“You turned my mourning into dancing.” Psalm 30:11 Mourning is nonnegotiable. It can’t be avoided in any life fully lived. Mourning and grieving are identical twins, and when we’ve irretrievably lost something, the healthiest thing to do is grieve. Anyone who doesn’t “grieve their losses” – the small ones and the big ones – is …
The ministry of listening…
The neighborhoods I frequent in order to make friends with God host hundreds of men and women who talk to themselves and yell at invisible antagonists. Their minds are mush from birth or from abuse or from profuse amounts of Seagrams, crack, heroin, or meth – or all of the above. The people there are …
Lessons of a Loser (part four)
Alcoholics Know How To Pray A while back I ran across the prayer often used by Alcoholics Anonymous groups. Anne Lamott calls it a "Greatest Hits prayer" and posits an alternative to the opening part: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, …
Sharing a meal together as friends (part two)
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Revelation 3:20 (NLT) When Jesus enters (into our hearts or into his lazy church), let’s imagine he comes in through the entryway – and then …
Continue reading "Sharing a meal together as friends (part two)"
Sharing a meal together as friends (part one)
“I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into their house and eat with them, and they will eat with me.” Revelation 3:20 (GNT) From this well-known, maybe overused, but hopefully not worn-out passage, many spiritual applications have been made. Jesus knocking, us hearing …
Continue reading "Sharing a meal together as friends (part one)"
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