Now testimony is…”who we are and who we are becoming.” Our stories no longer tell tales of spiritual acquiescence and conformity. Rather, they tell of finding meaning, finding unique selves, and finding God in a confusing and chaotic world. Contemporary thinkers have...
This internal dying or death has two closely related dimensions of meaning. On the one hand, it is a dying of the self as the center of its own concern. On the other hand, it is a dying to the world as the center of security and identity. These—the self and the...
How this dying [to self] occurs varies greatly from person to person: for some, it may involve an inrushing of the Spirit, for others a severe life crisis, for others a long, gradual journey. But in any case, the central movement in dying is a handing over, a...
I do not feel the need to see all of God at once, to comprehend God, as if I even could. It is enough for me to have a few clear images of how God is. So long as they resonate with Scripture and with my experience and so long as they produce in me the fruits of the...
Moses said to God, “Who am I to go to Pharoah and bring the people of Israel out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11). The Lord answers, “I shall be with you.” That’s all. Simply, I’ll be with you! He wouldn’t tell Moses how to do it. He doesn’t give him a timetable, any...
We don’t have to believe that God is the author of death and destruction in order to believe that God can speak to us, even in sorrow. God’s answer is not an explanation, but the promise of his presence through every storm of life. —————-Gender-neutral version: We...
Bidden or unbidden, God will be present.
Prayer is first and foremost the active presence of the Holy Spirit in our personal and communal lives. Through the disciplines of solitude and community we try to remove—slowly, gently, yet persistently—the many obstacles which prevent us from listening to God’s...
It dawned on me that even my best theological and spiritual formation had not been able to completely free me from a Father God who remained somewhat threatening and somewhat fearsome. All I had learned about the Father’s love had not fully enabled me to let go of an...
This brief lifetime is my opportunity to receive love, deepen love, grow in love, and give love. When I die love continues to be active, and from full communion with God, I am present by love to those I leave behind. from Finding My Way Home