I saw a kite stuck in a tree - a striking symbol of loss and love. “Loss is made endurable by love. And it is love that echoes into eternity.”
- Call The Midwife
I started a new novel this past weekend and I can’t stop thinking about it, wishing for the words to wash over me again. Like @ANNELAMOTT said, “My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.”
“God said, ‘see that oak tree, I gave birth to that tree. And that man in the alley, I gave birth to him too.’ God births. She is the giver of life. We get to share Gods world with one another.” -John McKnight #abundance#conspiregathering@parishcollectiv
Many people say they’re done with Christianity, but they’ve really just rejected a version of American nationalism that camouflages itself as Christianity... but doesn’t look like Christ at all.
Saying NO to Trump-evangelicalism may be the beginning of saying YES to Christ.
Another @globalimmerse peacemaking trip across the US/Mexico border. The symbols of peacemaking are both ripe with hope & ridden with unbearable grief, begging a way forward marked by great wisdom, creativity & repentance, on both sides of the political aisle. God help us!
I preached on Sunday & an 87 year old woman says, “I almost didn’t come to church today bec I heard it was a woman preacher. That’s not biblical. But I came & was pleasantly surprised! Maybe my theology can shift, even in old age!” One of the best complements I’ve ever received.
We were made for community and for solitude - both a part of our identity to be discovered and nurtured. Each day holds sacred opportunity to be present in the company of others, and to depart to holy deserts. Discerning our rhythm is a great spiritual art form.
“Holiness is simply being connected to our Source. From such a place, our compassionate response to suffering and need is drawn naturally—without being contrived or forced—from who we are in love, not from egoic motivations or fears.” @RichardRohrOFM
“God is perpetually on bended knee, doing everything it takes to convince stubborn & petulant children that they are seen and loved...speaking to us with poetry, proverb, letters, and legend, like a mother reading storybooks to her daughter at bedtime.” -@rachelheldevans
“The love of our neighbor is the only door out of the dungeon of self, where we mope and mow, striking sparks and rubbing phosphorescences out of the walls, blowing our own breath in our own nostrils, instead of issuing to the fair sunlight of God.” - George MacDonald
Join us for the next @GlobalImmerse WEBINAR this Wed 12pmPST, on the importance who we are becoming as we seek to act for peace in the world. Perhaps engaging our own transformation is the first, necessary act of peacemaking.
“In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds.” @HenriNouwen
Suffering is not an inevitable state of being that enables us to love but is a redeemable element of the human experience that aids us to transcend pain and discover love. Jesus said, “in this world there is pain, but take heart, I have overcome the world (John 16).”
“The only choice we have as we mature is how we inhabit our vulnerability, how we become larger and more courageous and more compassionate through our
intimacy with disappearance.” @whytedw
Thank you, @OlafurArnalds for a beautiful night in San Diego. So soulful and serene. Your music has been the accompaniment to this last year of my life.