A Resolution

“My [child], resolve to do the will of others rather than your own. Always choose to possess less rather than more. Always take the lowest place, and regard yourself as less than others.”

- Thomas A. Kempis, from The Imitation of Christ

Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again, my friend
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Broken

“To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in need of grace.”

- Brennan Manning

Turning Fully to God

“There is no such thing as the right place, the right job, the right calling or ministry. I can be happy or unhappy in all situations. I am sure of it, because I have been … deciding to do this, that, or the other for the next five, ten, or twenty years is no great decision. Turning fully, unconditionally, and without fear to God is. Yet this awareness sets me free.”

- Henri J.M. Nouwen

Antoine De St.-Exupery

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

the garden of eden (part 1)

i was going through a huge stack of papers in my home office tonight when i came across an assignment i had the youth in my old youth group do about 5 or 6 years ago. the assignment was this: “describe in your own words what you think the garden of eden looked like.” i thought it would be cool to post some of the responses over the coming days.

What I see…

A vast field with green, healthy plants; large, rugged trees; and gentle animals roaming through. At the edge of the utopia, a massive brick wall separates it from the slightest imperfection. The wall is covered with long vines, which seem to have no end. Although the yellow sun shines down on this place, warm drops of rain pour down, off the leaves and cover the ground, yet not leaving a single puddle. There is a nighttime, where pearly white stars flood the sky like a warm blanket. And the moon sets, while the beings lay down to rest.

To be honest, I can’t imagine what they would do in such a place, because I can’t comprehend a McDonald-less world!

No Little People

The people who receive praise from the Lord Jesus will not in every case be the people who hold leadership in this life. There will be many persons who were sticks of wood that stayed close to God and were quiet before Him, and were used in power by Him in a place which looks small to men.

Each Christian is to be a rod of God in the place God has for them. We must remember throughout our lives that in God’s sight there are no little people and no little places. Only one thing is important: to be consecrated persons in God’s place for us, at each moment.

Those who think of themselves as little people in little places, if committed to Christ and living under His Lordship in the whole of life, may, by God’s grace, change the flow of our generation.

~Francis Schaeffer~

A Prayer…

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

~Thomas Merton~

the “evolution” of christianity

I came across this quote today. A very interesting one actually.

“Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.” – Sam Pascoe, American scholar.

community

it is in community that we come to see God in the other. it is in community that we see our own emptiness filled up. it is community that calls me beyond the pinched horizons of my own life, my own country, my own race, and gives me the gifts I do not have within me.

- joan chittister