Category Archives: Gleanings

“If Jesus is the face of God, we’re in luck.  This really looks good for all of us.”  Richard Rohr.

Richard Rohr recently posted a meditation reminding us that higher needs (goodness, beauty, truth) cannot be attained before lower needs (food, clothing, shelter) are tended to.  He put it this way…. When you cannot enjoy the lilies of the field … Continue reading →

I found the following comment from Mother Teresa to be very helpful and inspiring… Prayer makes the heart large enough until it can contain God’s gift of Himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive … Continue reading →

Saint Raphael Baron unites in a few words what should never have been separated in the first place:  love for God and love for others…. When we love Jesus, when we love Christ, we necessarily love what he loves. This … Continue reading →

We continue our look at Richard Rohr’s meditations on “the world, the flesh, and the devil.”  In a recent post he spoke of the dangers which can come to us when we give primary allegiance to a secondary thing… For … Continue reading →

Richard Rohr has been writing daily meditations on the description of evil as, “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” In a post this past Wednesday, he wrote about the danger of worshiping any system—even good ones…. When you worship … Continue reading →

John Tauler (1300-1361) comments on John 10:1-10 in his Sermon 27, giving us this beautiful picture of Christ’s ministry… Our Lord says he is the door of the sheepfold. Now what is this sheepfold, the pen into which Christ is … Continue reading →

We hear a lot today about “being authentic,” and it’s an important subject.  Richard Rohr recently spoke of it in a way we cannot ignore… The theme of suffering recurs constantly within Mark, as if the entire gospel is an … Continue reading →

Some of you will know that one of my favorite words to describe tenacity in the life of prayer is “nevertheless.”  I devoted a chapter to it in my book, Talking in the Dark: Praying When Life Doesn’t Make Sense. … Continue reading →

Several days ago, Richard Rohr’s daily meditation was this prayer…. Loving God, we love how You love us. We love how You free us. We love what You have given and created to surround us. Help us to recognize, and … Continue reading →

Richard Rohr underscores the connection between feeling safe and being able to feel loved…. If you can’t feel safe with a person, you can’t feel loved by them. You can’t trust their love.   (Daily Meditation, April 18, 2012) Whether … Continue reading →

Nouwen continues his look at healthy and authentic leadership in his meditation in Bread for the Journey(April 13).  I want to continue to pass these words of wisdom on to you…. Spiritual leadership is the leadership of the Good Shepherd.  … Continue reading →

Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision, has written that establishing a creative culture requires the development of an inner ethos within the organization…. Hirshberg says. It was very important to him to get culture right, “We’re always putting a fine point … Continue reading →

Henri Nouwen continues to offer us wise counsel in relation to the nature and exercise of authority (in Bread for the Journey, April 12).  I want to post his meditation showing how authority and compassion must never be separated…. Mostly … Continue reading →

Henri Nouwen wrote this meditation (Bread for the Journey, April 11) on the connection between authority and obedience…. Authority and obedience can never be divided, with some people having all the authority while others only have to obey.  This separation … Continue reading →

A few days ago (April 5), Henri Nouwen’s Bread for the Journey spoke words I want to pass on to you—reminding myself and you that it’s only when we live deeply that we live well…. Trees that grow tall have … Continue reading →

Henri Nouwen has written about the immeasurable value of friends…. A friend is more than a therapist or a confessor, even though a friend can sometimes heal us and offer us God’s forgiveness. A friend is that other person with … Continue reading →

We emphasize the idea of calling here at Oboedire, and we interpret it to be largely in relation to “little things”—things “at hand.”  A recent excerpt from Henri Nouwen’s Bread for the Journey (March 10) captures this idea in a … Continue reading →

Richard Rohr challenges us to stop and think about how we (even unwittingly) contribute to the fallen world system…. Once we idealize social climbing, domination of others, status symbols, power, prestige and possessions, we are part of a never ending … Continue reading →

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove recently posted this quotation from Soren Kierkegaard, saying that it has “rocked his world.”   Like Jonathan, I find Kiekegaard’s words (below and elsewhere in his writings) to be places of awakening and challenge.  So, I pass this on … Continue reading →

Discipline is the other side of discipleship. Discipleship without discipline is like waiting to run in the marathon without ever practicing. Discipline without discipleship is like always practicing for the marathon but never participating. It is important, however, to realize … Continue reading →

“There are no ifs in God’s love.”  Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, February 5th.

When people say piously, “Thy kingdom come” out of one side of their mouth, they need also to say, “My kingdom go!” out of the other side.  (Richard Rohr, Daily E-Meditation, December 12, 2011).

“We are all over stimulated and drowning in options.  We are trained to be managers, to organize life, to make things happen.  It’s not all bad, but if you transfer it to the spiritual life, it is pure heresy.  It … Continue reading →

Gleanings will technically be “on hold,” for the foreseeable future.  Each Tuesday’s posting will still be a quotation, but they will concentrate in the sayings of the early Christian desert fathers and mothers.  The weekly posting will now be called … Continue reading →

Recently, I came across this quotation from Max Lucado in his book When God Whispers Your Name.  I believe you’ll find it appropriate for this week….. If your greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator.  If … Continue reading →

I had the privilege of knowing Dr. Tom Carruth.  I met him when I became a student at Asbury Theological Seminary in 1970.  He served as Professor of Prayer and Spiritual Life.  I was so drawn to him that I … Continue reading →

W.R. Matthews, Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, wrote, “Has the time come to move on?  Then, break up camp with a good heart.  It is only one stage on the journey home.” These words have guided me in … Continue reading →

Madame Jean Guyon (1648-1717) helped me years ago to discover the sense of wonder which must attend any spiritual formation.  She wrote, “If knowing answers to life’s questions is absolutely necessary to you, then forget the journey.  You will never … Continue reading →

Francis Schaeffer influenced millions of people in the 1960′s (and beyond) with influential books and his ministry center at L’Abri in Switzerland.  Near the end of his life, he gave a retreat for clergy, and I was given copies of the … Continue reading →

My favorite definition of meditation comes from Evelyn Underhill, “Meditation is thinking in the presence of God.” We often think of meditation as some kind of altered state, but in the Christian tradition it is a natural state connected to … Continue reading →

In his book, Time For All Things, Charlie Shedd wrote, “God will never ask you to do more than you can do; people will.” This simple sentence has washed across my life, like waves hitting the beach—time and time again reminding me of … Continue reading →

Francois Fenelon’s statement, in his book Christian Perfection, about how to engage in our life’s activities has been helpful to me:  “We should try to begin every undertaking in the vision of the pure glory of God, to continue it without … Continue reading →

Pope Gregory the Great (who served from 590-604 a.d.) wrote, “Whosoever would understand what he hears must hasten to put into practice what he has heard.” This is an historic way to express what has come to be knows as “sapiential theology.”  If … Continue reading →

I’m reading Jill Briscoe’s spiritual autobiography There’s a Snake in My Garden.   The following statement struck me… It’s easy to become so absorbed by ‘the work of the Lord’ that you miss what the ‘Lord of the work’ is telling … Continue reading →

Three quotes have held me fast when I have been tempted to become frenetic in my spirituality… Oswald Chambers: “The greatest temptation of devotion to Jesus Christ is service for him.” Thomas Merton: “Activism is a form of violence.” Richard … Continue reading →

In his book, A Diary of Private Prayer, John Baille wrote, “I thank Thee that this Christian way whereon I walk is no untried or uncharted road, but a road beaten hard by the footsteps of saints, apostles, prophets, and … Continue reading →

In his sermon “Salvation By Faith, ” John Wesley wrote, “Our commission is to ‘Go and preach the gospel to every creature.’  If anyone twists it, or any part of it, [he does so] to his destruction.” I am grateful … Continue reading →

Years ago, Charlie Shedd spoke a powerful word into my life in his book, Time for All Things, “I am where I should be. I have been called to this place at this time for this work.” We waste an … Continue reading →

William Barclay, the well-known Scottish theologian and Bible commentator, wrote, “When a person looks up to God and says, ‘Do with me as you wish,’ then there is the way to joy.” His quote, along with many others like it, … Continue reading →

Like millions of others, I have been significantly influenced by C.S. Lewis.  This quote from his book, Mere Christianity, speaks a much-needed word to us…. The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become–because He … Continue reading →

Frank Laubach (1884-1970) was one of the best-known missionaries of the 20th century, and reputed to be the father of the modern literacy movement.  Each morning, he prayed this prayer… “God, what are you doing in the world today that … Continue reading →

In his classic The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence wrote, We can do little things for God. In a “more is better” world, we so need to hear and heed his words.  We need to discover the … Continue reading →

In his book, The Way of the Cross, Francois Fenelon wrote, It is utterly selfish that we desire to attain perfection so fast.” These words cut against the grain of any spiritual life that has a “quick-fix” mentality attached to … Continue reading →

Thomas Merton wrote, “We do not want to be beginners.  But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything but beginners all our life!”  Contemplative Prayer, p. 37 I’ve worked in Christian higher education professionally … Continue reading →

The older I get, the more I realize that my spiritual life has been significantly shaped by others–what the writer of Hebrews calls, “the great cloud of witnesses.”  Some of my influencers are still living; most are in heaven.  Some … Continue reading →