Monday, June 30, 2008
Unsaid
So much of what we live goes on inside --
The diaries of grief, the tongue-tied aches
Of unacknowledged love are no less real
For having passed unsaid. What we conceal
Is always more than what we dare confide.
Think of the letters that we write our dead.
-- Dana Gioia
The diaries of grief, the tongue-tied aches
Of unacknowledged love are no less real
For having passed unsaid. What we conceal
Is always more than what we dare confide.
Think of the letters that we write our dead.
-- Dana Gioia
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Brother Lawrence explained:
That he was then in the cobbler's workshop and enjoyed it, but that he was ready to leave that job too, since he was glad to do any sort of work for the love of God.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Brother Lawrence explained:
It was the same in the kitchen, from which he had by nature a very strong aversion: having accustomed himself to do everything there for the love of God, always praying for the grace to get through his work, he had found it quite easy all the fifteen years he had been engaged there.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Brother Lawrence explained:
That he had been sent lately into Burgundy to buy wine. This was a very hard job for him, as he was no good at business, and, furthermore, was lame in one leg, so that he could only get about the boat by sliding from cask to cask. However, he worried neither about this nor about his purchase; he told God that it was His business he was on: and he found that everything went well. He had been sent into Auvergne the previous year on a like errand; he did not know how the business had been done: but done it was, and very well done.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Brother Lawrence explained:
That we ought to act very simply towards God, speaking frankly to Him, and asking His help in things as they occurred; in his experience, God never failed to give it.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Brother Lawrence explained:
That when he was at fault he simply admitted it and said to God: "I shall never do otherwise if you leave me to myself; it is for you to prevent my failing and to correct what is wrong." He then felt assured of God's forgiveness, and did not let the failing prey on his mind.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Brother Lawrence explained:
That when there was a chance of exercising some virtue he always said to God: "Lord, I cannot do that unless you enable me," and that then he was given the strength required, and more.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
consider the lilies
And why do you worry about clothing?Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you,
even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
Matthew 6:28-29
Friday, June 20, 2008
true freedom
Who is it who imprisons us? Are we "in the freedom of the children of God"? (Rom 8:21). Or are we held fast to possessions, pleasures, honors?
O Saviour, you have opened up for us the door of freedom, teach us to find it. Make us understand the importance of this freeing, make us turn to you that we may come to it. Enlighten us, O my Saviour, to see what it is we are attached to, and please set us in the freedom of the children of God.
-- Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
O Saviour, you have opened up for us the door of freedom, teach us to find it. Make us understand the importance of this freeing, make us turn to you that we may come to it. Enlighten us, O my Saviour, to see what it is we are attached to, and please set us in the freedom of the children of God.
-- Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
evening prayer
For this day's sins, O God, grant us mercy: for sloth that wasted the hours or for haste which outran its benedictions; for fear that frustrated bold hopes or dullness that took everything for granted; for anger that burst forth destructively or indifference that smothered the soul; for suspicion wrongly held or for trust cheaply betrayed; for indecision which avoided the evil or for compromise which disguised it. Amen.
-- Dean Samuel Miller
-- Dean Samuel Miller
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
pastors
There was a man who had sinned much in his life but then became a pastor. His ways had not really changed much, and the other pastors did not particularly like him. One day Jesus came to see him. "Hi, friend!" Jesus said.
"Aren't you Jesus?" the pastor asked.
"I'm glad at least one pastor recognizes me," Jesus replied.
-- Rev. Juris Rubenis, Finding God in a Tangled World
"Aren't you Jesus?" the pastor asked.
"I'm glad at least one pastor recognizes me," Jesus replied.
-- Rev. Juris Rubenis, Finding God in a Tangled World
Saturday, June 14, 2008
YES
You have no idea what obedience is able to accomplish: by a "Yes," one single "Yes" - "Let it be to me according to your word!" – Mary becomes the mother of the Most High. ... By this "Yes" of Mary's the world obtained salvation, humanity was redeemed. Let us also strive, then, to do God's will and always to say "Yes" to the Lord...
-- Saint [Padre] Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968), Capuchin friar
-- Saint [Padre] Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968), Capuchin friar
Friday, June 13, 2008
love
Without the love of our parents, sisters, brothers, spouses, lovers, and friends, we cannot live. Without love we die. Still, for many people this love comes in a very broken and limited way. It can be tainted by power plays, jealousy, resentment, vindictiveness, and even abuse. No human love is the perfect love our hearts desire, and sometimes human love is so imperfect that we can hardly recognise it as love.
In order not to be destroyed by the wounds inflicted by that imperfect human love, we must trust that the source of all love is God's unlimited, unconditional, perfect love, and that this love is not far away from us but is the gift of God's Spirit dwelling within us.
-- Henri Nouwen Society
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Beaver Lake Lutheran Church
For the next two Sundays I will be filling in for Pastor Charlie at Beaver Lake Lutheran Church in Maplewood, Minnesota.My message on June 15th will be Christian Confidence and on June 22nd, Life Without Fear.
For directions to the church and service times check out Beaver Lake's web site.
I hope to see you!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
night-time prayer
Tired now, I go to rest,
Jesus, Savior, ever blest,
In Thy name I close mine eyes;
Watch Thou by me till I rise.
Thou my best and kindest friend
Thou will love me till the end!
Let me love Thee more and more,
Always better than before.
Amen
-- J.K. Wilhelm Loehe
Jesus, Savior, ever blest,
In Thy name I close mine eyes;
Watch Thou by me till I rise.
Thou my best and kindest friend
Thou will love me till the end!
Let me love Thee more and more,
Always better than before.
Amen
-- J.K. Wilhelm Loehe
Sunday, June 08, 2008
prayer
Let us petition God, then, not only with our mouths but with our desires and thoughts so that the only remedy able to save us may be applied to everything in which we have sinned, "for there is no other name," Scripture says, "by which we are to be saved," (Acts 4:12).
-- Saint Nicholas Cabasilas (c.1320-1363), lay Greek theologian
-- Saint Nicholas Cabasilas (c.1320-1363), lay Greek theologian
Saturday, June 07, 2008
the Sabbath
The Sabbath rocks and holds us until we remember who we are.
-- Wayne Muller
-- Wayne Muller
Friday, June 06, 2008
sunset on Mars
And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky . . ."
-- Genesis 1:14
photo by NASA of sunset on Mars
5/19/05
full size image
-- Genesis 1:14
photo by NASA of sunset on Mars
5/19/05
full size image
Thursday, June 05, 2008
theology
Theology is talking about God when God is not in the room.
-- Rev. Juris Rubenis
-- Rev. Juris Rubenis
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
nature
He who finds a thought that enables him to obtain a slightly deeper glimpse into the eternal secrets of nature has been given great grace.
-- Albert Einstein
-- Albert Einstein
Sunday, June 01, 2008
false dilemmas
