I got soul but I'm not a soldier...

Pascal puts on some pressure with this one.

Luke 18

The Story of the Persistent Widow

^1-3Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, "There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: 'My rights are being violated. Protect me!'

^4-5"He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, 'I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.'"

^6-8Then the Master said, "Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?"

Isaiah 30:20-21
Cry for help and you'll find it's grace and more grace. The moment he hears, he'll answer. Just as the Master kept you alive during the hard times, he'll keep your teacher alive and present among you. Your teacher will be right there, local and on the job, urging you on whenever you wander left or right: "This is the right road. Walk down this road."

Real government

Ephesians 1:21-23
(Christ) in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

Fight cynicism

Great books have one theme but many chapters. (Bob Goff)

Don't fear necessary endings or new beginnings.

New chapters mean the story continues...

Facing any tests?

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face.

All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.

Bundle together

Ecclesiastes 4:12
By yourself you're unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.

We pour out our miseries, God just hears a melody

Don't hold it in.

Share it with God & others.

feeling dry?

Psalm 32
Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be— you get a fresh start,
your slate's wiped clean.

Count yourself lucky—
God holds nothing against you
and you're holding nothing back from him.

When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.

The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.

Then I let it all out;
I said, "I'll make a clean breast of my failures to God." Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over,

It became a butterfly.

what has shattered your illusion of control

Waiting is our destiny as creatures
who cannot by themselves
bring about what they hope for.
We wait in the darkness for
a flame we cannot light,
we wait in fear for a happy ending
we cannot write.
We wait for a not yet
that feels like a not ever.
Waiting is the hardest work of hope. (Lew Smedes)

What state do you live in?

Self-awareness is the cure to self-absorption.

Move out of denial & into God's grace.

He who cannot endure the bad, will not live to see the good.

Let go of your own vision of life ...

and accept what God is doing in your life.

Surrender is costly.

Grouchy much?

Are you a bear in the morning?

Before you get your coffee?

When you don't get your own way?

Perhaps you could be more cuddly these days.

Cheerio!

God speaks in many different ways.

Are you watching for or listening to these messages?

Will you cultivate an attitude of loving attentiveness?

What are you communicating these days?

Don't be a chicken - let people know how much you love and appreciate them.

how do you imagine god to be?

Do you really accept the message that God is head over heels in love with you? I believe that this question is at the core of our ability to mature and grow spiritually. If in our hearts we really don't believe that God loves us as we are, if we are still tainted by the lie that we can do something to make God love us more, we are rejecting the message of the cross. B. Manning

If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

Steps to freedom

1. Forgive others.

2. Accept forgiveness from others.

3. Love others.

4. Accept their love.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." J. Christ

Read for life

Clear the deck - find a place to read prayerfully.

Don't read too quickly.

Read with God at your side.

Listen for His voice as you read.

Be thankful for any learning.

You only have one life - it makes sense to love living it.

Enjoy the ride!

What a wildly wonderful world, God!

Do you have an artitude?

Get creative!

God inhabits the strangest places

Anyplace is a place of love & redemption.

Isaiah 57:15
A Message from the high and towering God,
who lives in Eternity,
whose name is Holy:
"I live in the high and holy places,
but also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed,
And what I do is put new spirit in them,
get them up and on their feet again.

Mourning or sunset?

Grief is neither a disorder nor a healing process: it is a sign of health itself, a whole and natural gesture of love. Nor must we see grief as a step towards something better. No matter how much it hurts - and it may be the greatest pain in life - grief can be an end in itself, a pure expression of love. Gerald May

Why a hospice matters

You matter because you are you and you matter to the last moment of your life. Dame Cicely Saunders

Jesus valued people, period.

a sorrow shared

Speak what is closest to your heart.

Psalm 37
Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he'll do whatever needs to be done:
He'll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.

Quiet down before God,
be prayerful before him.
Don't bother with those who climb the ladder,
who elbow their way to the top.

my time of grief

Real grief is not healed by time. It is false to think that the passing of time will slowly make us forget her and take away our pain. I really want to console you in this letter, but not by suggesting that time will take away your pain, and that in one, two, three, or more years you will not miss her so much anymore. I would not only be telling a lie, I would be diminishing the importance of mother's life, underestimating the depth of your grief, and mistakenly relativizing the power of the love that has bound mother and you together for forty-seven years.

If time does anything, it deepens our grief. The longer we live, the more fully we become aware of who she was for us, and the more intimately we experience what her love meant for us. Real, deep love is, as you know, very unobtrusive, seemingly easy and obvious, and so present that we take it for granted. Therefore, it is often only in retrospect--or better, in memory--that we fully realize its power and depth. Yes, indeed, love often makes itself visible in pain. The pain we are now experiencing shows us how deep, full, intimate, and all-pervasive her love was. (From Henri Nouwen's letter to his father after his mother's death)

of grief and growth

The ultimate goal of grief work is to be able to remember without emotional pain and to be able to reinvest emotional surpluses. While the experience of grief work is difficult, slow and wearing, it is also enriching and fulfilling.

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat - known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depth. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity and an understanding of life, which fills them with compassion, gentleness and a deep loving concern.

Beautiful people do not just happen. E. Kubler-Ross

Where do you find Jesus?

The life of faith has to do with extraordinary experience; the life of faith has to do with ordinary experience. Neither cancels out the other; neither takes precedence over the other…The life of faith has to do with the glories of discovering far more in life than we ever dreamed of; the life of faith has to do with doggedly putting one flat foot in front of the other, wondering what the point of it all is. Neither cancels out the other; neither takes precedence over the other. Eugene Peterson

Jeremiah 9
God's Message:

"Don't let the wise brag of their wisdom.
Don't let heroes brag of their exploits.
Don't let the rich brag of their riches.
If you brag, brag of this and this only:
That you understand and know me.
I'm God, and I act in loyal love.
I do what's right and set things right and fair,
and delight in those who do the same things.
These are my trademarks."
God's Decree.

How much time do you spend on daydreaming and vanity?

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!

Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.