It’s funny. I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox, full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty, bent, old...
01029 – The Serenity Prayer
Serenity Prayer God grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot change;courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference.Living one day at a time;Enjoying one moment at a time;Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;Taking, as Jesus did,...
00999 – Are We Stewards or Owners of What We Possess?
The basic issue for the Christian, it seems to me, is whether we believe we are stewards or owners of what we possess. A good steward receives gratefully anything his Lord gives to him. But he must account for it and use it wisely. We Christians also believe that this...
00960 – Are We More Attentive when Life is Hard?
Perhaps we are more attentive when life is hard. When we are open and vulnerable, the Spirit can more easily lead us forth to fuller expressions of wisdom, compassion, and love—to the heart of our humanity, the imago dei, the image of God.
00954 – Ultimately, There is Grace in Suffering
Ultimately there is tremendous grace in suffering—not because of the pain of the suffering itself but because suffering allows us to reorient ourselves in ways that we simply could never have done had life proceeded in an untroubled manner. Suffering gives us the...
00901 – Training the Congregation
Wisdom will be needed to encourage a congregation to be united over the music it uses. One result of the power of music is that people become deeply wedded to their personal preferences and find it difficult to recognize that the style of music is almost always a...
00894 – Music is a Higher Revelation
Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.
00892 – God Shines through Everything
Wisdom is knowledge deepened by love. The wise person knows more deeply by way of love than by way of argument because the eye of the heart can see the truth of reality. Hence the wise person is one who knows and sees God shining through everything, even what seems...
00891 – “The Deer’s Cry”
The Lorica of St. Patrick (The Deer`s Cry) I arise to-day: vast might, invocation of the Trinity,— belief in a Threeness confession of Oneness meeting in the Creator… I arise to-day: might of Heaven brightness of Sun whiteness of Snow splendour of Fire speed of Light...
00790 – Worship is an Act, Not a Feeling
Feelings are great liars. If Christians only worshiped when they felt like it there would be precious little worship that went on. Feelings are important in many areas, but completely unreliable in matters of faith… We think that if we don’t FEEL something there can...