Listening
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Intention at the year’s turning
Decades ago I stopped making new year’s resolutions. Now, rather than make resolutions, every year I renew just one intention, and I start with Jesus’ words to Martha. You remember Martha, the one who was worried and distracted by so many things. Jesus cut through all her worries and distractions and said to her –… Continue reading
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The top eight ways to hear God
I’ve often wanted to have a conversation with my twenty-something-year-old self, to share some wisdom from this end of my lifespan and to offer guidance to make his life not necessarily easier but more fulfilling. Some things I’d share, my younger self could never imagine. So I wonder about the wisdom I cannot imagine today… Continue reading
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The blind men and the church
Change! It’s hard to live with because it’s often painful, and when change is big and sudden, it can be very painful. And you can’t live without it because change is part of life, and to grow is to change. You can’t grow into the fullness of life tomorrow if you’re stuck living in the… Continue reading
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To see and be seen
Some of you remember a television game show from the 1960s called To Tell the Truth. A guest with some unusual occupation or experience would appear with two impostors to be interviewed by four celebrities who tried to identify the authentic guest. After some questioning, the host would say, “Would the real [guest’s name] please… Continue reading
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Love in difficult conversations
To love someone, to be in authentic relationship with someone, is to value that person. It is to recognize that person as having an essential, indispensable role to play in God’s ongoing creation, even if I don’t have a clue what that role might be. It’s to recognize that without that person, I can never… Continue reading
agreement, Christian love, community, differences, difficult conversations, disagreement, divisions, factions, gospel, inquiry, inquisition, Irshad Manji, Jeremiah, justice, kingdom of heaven, law of God, law of life, Listening, namaste, new covenant, opinions, peace, reconciliation, reign of God, table of grace -
Addressing an epidemic of loneliness
Last week, I asked you to reflect deeply about what you’re truly hungry for in life, not your trendy or transient cravings but the deep hunger that binds you to God, the human hunger we all share and that makes us one with the whole human family. What are you really and deeply hungry for… Continue reading
abundant life, banquet of heaven, community, digital environment, epidemic of loneliness, family, gathered, gospel of reconciliation, hunger, hungry for God, isolation, kingdom of God, Listening, loneliness, online meetings, public policy, social disconnection, social infrastructure, social media, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, surgeon general’s advisory -
Listening to the Spirit
The best place to start if you’re serious about living a Christian life is in a relationship with a spiritual guide or companion, someone who can listen deeply to you and help you explore your relationship with God. And the first and best spiritual guide we have is the Holy Spirit. Briefly, there are two… Continue reading
The Sauntering Pilgrim 