THE PROBLEM WITH THE WORD 'NONVIOLENCE' is that people think they know what nonviolence is apart from Christ. Then nonviolence becomes a marker more determinative than Jesus – it conceives peace apart from the crucifixion. But in reality, discipleship is the defining...
Despite ongoing attempts to capture, tame and domesticate the wild Son of God, Jesus the Christ remains at large, wreaking havoc in stale, lifeless religion while enlivening the hearts and firing the imaginations of all who are even slightly open to him. Thanks be to...
Every day, I am reminded… 1. Dismissing is easier than listening. 2. Judging is easier than seeking to understand. 3. Concluding is easier than patiently remaining open. 4. Stereotyping is easier than seeing. 5. Profiling is easier than curiously engaging. 6. Other...
Now I come to something which may at first sight seem specifically Christian – or biblical, I should rather say. But when you listen very carefully, you will see that we speak about a reality which is quite universal: faith. Faith and the path are inseparable from one...
Having been brought up with a definition of faith as adherence to a set of beliefs, I have more and more begun to turn instead toward a definition of faith as openness to truth, whatever truth may turn out to be.
The most difficult part of personal growth is being willing to turn away from erroneous views from our past. Beliefs held for a long time tend to become sacred to us, even if they're wrong. It's naive to think that we gained a perfect, flawless understanding of truth....
Now--here is my secret: I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God--that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help...
The more you grow into love, into the message of Jesus--to say it in such traditional, defenseless terms--the more vulnerable you make yourself. You simply become more open to attack when you have become conspicuous or when "that of God" lights up in you. When you...
People are hungry for love. Are we aware of that? Do we know that? Do we see that? Do we have eyes to see? Quite often we look but we don't see. We are all just passing through this world. We need to open our eyes and see. Since we cannot see Christ, we cannot express...
The experiment with faith is the work of a lifetime, a continual openness to change, a permanent quest. What I learned serving at the altar was not which Eucharistic theology was "right." What I learned, and must always be learning and relearning, is who Jesus is, and...