Bringing Faith to Life
Quotes
Fit for the Kingdom
0What makes us fit? A good fit?
Our shape? Size? Color? Language? Nationality?
Our behavior? Net worth? Service record?
Our church membership? Community service? Volunteer hours?
Our education? Employment? Contribution?
Is it
How many lives we’ve touched?
How many stories we’ve listened to?
How many hands we’ve held?
How many sacrifices we’ve made?
How many gifts we’ve given?
What we’ve done? What we’ve left undone?
Is it... How much we pray? How often we meditate? How acquainted we are with God? a Higher Power? a Supreme Being? How many Bible verses we can quote? How obedient we are? How dutiful, faithful, diligent?
What makes us fit for the Kingdom? a good fit in the Kingdom?
Our Creator does.
The One who knows the shape of the Kingdom space we were created to fill.
What does Creative shaping feel like?
A spin-whirl-hum, twirling,
A pinch-push-pull, settling,
A chisel-whittle-hone, admiring,
A plant-water-fertilize, tending,
A spark-breath-glow, emerging
Going, grasping, gauging,
growing, glowing,
round and round, in and out,
down and up and toward.
All for the want of light.
Light.
The light of love pulls us
Extends us
Stretches us
Prods us
When darkness comes,
Love reaches for us.
Our hand fits perfectly in This hand.
Our body nestles perfectly into This bosom.
Our soul rests perfectly in This soul.
In our Creator’s image, we fit.
We always fit.
“I declare my courage to participate in the building of the reign of God that is in the world and in me.” ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen with Nathan Ball
Who is your brave-booster?
0
She was never quite ready.
But she was brave
and the universe listens to brave.
~ Rebecca Ray
The universe may listen to brave,
but mostly, it turns a deaf ear,
laughs in your face
and sends you packing.
the world doesn’t reward brave,
doesn’t reimburse you for your troubles,
doesn’t acknowledge the courage it took
to step out on your own,
to forage for food and find your own way.
the world is … short-sighted.
set up to fail brave people.
that’s what it’s always done
to the prophets who warned
against prevailing opinions.
God didn’t make me the world’s kind of brave,
didn’t make you the world’s kind of brave.
God made us God’s kind of brave.
to help others find courage,
to point others to capability,
to invest in the good in others,
at cost.
It’s expensive.
Because that brave lasts.
The universe resonates with that brave.
Our Senses Know What is Sacred
0
Ah, fresh baked bread. Remember the smell of that kitchen? The rounded loaves, crisp and golden. Two handfuls torn open to the white, fluffy softness that melted the butter instantly. Mouth watering goodness.
Ooh, crystal glasses of deep red bounty set before each place. Remember that first sip? Tangy tartness or oaken boldness, swirled from lip to tongue to teeth to tonsils, dancing and twirling. A heart’s deep thanks.
The blessed sacrament: a meal we know. So like the one shared in Grandma’s kitchen and at Papa’s table. Now, a feast partaken among friends. Eat. Drink. Fill your hunger, slake your thirst. Yes, but first, come to your senses. Look at the elements, offered for you. Touch it, smell it, taste it. Partake and be nourished. Kneel and give thanks. Listen, to what calls you from this table and from this meal.
We, in the flesh, are met here to be filled. Flowing over in abundance, we are sent.
Flinging open the sanctuary doors, the wind whips our faces and stings our bare skin. The stench of septic assaults our noses and we hold our breath against the onslaught. An arm thrown over our eyes for protection, we dodge flying debris as we lean into the gale.
“Friends! Friends!” I call. “Come. Come and have lunch.”
In the distance, a child rises to come quickly, but a woman presses her back, staring at this woman dressed in church clothes, with church purse, and designer shoes. Staring at me. Surely, I do not mean them.
“Neighbors! Neighbors!” I call. “Come. Come and have lunch.”
Stepping nearer to them, the stench no longer assaults me but is fragrant. The gale no longer pelts, it’s a mere breeze. My hands are free to extend to this family, who did not know my Grandmother’s fresh baked bread or my Papa’s full bodied wine and do not know me.
A child, the smallest of three I now see, wriggles from her place. A grin starting at her lips and a query forming in her eyes, she steps to me and mimics: “Come … have … lunch.” Pleased with the effort, her eyes sparkle and her grin grows. She opens both hands to receive mine.
Her tiny fingers, darkened by nature and worn rough by destiny, are a surprise of firmness and warmth. She took me, the bread and cup of me, and we had lunch.
Blessed Sacrament, you are Holy.
“Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Diversity doesn’t diminish, it stabilizes
0
Mountain or Tower?
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” ~ Matthew 7:24-25
Towers topple, but mountains stand, even in a storm.
Peace Out
4
Let’s DO this! …
At a certain time, say, 7:00 pm Friday night, we all just walk out of the building we are in. Just out.
Just for a few minutes.
Not rally, not speeches, not organized.Just OUT.
Quiet.
Talk to neighbor. Just OUT.
Solidarity.
Done.Ready to move on.
Beyond guns.
Beyond oligarchy.
Beyond injustice.
Beyond racism.
Beyond homophobia.
Beyond sexism.
Beyond putting one another down to feel raised up.
Beyond fear.
Beyond hatred.
Beyond pitting one against another.
Beyond destroying this Earth that holds us.Together we stand.
Stand.
I stand here, next to you.
You stand there, next to me.Person by Person. Neighborhood by neighborhood.
City by City.
Land by Land.
Together.We, the people.
~ Magi Treece
Meekness is not…
0Meekness is not weakness, rather it’s a sign of surrender to God.” ~ Rev. Barbara Miner
Don’t Save Yourself for Later, You Won’t Keep
0Spotted on Inward/Outward…
Guidelines
Here’s what you need to do, since time began:
find something—diamond-rare or carbon-cheap,
it’s all the same—and love it all you can.
It should be something close—a field, a man,
a line of verse, a mouth, a child asleep—
that feels like the world’s heart since time began.
Don’t measure much or lay things out or scan;
don’t save yourself for later, you won’t keep;
spend yourself now on loving all you can.
It’s going to hurt. That was the risk you ran
with your first breath; you knew the price was steep,
that loss is what there is, since time began
subtracting from your balance. That’s the plan,
too late to quibble now, you’re in too deep.
Just love what you still have, while you still can.
Don’t count on schemes, it’s far too short a span
from the first sowing till they come to reap.
One way alone to count, since time began:
love something, love it hard, now, while you can.
Fear is fun to blame
0~ from Jon Acuff today ~
A few months ago I had a conversation with my wife Jenny at our dinner table. Here’s how it went:Jon: I’m too afraid to write this book.
Jenny: No, you’re too lazy, but fear is fun to blame because then it’s not your fault.
Jon (and the chorus of millions): Grenade.
How many times have I blamed fear?
I’m just a shy person.
I don’t have the capability.
I don’t have the experience.
I couldn’t stand up to the dissenters.
When fear takes the fall, I don’t have to.
Fear is fun to blame. It excuses us from doing so many things we are meant to. Addressing them, fixing them, overcoming them.
Fear not, the angel said.
But I can’t…
I know you can’t, but God can.
Do you believe this?
Then be not afraid.
Let God be.
Fear is fun to blame. But courage is called for. All it takes is one. Who will go for me?
Two forces are at work in the world
09 years
“If we are to have a good day, there are certain things that we must do as Christians, and certain things that we must be content to leave undone. Further, there are certain things that we must be prepared to have done to us just because we are Christians.
Our text opens with a kind of five-pronged reminder of things we must do if we are to have a good day, and the five fingers grow out of the hand of constructiveness. Listen to Peter, “…have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind.” (I Peter 3:8)
Two forces are at work in the world; the centrifugal, which tends to alienate, to separate, to drive apart; and the centripetal, that which binds together, creates fellowship. Is there any doubt which is the Christian force?
Listen to our Lord in his high-priestly prayer praying, “…that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us… I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one.” (John 17: 21, 23)
It is the will of God that there be perfect unity on Earth. There is no better time than the present to work for it.”
JWR’s text, pg 2-3.
***
As I live in a world increasingly divided, with voices and actions increasingly divisive, and with candidates for president of the United States sniping at each other via Twitter and Instagram, I find my Grandfather’s words prophetic.
There are two forces at work: centrifugal and centripetal. Can there be any doubt which is the Christian force?
photo credit to www.livescience.com