Lent is the darkness I enter into so that I can walk into the Light of Easter morning. Lent is the willingness to let the old die so that I can experience again the reality of resurrection. All of this is played out in the everyday, ordinary stuff of my very everyday,...
00590 – Transformation of Life & Character
When we examine the broad spectrum of Christian proclamation and practice, we see that the only thing made essential on the right wing of theology is forgiveness of the individual’s sins. On the left it is removal of social or structural evils. The current gospel then...
00586 – Worship is More Than “Wow” Moments
I am afraid that in our day we are too often prone to think that God is only worshiped in the “Wow” moments, and then we begin to feel pressure as musician-ministers to “produce” those moments. We confuse inspiration and worse yet, cheap thrill with Spirit power. It...
00498 – There are No Ordinary People
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors...
00317 – Open to the Spirit
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
00257 – Family? Or God’s Kingdom?
The context for much of what Jesus said about the family was his vision of the coming crisis of God’s reign which would turn ordinary life on its head. He perceived the coming of the kingdom to be a revolutionary event; the family could no longer provide true security...
00222 – Finding Fulfillment
Each of us must discover the directions in which we will find fulfillment. This is—or ought to be—the goal of a lifelong education: not merely to make a living but to find out what living is for. With that understanding, it becomes more obvious that holiness, the full...
00023 – Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People
We must not be led to believe that the Disciplines are only for spiritual giants and hence beyond our reach, or only for contemplatives who devote all their time to prayer and meditation. Far from it. God intends the Disciplines of the spiritual life to be for...