I believe that, beyond all our desires to be appreciated, rewarded, and acknowledged, there lies a simple and pure desire to give. ...Our humanity comes to its fullest bloom in giving. We become beautiful people when we give whatever we can give: a smile, a...
Grief, I've learned, is really just love. It's all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.
Seeing our ordinary lives from God’s point of view changes how life looks and feels. Following Jesus radically shifts the priorities that govern us. We are called upon to measure our lives, not by what we have gained but by what we have given. A radical change. The...
…as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches… So although the form of religion remains, the spirit is swiftly vanishing away. Is there no way to prevent this continued decay of true religion? We ought not prevent people from...
God does not give heed to the ambitiousness of our prayers, because he is always ready to give us his light, not a visible light but an intellectual and spiritual one. But we are not always ready to receive it when we turn aside and down to other things. For in prayer...
When we ask God to move a mountain, God may give us a shovel.
Most middle-class Americans tend to: worship their work; work at their play; and play at their worship. That which we worship, we serve, and that which we serve we will give our all—heart, soul, mind and body. from Work, Play, and Worship in a Leisure-Oriented...
The empowerment of the Spirit is not earned; it is freely given. And so with the early church at Pentecost. It was not their courage or clarity that evoked the blessing of the Spirit, for they were vulnerable and confused. The Spirit is a gift, not a possession. The...
Extend your forgiveness. If you have been forgiven by God, the there is room for you to forgive another human being. If God has forgiven you, then there is a wellspring of mercy from which you can draw and give to someone else. No one has offended you more than you...
When we give ourselves to spiritual journeying, we soon realize that God always invites us beyond where we are.