When productivity is our main way of overcoming self-doubt, we are extremely vulnerable to rejection and criticism and prone to inner anxiety and depression. Productivity can never give the deep sense of belonging we crave. The more we produce, the more we realize...
01126 – All are Children of God
Mother Teresa spent forty years ministering to the poor and dying of Calcutta. Though she never directly challenged orthodox Catholic theology, her willingness to care for Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims brought her criticism, especially since she never insisted on...
01025 – “What is Your Story, Daddy?”
[…telling a story about his father:] He was dying of cancer of the throat. He had been treated with radiation and surgery, leaving him weak, unable to eat, unable to speak, but fully able to feel pain. On a table by his bed was a stack of get-well cards, every one of...
01009 – Kick the Habit
Language change is not all-important: if it were, then changing language would be all that was needed to change the world. Nor is it unimportant: if it were, we could concentrate on doing love and justice, and quit worrying about how we speak of God. To separate...
00683 – Love Without Criticism is Betrayal
I believe God dwells with those who make love their aim. And there is no sentimentality in this love; it is not endlessly pliable, always yielding. Prophets from Amos and Isaiah to Gandhi and King have shown how frequently compassion demands confrontation. Love...