Posts By This Author
Voice of the Day: Being a Friend
Jesus had a remarkable way of being a friend to every person he met. We sense in him the ability to welcome the stranger, to find the hidden gift in those others called sinners, to strengthen the ability of the loving to love more. He loved some by confronting them with the ways in which they were unloving and exploitative of others. He challenged the hypocritical in those who made it their right to judge others with constant reminders that we not only must not but cannot judge another. He [...]
Verse of the Day: 'Whenever you pray'
And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
- Matthew 6:5-6
Voice of the Day: Heart to Heart
Who has not, at some time, been lonely in the midst of a social event? The feeling of our separation from the rest of life is most acute when we are surrounded by it in noise and talk. We realize then much more than in moments of solitude how strange we are t oeach other, how estrangede life is from life.... The walls of distance, in time and space, have been removed by technical progress; but the walls of estrangement between heart and heart have been incredibly strengthened
- Paul [...]
Verse of the Day: Wisdom
Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; but time and chance happen to them all. For no one can anticipate the time of disaster. Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11-12
Voice of the Day: On Dance
The dance is a symbol of the universal order and can be compared with the dance of the stars. For prayer is a spiritual dance.... God leads the ring dance of the heavenly bodies. God leads inside the ring.
- Raffaello delle Colombe [...]
Verse of the Day: Study War No More
Many peoples shall come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths."
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war [...]
Voice of the Day: On Community
God's love sets me free to enter into community with other people-even when the community is a very limited one and is not the total communion that my heart desires. Only when I live in communion with God can I live in a community that is not perfect. Only then can I love the other person and create a space in which we might be quite distant or very close, but we can still allow something new to be born-a child, friendship, joy, community, a space where strangers and guests can be [...]
Verse of the Day: Profane or Unclean
and he said to them, "You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.
- Acts 10:28-28
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A Warning to Comment Meanies (by Ryan Rodrick Beiler, et al)
...I pledged to stay away from this site for a couple of weeks to see if the discussion could possibly turn more civil and not be dominated by one person. Since I had a half hour to kill before leaving for the evening, I broke my pledge (weakness on my part) and checked the most recent blog on sojo.net just to see if anything at all had changed. [...]
Verse of the Day: Discipleship
When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
- Matthew 28:17-20
Voice of the Day: Solitude
Language has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone, and the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.
- Paul Tillich
Voice of the Day: God of Circumstances
The circumstances of our lives are another medium of God's communication with us. God opens some doors and closes others.... Through the wisdom of our bodies, God tells us to slow down or reorder our priorities. The happy coincidences and frustrating impasses of daily life are laden with messages. Patient listening and the grace of the Spirit are the decoding devices of prayer. It is a good habit to ask, What is God saying to me in this situation? Listening to our lives is part of [...]
Verse of the Day: 'pride of everyone shall be humbled'
The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low,
and the pride of everyone shall be humbled;
and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up and high
- Isaiah 2:11-12
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Verse of the Day: Wisdom
Wisdom gives strength to the wise more than ten rulers that are in a city.
- Ecclesiastes 7:19-19
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Voice of the Day: On Prayer
Words of prayer are commitments. We stand for what we utter. The word of prayer is like a pledge in the making.
- Abraham Joshua Heschel
Verse of the Day: ' do not worry about how you are to speak '
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
- Matthew 10:19-22
Verse of the Day: ' do not worry about how you are to speak '
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
- Matthew 10:19-22
Verse of the Day: ' do not worry about how you are to speak '
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
- Matthew 10:19-22
Voice of the Day: Ware on Mystery
In the Christian context, we do not mean by a "mystery" merely that which is baffling and mysterious, an enigma or insoluble problem. A mystery is, on the contrary, something that is revealed for our understanding, but which we never understand exhaustively because it leads into the depth or the darkness of God. The eyes are closed-but they are also opened.
- Kallistos Ware
The Orthodox Way
Verse of the Day: Hypocrites!
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
- Matthew 23:29-30