tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-188904402024-03-23T11:31:56.292-07:00pacific grace"All shall be well
and all manner of things
shall be well."beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.comBlogger502125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-2743717229640070092015-05-29T13:18:00.003-07:002015-05-29T13:18:49.904-07:00Keep It Open Toward Faith“I think there is no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe. I know what torment this is, but I can only see it, in myself anyway, as the process by which faith is deepened. A faith that just accepts is a child's faith and all right for children, but eventually you have to grow religiously as every other way, though some never do. <br />
<br />
What people don't realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe. If you fell you can't believe, you must at least do this: keep an open mind. Keep it open toward faith, keep wanting it, keep asking for it, and leave the rest to God. ” <br />
<br />
― Flannery O'Connor, The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connorbeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-37313527430568646092015-05-19T08:36:00.002-07:002015-05-19T08:39:03.040-07:00Ascenion Day PrayerAscended Lord, we praise you. In your death you "utterly wiped out the damning evidence of broken laws and commandments which always hung over our heads. You completely annulled it by nailing it over your head on the cross." In your resurrection you gave us new life, free life, full of new possibilities. In your ascension you paraded sin and death behind you in your triumphal procession (Col. 2).<br />
<br />
You are our guarantee of victory. You are our guarantee because you went through everything we struggle with and came through the other side. What you did, you promised to help us do. You will always be with us—not merely with sympathy but also with power. You are our guarantee because it is our nature, as well as the Godhead, that sits on the throne. It is truly "one of us" who governs now as Ruler of time and space. This, too, gives us confidence and courage for the future. You are our guarantee because, in going away, you released the Spirit on us. You are not distant from us but closer to us than ever before. The current of the Spirit works over and through us endlessly. It seeps and trickles into all the depths of heart and mind and will so that truly we are "like trees planted by water. We bear fruit in season, our leaves do not wither, and all that we do turns out well" (Ps. 1).<br />
<br />
We bring our hopes, our needs, our desires to you. We are confident of access because you are "one of us." We are confident of answers because you are the Ruler of the universe. Yours is the name above every other name, the name before which every knee bows and every tongue confesses, "You are Lord," to the glory of God (Phil. 2).<br />
<br />
Hear our prayers and accept our praises. May they rise like sweet-smelling incense before you from lives that are like altars set ablaze by the fire of the Spirit. Amen.<br />
<br />
— Robert Westveer, posted on the Reformed Worship websitebeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-38049802001752512132015-05-01T14:00:00.002-07:002015-05-01T14:00:32.420-07:00The Formation of Young PeopleA number of tweets that Jamie Smith posted that are taken from his upcoming book "We are What We Love." (@james_ka_smith) on the importance of Christian ritual and formation in the life of a young person:<br />
<br />
Young people are not looking for liberation from ritual; they are looking for liberating rituals.<br />
<br />
Don't be fooled by those who stick around to be entertained--effective Xian formation of young people might look like failure for a time.<br />
<br />
By merely entertaining young people, we only swell the ranks of those who cry, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we attend every lock-in in your name?”<br />
<br />
We have ceded the formation of young people to secular liturgies by importing them into the church under the banner of "relevance."<br />
<br />
We have confused keeping young people in the building with keeping them "in Christ."<br />
<br />
Youth ministry = formation, not merely pragmatic, last-ditch efforts to keep young people as card-carrying members of the evangelical club.beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-51432890415876363562015-04-13T11:39:00.002-07:002015-04-13T11:39:17.294-07:00"God can only be revealed to the world when we love others with the love of God. When we are divided by suspicion, anger, and every other evil that destroys relationships, we obscure the love between the Father and the Son, which was given on our behalf."<br />
<br />
"As we explore more deeply into the friendship of God, we discover to our amazement that the eternal character of God's love is that of love given, love received, and love shared. For the love of the Father "begets" the Son; the love of the Son is that of the "Begotten"; and the love of the Holy Spirit is to share and make the Father and the Son known to us, and realizable within us. To live out our relationships in the light of such transforming model is radical indeed for mere mortals."<br />
<br />
--James Houston- The Transforming Power of Prayer<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-36109825383424453312015-04-02T12:43:00.002-07:002015-04-02T12:43:09.674-07:00My God, My GodMY GOD, MY GOD, why hast thou forsaken me?" As Christ speaks those words, he too is in the wilderness. He speaks them when all is lost. He speaks them when there is nothing even he can hear except for the croak of his own voice and when as far as even he can see there is no God to hear him. And in a way his words are a love song, the greatest love song of them all. In a way his words are the words we all of us must speak before we know what it means to love God as we are commanded to love him.<br />
<br />
"My God, my God." Though God is not there for him to see or hear, he calls on him still because he can do no other. Not even the cross, not even death, not even life, can destroy his love for God. Not even God can destroy his love for God because the love he loves God with is God's love empowering him to love in return with all his heart even when his heart is all but broken.<br />
<br />
-Frederick Buechner, originally published in <i>A Room Called Remember</i>beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-26238087526060351252015-02-20T15:55:00.004-08:002015-02-20T15:55:56.151-08:00Thoughts on LentThoughts on Lent (via City Church of San Francisco):<br />
<br />
Lent is an old English word that means springtime. It was a way of speaking about a season before Easter, and over the centuries Christians have used this time of year before Easter to say, "I need springtime in my soul". It's a way to stop the cycle of spiritual status quo and to engage more fully with God and deal with those things in our lives that are out of conformity with Him. When we do that we actually find life in a story bigger than just our own. Whether you are only beginning to explore the claims of Jesus, or have been a Christian for quite some time, Lent creates space for us to reflect on the Story of Jesus and consider entering that story more deeply.<br />
<br />
In his <i>Pensees</i>, Blaise Pascal put it this way, "Being unable to cure death and wretchedness people have decided in order to be happy not to think about such things." Lent counters this propensity and provides us a season as a community to take on the deep counterintuitive wisdom of Scripture. The way up is down, and the way to find joy is to honestly deal with our brokenness. As Jesus put it "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." Lent invites us to join Christ on the way of the Cross, a spiritual journey that begins with Ash Wednesday and ends in Easter celebration.<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-9436161365819941122014-10-17T11:03:00.001-07:002014-10-17T11:03:01.793-07:00Psalm 23 by Calvin Seerveld<br />
<br />
The Lord God is my shepherd too. I lack nothing.<br />
In quiet spots of soft green grass the Lord lets me settle down in peace.<br />
My shepherd leads me out to flowing waters giving rest.<br />
The Lord bring me back to myself.<br />
The Lord leads me in the tracks of doing what is right for the sake of God's holy name.<br />
<br />
Even if I have to walk through the Valley of the shadows of Death,<br />
I will fear no evil because you are with me.<br />
Your shepherd crook and your strong club reassure me.<br />
You set a table for me with a meal right in front of my enemies!<br />
You annoint my head copiously with oil.<br />
My drinking cup is overflowing!<br />
<br />
It's true!<br />
Your covenantal mercy and what's creaturely good shall follow me up<br />
all the days of my life,<br />
and someday I shall dwell in the house of the Lord God<br />
for as long as there are days...beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-55526141251096583932014-07-17T13:26:00.001-07:002014-07-17T13:26:06.500-07:00Christ Has No BodyChrist has no body but yours,<br />
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,<br />
Yours are the eyes with which he looks<br />
Compassion on this world,<br />
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,<br />
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.<br />
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,<br />
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.<br />
Christ has no body now but yours,<br />
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,<br />
Yours are the eyes with which he looks<br />
compassion on this world.<br />
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.<br />
<br />
Teresa of Avilabeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-75011925625788301562014-04-11T08:27:00.001-07:002014-04-11T08:27:09.833-07:00PurificationAt the start of spring I open a trench<br />
in the ground. I put into it<br />
the winter’s accumulation of paper,<br />
pages I do not want to read<br />
again, useless words, fragments,<br />
errors. And I put into it<br />
the contents of the outhouse:<br />
light of the sun, growth of the ground, <br />
finished with one of their journeys.<br />
To the sky, to the wind, then,<br />
and to the faithful trees, I confess<br />
my sins: that I have not been happy<br />
enough, considering my good luck;<br />
have listened to too much noise;<br />
have been inattentive to wonders;<br />
have lusted after praise.<br />
And then upon the gathered refuse<br />
of mind and body, I close the trench,<br />
folding shut again the dark,<br />
the deathless earth. Beneath that seal<br />
the old escapes into the new.<br />
<br />
-Wendell Berrybeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-25948411559411403672013-12-25T08:45:00.002-08:002013-12-25T08:47:15.739-08:00In the Silent NightLo, in the silent night<br />
A child to God is born<br />
And all is brought again<br />
That ere was lost or lorn.<br />
<br />
Could but thy soul, O man<br />
Become a silent night!<br />
God would be born in thee<br />
And set all things aright.<br />
<br />
-15th Century Versebeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-17874141998766051042013-10-01T16:58:00.003-07:002013-10-01T16:58:47.777-07:00Waken in Me a Sense of JoyA prayer and blessing for my daughter who turned 15 this week:<br />
<br />
O extravagant God,<br />
in this ripening, red-tinged autumn,<br />
waken in me a sense of joy,<br />
in just being alive,<br />
joy for nothing in general<br />
except everything in particular;<br />
joy in sun and rain<br />
mating with earth to birth a harvest;<br />
joy in soft light<br />
through shyly disrobing trees;<br />
joy in the acolyte moon<br />
setting halos around possessing clouds;<br />
joy in the beating of a thousand wings<br />
mysteriously knowing which way is warm;<br />
joy in wagging tails and kids' smiles<br />
and in this spunky old city;<br />
joy in the taste of bread and wine,<br />
the smell of dawn,<br />
a touch,<br />
a song,<br />
a presence;<br />
joy in having what I cannot live without--<br />
other people to hold and cry and laugh with;<br />
joy in love,<br />
in you;<br />
and in all that first and last<br />
is grace.<br />
<br />
~from Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-47113275442689006902013-08-15T09:47:00.000-07:002013-08-15T09:47:05.716-07:00Your NeighborThe hardest spiritual work in the world is to love the neighbor as the self–to encounter another human being not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control, but simply as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you will allow it.<br />
<br />
Barbara Brown Taylorbeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-66103944188304924762013-08-14T08:48:00.003-07:002013-08-14T08:48:56.295-07:00The Original PlanThe gospel is not that there is still more to come in the future. It’s not about going to heaven when we die, or about being forgiven now and awaiting freedom later. It’s not about experiencing the sacred in the midst of the secular. Neither is it a new teaching or a new moral code. It is the promised ‘power of God for salvation’ (Romans 1:16)–a power that frees us from all that opposed God and God’s will and all that alienates us from ourselves and each other. This power frees us to live according to God’s original plan, where selfless sharing, justice, mutuality, respect, trust, forgiveness and joyful community become realized.<br />
<br />
Charles Moorebeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-30972523166107803392013-01-04T11:10:00.002-08:002013-01-04T11:10:30.733-08:00When the Work of Christmas Really Begins<br />
When the song of the angels is stilled,<br />
When the star in the sky is gone,<br />
When the kings and princes are home,<br />
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,<br />
<br />
The work of Christmas begins:<br />
<br />
To find the lost, <br />
To heal the broken,<br />
To feed the hungry,<br />
To release the prisoner,<br />
To rebuild the nations,<br />
To bring peace among people,<br />
To make music in the heart.<br />
<br />
Howard Thurman<br />
<br />
<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-83045371157151045442012-12-24T09:33:00.001-08:002012-12-24T09:33:28.284-08:00The Day of God's ComingIt is very remarkable that we face the thought that God is coming so calmly, whereas previously peoples trembled at the day of God, whereas the world fell into trembling when Jesus Christ walked over the earth. That is why we find it so strange when we see the marks of God in the world so often together with the marks of human suffering.... We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God's coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God's coming should arouse in us.<br />
<br />
We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but first of all frightening news for everyone who has a conscience.<br />
<br />
Dietrich Bonhoefferbeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-85047850845454089932012-12-05T15:26:00.000-08:002012-12-05T15:26:07.422-08:00Sustain Me in the Coming ThenO God, empty me of angry judgements,<br />
And aching disappointments,<br />
And anxious trying,<br />
And breathe into me<br />
Something like quietness and confidence,<br />
That the lion and the lamb in me<br />
May lie down together<br />
And be led by a trust<br />
As straightforward as a little child.<br />
<br />
Catch my pride and doubt off guard<br />
That, at least for the moment,<br />
I may sense your presence and your caring,<br />
And be surprised by a sudden joy<br />
Rising in me now<br />
To sustain me in the coming then.<br />
<br />
Ted Loderbeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-27942450918940456592012-10-20T19:11:00.004-07:002012-10-20T19:11:57.831-07:00Where is Everyone?There's a story of a good man who dies and goes to heaven, and who is welcomed at the pearly gates, which are thrown open for him to enter. He goes through them in a daze of bliss, because it is everything he has been taught, golden streets, milk and alabaster and honey and golden harps. He wanders the streets lost in happiness, until after a while he realizes that he is all alone; he hasn't seen anybody at all. He walks and walks, and he sees nobody.<br />
<br />
So he goes back to the gates, and he asks, "Peter?"<br />
<br />
"Yes, my son?"<br />
<br />
"This really is heaven?"<br />
<br />
"Oh, yes, my son. Don't you like it?"<br />
<br />
"Oh, it's just wonderful! But where is everybody? Where are the prophets? Where is the Holy Family? Where are the saints?"<br />
P<br />
eter looks at him kindly. "Oh, them? They're all down in hell, ministering to the damned. If you'd like to join them, I'll show you the way."<br />
<br />
Madeleine L'Engle<br />
Source: A Stone for a Pillow<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-15005685656674219642012-10-15T08:02:00.002-07:002012-10-15T08:02:40.205-07:00The Kingdom of Joy"When Jesus speaks about the world, he is very realistic. He speaks about wars and revolutions, earthquakes, plagues and famines, persecution and imprisonment, betrayal, hatred and assassinations. There is no suggestion at all that these signs of the world's darkness will ever be absent. But still, God's joy can be ours in the midst of it all. It is the joy of belonging to the household of God whose love is stronger than death and who empowers us to be in the world while already belonging to the kingdom of joy."<br />
<br />
Henri J. M. Nouwen<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-35325803457411882332012-10-10T08:02:00.003-07:002012-10-10T08:02:37.121-07:00Speaking Clearly"I believe that we know much more about God than we admit that we know, than perhaps we altogether know that we know. God speaks to us, I would say, much more often than we realize or than we choose to realize. Before the sun sets every evening, he speaks to each of us in an intensely personal and unmistakable way. His message is not written out in starlight, which in the long run would make no difference; rather it is written out for each of us in the humdrum, helter-skelter events of each day; it is a message that in the long run might just make all the difference.<br />
<br />
Who knows what he will say to me today or to you today or into the midst of what kind of unlikely moment he will choose to say it. Not knowing is what makes today a holy mystery as every day is a holy mystery. But I believe that there are some things that by and large God is always saying to each of us. Each of us, for instance, carries around inside himself, I believe, a certain emptiness – a sense that something is missing, a restlessness, the deep feeling that somehow all is not right inside his skin. Psychologists sometimes call it anxiety, theologians sometimes call it estrangement, but whatever you call it, I doubt that there are many who do not recognize the experience itself, especially no one of our age, which has been variously termed the age of anxiety, the lost generation, the beat generation, the lonely crowd. Part of the inner world of everyone is this sense of emptiness, unease, incompleteness, and I believe that this in itself is a word from God, that this is the sound that God’s voice makes in a world that has explained him away. In such a world, I suspect that maybe God speaks to us most clearly through his silence, his absence, so that we know him best through our missing him."<br />
<br />
Frederick Buechnerbeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-13699637718176634512012-10-08T10:17:00.001-07:002012-10-08T10:17:19.058-07:00What We Are On About"What we in the church must be about, I am convinced, is a return to religion of passion--a way of being in which anything less than spilling over with the Spirit of God is not enough; spilling over with desire to know and do the will of God in our daily work and play."<br />
<br />
Carter Haywardbeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-31954608961578230952012-10-06T09:21:00.000-07:002012-10-06T09:21:15.234-07:00Deep CallingOur deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks--we will also find our path of authentic service in the world. <br />
<br />
True vocation joins self and service, as Frederick Buechner asserts when he defines vocation as 'the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need.' Buechner's definition starts with the self and moves toward the needs of the world: it begins, wisely, where vocation begins--not in what the world needs (which is everything), but in the nature of the human self, in what brings the self joy, the deep joy of knowing that we are here on earth to be the gifts that God created.<br />
<br />
Parker Palmerbeimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-57388777105938534242012-10-03T08:02:00.002-07:002012-10-03T08:02:14.699-07:00Full Humanness“What we hunger for perhaps more than anything else is to be known in our full humanness, and yet that is often just what we also fear more than anything else. It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are . . . because otherwise we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little come to accept instead the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing. It is important to tell our secrets too because it makes it easier . . . for other people to tell us a secret or two of their own . . . ” <br />
<br />
Frederick Buechner<br />
<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-22345018821547161442012-09-05T21:23:00.002-07:002012-09-05T21:23:59.936-07:00Circle UsCircle us Jesus.<br />
Circle everyone working on our new school.<br />
Keep safety close and danger far. <br />
<br />
Circle us Jesus.<br />
Keep hope in and worry out.<br />
<br />
Circle us Jesus.<br />
Keep peace in and evil out.<br />
Be a guiding star<br />
Above us.<br />
<br />
Be a smooth path<br />
In front of us.<br />
<br />
Be a kind shepherd behind us.<br />
Today-tomorrow-and forever.<br />
<br />
Amen.<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-61867849843907673232012-09-05T07:42:00.001-07:002012-09-05T07:42:08.243-07:00September PrayerCreator God,<br />
who set our world in motion,<br />
whirling around the sun,<br />
dancing with the planets,<br />
brightened by the constellations,<br />
we thank you for the gift of days and years and seasons<br />
which sun and moon and stars measure out for us.<br />
<br />
But, how can it be September already?<br />
Our swiftly-tilting planet moves too quickly for us.<br />
We intend so much good.<br />
We dream such grand designs.<br />
And yet, we become caught up in the day-to-day rush of events<br />
which fill our hours but not our hearts.<br />
<br />
Teach us willingness while we work: may your gift of labor give us purpose.<br />
Teach us gratitude while we grocery shop: may your lavish bounty overwhelm us.<br />
Teach us wisdom while we weed: may your abundance stop our grasping.<br />
<br />
Giver of every good and perfect gift,<br />
grant us a new perspective on our life –<br />
one not measured by laundry, flat tires, child care, or television.<br />
Give us your perspective on our life<br />
so that we may see clearly what is valuable<br />
and thank you for these treasures<br />
and live in such a way that demonstrates our gratitude.<br />
<br />
Hear our prayer,<br />
for we offer it in the name of our Savior, your greatest gift to us.<br />
<br />
Amen.<br />
<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890440.post-87171124767482775332012-09-04T07:46:00.002-07:002012-09-04T07:46:40.506-07:00First Day Blessing"May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you;<br />
May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm;<br />
May be bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you;<br />
May he bring you home rejoicing; once again into our doors."<br />
beimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03289900678928716688noreply@blogger.com0