Category: Meditation
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So I send you…
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” – John 20:21 (NRSV) Often when a verse or passage in the Bible leaps off the page at me, I try to imagine what the people in the scene were doing, thinking or feeling. In the…
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Too Much for Words
“A theology should be like poetry, which takes us to the end of what words and thoughts can do.” – Karen Armstrong For the past three years, I have been doing a lot of studying of theology. I have learned about many of this world’s religions, spirituality practices, and the historical information that goes along…
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Reasonably Happy
“The Serenity Prayer,” attributed to Reinhold Neibuhr, is one of my favorites. It seems to cover the important pieces of everyday living – and it is easy to remember. I ask for serenity to accept the things I can’t change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. What else…
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God is Everywhere
“God is the higher and the lower, the dots and the spaces between the dots; nothing can fall out of God, and all is tenderly and joyously held.” – Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (pg. 158), by Cynthia Bourgeault Last month in my class on Spiritual Direction while my professor was speaking, she said, “Nothing…
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The Chase
“Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.” – Psalm 16:4a I don’t like feeling crappy. I don’t like feeling uncertain of myself. I want to feel better. I want to feel more important. I want to be loved and admired and respected and revered. Maybe if I had more money. Maybe…
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Retreat
The first “ahhhh” of vacation enters my soul as my car pulls away from the parking lot at work. The further I drive from there, the lighter my soul becomes. It is a sense of peacefulness I only feel one time a year. It is a long-awaited break. It is a much-needed reprieve from responsibilities.…
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On the Path
“Getting answers to my questions is not the goal of the spiritual life. Living in the presence of God is the greater call.” – Henri Nouwen, Discernment (pg. 67) It was probably about twenty or so years ago that I first had the inkling that I might want to work as a chaplain, maybe on…
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Do You Doubt?
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29 (NIV) As the disciples gathered together with the resurrected Jesus, they were overwhelmed with joy. Well, most of them were. Then there was “doubting Thomas” who stated: “Unless I see…
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The Answer Lies Within
“For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.” – The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (pg. 88), by Bill…
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Later You Will Understand
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” – John 13:6-7 (NRSV) So much of the relationship between Jesus and his disciples is representative of His relationship with all of…