, grace, love, Word.   Surely…something to count on, Something to bet one’s life on. Are there other surely’s? Death and taxes? Surely love out- weighs them, makes […]

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 […]