If we did not have healthy role models, Grace still has a way of finding us. “From God’s fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (John 1:16).

Is it possible for us to live in child-like wonder and awe? Can we live in a state of mystery, curiosity, and wild abandon?

To repent is to change our mind, our way of thinking and living. Are we willing to change? Do we want to change? What changes would give us more peace, more joy, and more love in our lives?

As Nouwen profoundly writes, “The question is not how to avoid loss and make it not happen, but how to choose it as a passage, as an exodus to greater life and freedom.”

Let’s sink into our past, good and bad, and learn, heal, and grow from it. May we be new creations rooted in God’s radical love and grace for all.

More than anything, our hearts crave the warmth and trust of intimacy.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The big generous hearts of our youth can turn into cynical adult hearts. Which heart do we feed or cultivate?

By the Grace of God, with humble and contrite hearts, may we move from judgment, anger, and moral smugness towards others, to hearts of empathy and greater understanding

When we go deep into our hearts, beneath our fears, our anxiety, and our insecurities, we discover that God’s heart is our heart. There is Love.

How intentional are we about our need to rest and replenish our souls? As we make our new year’s resolutions, will we create time and space to simply be?

Love is infinite (1 Corinthians 13:8).

When was the last time we were “overwhelmed with joy”? Have we been “surprised by joy”?

How can we increase peace and decrease violence?

It is difficult to keep hope alive when the walls crumble down around us and our communities, and child-like innocence easily fades into adult cynicism and despair.

“More than anything else, we long for home. Our deep ache for intimacy, security, and comfort is, in the end, a longing for home, nothing more. We are forever restlessly searching for someone or something to take us home.”

What does it mean to walk in faith when we have been violated by someone? Can I say the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”? Can I say this prayer with any authenticity if I don’t practice it?

“Our culture invariably supposes that action and accomplishment are better than rest, that doing something—anything—is better than doing nothing. Because we do not rest, we lose our way.”

Fear can prevent us from experiencing the Grace and Mercy of God. Fear can prevent us from loving another human being.

External storms come and go, but how do we make peace with the storms within us which seem to never end?

Jesus says, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Don’t be afraid in the storms. They are part of life. I will be with you.

May the Spirit continue to flow through us as we let the holy water shape and form us, so we may be one.

Jesus says, “Come and eat breakfast.” You are welcome at my table. “Come and eat.” With the invitation, Peter and the disciples know the Living Christ accepts, forgives, loves, and restores them. Fish and bread have never tasted better.

Patience trusts that the Spirit is working through the world, the church, and us for peace and unity. And patience is active not passive. We become the change we want to see.

What unbinds us and helps us let go of our pain and sorrow? Does grace slowly mend our broken hearts through tears? Through time? Through a listening ear?

Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to eat. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

With humility, we move from judging someone or a group to having empathy and compassion. We move from seeing in part to seeing more fully, the other person and ourselves.

Sadly, beliefs often exclude rather than include. Beliefs often make the circle smaller and smaller defining who is in and who is out, who is acceptable and who is not. Grounded in the love of Christ, may we make the circle wider and wider until no one is left standing outside it.

The church is a dynamic family. If we are honest, all of us know how beautiful and how difficult family structures can be. Family can build us up, love us, and inspire us; and family can break us down and harm us deeply.

Christ calls us to make our circles wide and to stand in solidarity with all human beings. We have sacred moments where we stand as one in love and forgiveness.

We spiritually grow in liminal space, but generally try to avoid it because it is a time of uncertainty or chaos.

That is what God calls us to do—to see God’s creation and know that it is clean and beautiful—to see our fellow human beings and know that we are all created in God’s image.

We can have more empathy, compassion, and love for our mothers when we recognize the weight of life they had to shoulder.

At a sacred meal, we share our ideas, hopes and failures, new dreams and lost dreams at an inclusive table “flowing with milk and honey.”

Jesus breathes on the disciples and says to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). The Spirit is breath. His breath is their breath. Our breath is Christ’s breath.

Sometimes Easter Joy creeps into our Good Fridays. It is good that Good Friday and Easter have their own days, but we can’t really separate them. They are not mutually exclusive events because you can’t have one without the other.

A small, nondescript wooden sign says in block letters, “Please Visit Our Healing Garden.” Who can resist such an invitation?

We are not in control, but we can trust “that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Life is a series of movements and passages. How do we respond to losses and change?

What is the Good News that we can lean into during our current instability and struggles? What can we lean into within our pain, our grief, our disbelief, our cracked foundations, and our shaky footing?

Have we ever feasted on the alpenglow? Have we seen the glory of light revealed? Have we had a “foretaste of glory divine”? Have we stood in the space between heaven and earth? Has light filled us with awe and wonder?

I rolled the shakers around in my hand, examining each scratch and dent, the salt label faded beyond recognition.

All of us will encounter grief and sorrow during our journey through life. Paradoxically, the more we love, the more we will grieve. We cannot avoid it or go around it though we try, but we must go through it.

Is there grace and hope and light in our grief? The pain of our world? Does grief serve a purpose? Does the light come in and out through brokenness?

Mature faith or contemplation “allows us to see the truth of things in their wholeness.” We see our own beauty and our flaws. We begin to recognize the complexity of the people and situations around us.

As we welcome 2022 and our hopes for a New Year, let us make a commitment to practice forgiveness.

When we fall in love, we walk lightly on the ground, and we hear the birds singing. We write poetry and sing songs. Falling in love is a Norman Rockwell painting in process. It is wonderful and so easy to fall into love, but it is quite another thing to stay in love. Can we stay in love with one another and God?

I imagine the shepherds soaked in the sudden, glorious starlight, and they knew that light was “good news of great joy for all people.” What is joy and can we live in joy?

Jesus, the child born in the manger, the Prince of Peace, grows up and embodies peace, creates peace, and shares peace. Blessed are the peacemakers he told us. Put your swords away.

We have moments when get frustrated, lose patience, and get irritated with one another. It’s part of life. But do we also experience moments that saturate us in the way of Christ’s peace and grace?

The one God, creator of all, is not the God of one nation, one religion, one denomination, or one ethnicity. Christ is everywhere. This changes everything.

How often do we respond to anger with more anger? How often do we meet violence with more violence? Mary stands silently in love and compassion not resignation. How do we stand when we face sorrow, anger, or injustice?

Do we practice giving thanks for things big and small? A blue sky, a golden leaf, the soft cool breeze, a friendly hello, our next breath, a hot meal, and a warm bed? A cold pop? Do we find hidden blessings in the struggles and difficulties in life? This is a challenge.

When our hearts are full, life is good and our “cup overflows.” Sometimes when sadness or grief overwhelm us, we might say, “My heart aches.” Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Matthew 22:37). The heart is prevalent in all aspects of our lives.

We cannot fit one more thing into our schedule, but the requests for our time and energy do not stop. Can we say no? Did Jesus ever say no to requests for his time, his gifts, and his energy?

Let us give thanks for Christ’s grace and mercy. Let us move from self-righteous judgment to shared empathy. With humility, we are one.

How much time do we spend in Christ’s house of grace living in a spirit of compassion, understanding, acceptance, and reverence for ourselves and others?

When resentment comes into our life, what would God have us do? Should we hang on to it and become more and more bitter?

We can befriend our dreams, befriend our shadow, befriend our unconscious, and we can befriend death.

When we start connecting our pain/grief to the larger world, our common humanity, then we become part of the grand restorative narrative: lost and found, exile and return, death and resurrection. We move from sorrow to joy.

May our deep tears be cathartic and lead to resurrection joy.

Jesus loved everyone and he stood in compassion, empathy, and unity with those on the margins.

Jesus lived in solitude, and he lived in community. He began his ministry by spending forty days alone in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). How do we begin our days? Before he chose the twelve disciples, he spent the entire night alone in the desert hills (Luke 6:12). Do we spend time in silence before we make decisions?

Do we see our Creator in the stranger? Do we see Christ’s love and goodness in those who are different from us? Would we recognize Jesus if he walked into our church? What would He look like?

If God cannot be rested in, God must not be much of a God. Where do we find rest and peace?

What to an American, to a Christian, is the Fourth of July? I ask this question knowing the answer is myriad, even as America is e pluribus unum—one out of many.

Do we tend to bless, or do we tend to curse? Maybe a little of both, but as we consciously grow in faith we bless more and curse less.

Are we aware of our need to receive forgiveness and extend forgiveness daily? Or, do we say, “We’re just fine.” Is the practice of forgiveness a way of life for us?

What has opened our hearts to a deeper understanding or more tenderness? Has anything closed or hardened our hearts? Can grace and intention transform our hearts?

Mary lets her pain and grief transform her, so she embodies the peace, the gentleness, the forgiveness, and the light of Christ.

Jesus did not just come to tell us about life after death but to show us how to live life now.

Jesus invites us to recognize that gladness and sadness are never separate. Have we seen blessings/gifts spring forth from difficult situations, hard times?

Paradise exists is in our common ordinary lives: the bread we bake, the seeds we plant, and the small blessings we receive.

Deep listening is an act of love. How often do we truly attend to one another, creation, our Spirit?  

What is enough? How do we know if we have it? How do we know if we have done enough work for one day?

When we walk and do not have a destination, we are free to see the holy, the sacred, and the beauty in the world. We have time to listen and to be present.

To experience resurrection is to live with childlike wonder. And maybe, we will hear the Risen Christ say to us, “Do not be afraid. The world is full of wonder, beauty, and mystery. I will be with you always.”

Unity is being together or at one with someone or something, being on the same page, being of one mind and heart. It is a rare, precious, and an invaluable, hard-earned gift.

Like Mary, do we long to be known? To be held? To be the recipient of God’s love and adoration? Do we believe love is greater than death? Do we rise?

It is gut-wrenching, trying, and endearing to ride the roller-coaster of life, but we find lasting hope in knowing that Christ is with us and love perseveres through it all.

We will have more love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness if we fill our lives with simple good things and give thanks to God, our Creator for them.

God’s grace heals, mends, and restores us and hate usually destroys us or at the very least makes us miserable

May we give thanks to those people who have taught us how to live well through their living example.

In the desert, no matter how arduous it might be, no matter how parched we may be for a drink of water, we discover angels are all around us.

Only forgiveness can break the cycle of resentment, pain, and blame. Forgiveness is unfair but it is the only thing that offers us a way out from the weight of resentment and anger.

How do we get back to loving one another as Christ loved us? Who do we share or not share the grace and love of God with?

When Jesus left the world, he gifted his peace and joy to us, “These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

Thank God for the example of the Prodigal Father, Jesus the Christ, and the Coach Ards of the world. They show us a way forward.

To live in a vibrant, life-giving community is to practice forgiveness. May we ask for the grace to let go so we can live in the present and not the past.

Do we believe more in ourselves or in the grace of community life? Isn’t it easier to just do it ourselves and not bother with other people or another group?  

In our life we will hear voices that will encourage us to hate, to destroy, and to vilify our neighbors. Loud charismatic voices will tell us that love and forgiveness are naïve, ridiculous, and foolish. Power, violence, and control rule the day, not love, some voices say. What voices do we listen to and what voices shape the way we live?

It is a new year, and it can be a new beginning for us. Henri Nouwen writes, “So how can we be in touch with the Spirit, hear the voice of the Spirit, and allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit?” Can we create some space for God to inform, guide, and shape our responses to all the interactions we have each day?

As we take time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, may the spirit of Christ continually be born in us. What needs to be born or born anew in us today?

A warm smile. A kind word. A heartfelt thank you. A hug. Forgiveness. A meal made with great care. A phone call from a long-ago friend. Flowers blooming in the spring. A dog’s joyful greeting. Prayer.

Do we see God’s love in the world, and do we give birth to Love?

When we are feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or stressed out, what do we do? Do we react in haste? Are we compulsive? Do we think things through? Do we have the faith of Mary to stop and ponder?

We develop a deeper spirit of peace within us when we no longer have anything left to cling to. What are we hanging on to?

May we experience God’s intimate love and grace moving through us and through our world. May we find within our hearts “a place where the light shines with tender memories.” May we live with hope.

So much like the first disciples, we wait in the cloud of unknowing in our “upper rooms” wherever they may be.

What outer garments do we wear that keep us from forming relationships with the other? What outer garments do we wear that separate us? What do we wear that prevents us from seeing the image of God in our neighbor?

Is love just sentimental or is love also the pain of healing, the exercise necessary to heal a broken body or spirit? A broken nation?