To be biblical is not simply to quote the Bible. We need to tell that to the fundamentalists. To be biblical is not to quote Moses; it’s to do what Moses did. To be biblical is to do what Abraham did; it’s not to quote the Abraham story. It’s to do what Jesus did;...
For the Christian, Jesus Christ is always our contemporary and the present is always a day of judgment and of opportunity. Our task is not to go back to him but to catch up with him. It is not “back to the Bible.” It is forward until we can grasp the wisdom and...
Christ will come expected or unexpected, when God is ready, even while we are loudly demanding signs and proofs which close our hearts and minds to the Wildness of Love.
Christmas is a time for “giving up” sin, bad habits, and selfish pleasures. Christmas is a time for “giving in” surrender to Christ, acceptance of Him as King. Christmas is a time for “giving out” real giving, not swapping.
There are some of us…who think to ourselves, “If I had only been there! How quick I would have been to help the Baby. I would have washed his linen. How happy I would have been to go with the shepherds to see the Lord lying in the manger!” Yes, we would. We say that...
With that we are faced with the shocking reality: Jesus stands at the door and knocks, in complete reality. He asks you for help in the form of a beggar, in the form of a ruined human being in torn clothing. He confronts you in every person that you meet. He walks on...
Christmas is about those God moments when we muster enough courage to greet, embrace, and even step into the darkness that is killing us. It is to risk seeing that glimmer of light. It is about stepping into that dark room between or within us and to risk stumbling...
I wonder, if we were to stop people at random in the street on December 24 and ask them what they want most for Christmas, how many would say, “I want to see Jesus”? I believe that the single most important consideration during the sacred season of Advent is intensity...
The birth of Christ in our souls is for a purpose beyond ourselves: it is because his manifestation in the world must be through us. Every Christian is, as it were, part of the dust-laden air which shall radiate the glowing epiphany of God, catch and reflect his...
The invitation of Advent is the invitation—right now, this very moment—to open our ordinary lives, common experiences, and everyday relationships, as well as our deepest selves, to the Spirit of the living Christ. from Shimmers of Light