Monthly Archives: March 2011

We cannot travel by looking back, but we cannot learn to travel without looking back

Nothing should trouble us more than the rejection of religion by a large and growing number of people in Europe and North America.  It is to our shame that people can look at us and our religious institutions and conclude … Continue reading →

If God assigns us to scrub the floor, we will never be asked why we didn’t clean the chimney.

Positive thinking is not the Gospel, but without it the Gospel becomes a very dreary, demanding thing.

God does not ask us to perform according to the actions of someone else, but only to do our best.

Holiness is God’s standard, not to discourage us, but to destroy every last molecule of egotism that would make us think we can save ourselves or live without grace.

The person who has “all the answers” has failed to ask all the questions.

There are no interruptions in life, only opportunities to pay attention in ways we had not planned for.

Humility and meekness are the means for keeping our lives open, so God can address us anytime, anywhere, through anyone, about anything.

Given last week’s “Ponderings,” I thought I’d continue to consider the existence of God, and do it in relation to Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design. If you haven’t read it, it is another volume from the brilliant physicist, continuing his … Continue reading →

Hope is the message from the end of the book—the message toward which all the other chapters are moving.

Lent is a good time to think about the house of God—our home, especially if we have moved away.

Grace is the thermometer that records our fever and the aspirin that breaks it.

The only place to find our identity is in God.  Otherwise, we will try to find it in our damaged egos (either inflated or deflated) or in what others say about us.  We are God’s beloved sons and daughters.

A soul in God’s hands will not be in “perfect peace” when other souls are not.  If our souls are troubled by things other than our own sins, it is God’s way to get our attention regarding someone else’s need.

The Gospel touches everyone, calling the “high and mighty” to come down and the “low and the weak” to rise up.

The path of holiness is not marked by magnificent moments and “huge” acts of ministry; it is marked by little things—brief words of kindness and small acts of love.

Jeannie and I have discovered that World Vision is offering a means to contribute to Japan relief efforts via our mobile phones.  This agency has a tried-and-true track record, so we commend it as a means for joining with others … Continue reading →

I’ve been going back over some of the writings of the self-acclaimed “New Atheists.”  I agree with Philip Yancey’s perspective that while anyone has the right not to believe in the existence of God, how can that be promoted as … Continue reading →

When we put ourselves at the center of the universe, we create a very small solar system.

The Jeopardy game show sometimes has a “before and after” category, where the first word modifies the middle one, and the third word emerges from the second.  Here is God’s before-and-after: receiving life giving.

Jeannie and I have been away from Florida since last Thursday, and my Oboedire posts have been scheduled to appear automatically.  While we have been away, the world has literally been “shocked” by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  A … Continue reading →

Much of the spiritual life is paradox:  the way up is down, the way outward is inward, we live by dying, etc.

Confession makes us strong because it makes us humble.

When Jesus was sad or in pain, he cried.  We can too.  Tears are not a sign of weakness; they are a sign that our hearts are in touch with life.  And when we are in touch with life, we … Continue reading →

God not only gives us days of grace, but also what Philip Yancey calls the “daze of grace”—life experiences, often not chosen or preferred, which cause us to hear the chirp of a bird…see the passing of a cloud…or feel … Continue reading →