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Book of the Month: Schola Caritatis: Learning the Rhythms of God's Amazing Love

  Starting a new feature for the next several months called Book of the Month.  I will present one of my books and tell you a little of the ...

Monday, July 29, 2024

doors

there are doors
that open in our lives
and if we have the courage
to step through them
we will be met by Jesus
on the other side

he will lead us deeper
into his great heart of love
and what looked like a crisis
becomes a conversion
an invitation into
intimacy and affection
beyond our wildest dreams

every crisis offers a conversion
if we are willing to embrace it
and meet Jesus in the midst of it

Friday, July 26, 2024

nothing

Lord
i am nothing
apart from you
i can do nothing
except by your
grace and mercy
and i long to be
filled with nothing
but your unfailing love
be everything
in my nothingness

Saturday, July 20, 2024

attunement

O God
may my heart
be your heart
may my eyes
be your eyes
may my soul
be one with you
may my hope
be in you alone
may it always be
all of you and
none of me

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

cease striving

cease striving 
and know
that I am God

that means
stop building
stop performing
stop proving
stop earning

it means
stop jockeying
stop climbing
stop competing
stop comparing

just stop
be still
and know me
I will do the rest

Sunday, July 14, 2024

overflowing with hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

It’s impossible to separate the presence of true and lasting hope in our lives—and, thus, joy and peace—from the concept and reality of resurrection.  Hope that is not eternal is no hope at all; it is just wishful thinking.  Hope involves something much more substantial.  Hope involves a surety and a joyful expectation of the good that is to come. 

Maybe that’s why hope is not something we typically think about very often.  Our minds are too occupied with temporary things to dwell on eternal ones.  We love to think about our hearts overflowing with life or love or joy, things that are more tangible, but what about overflowing with hope?  What does that even look like? 

Overflowing with hope means that our lives are not determined by our current circumstances, but by a loving and good God who is always working for our eternal benefit and always bringing life out of the jaws of death.  In God’s economy, life always wins—resurrection always follows crucifixion.  A life overflowing with hope sees that; it is able to see beyond the immediate to the everlasting.

O, God of hope, may my life and my spirit be filled to overflowing with all the joy and the peace and the love and the hope that life with you has to offer.  May I never be tempted to put my hope in the things of this world—my own strengths, abilities, or circumstances—but to put my hope ever and always only in you.

Friday, July 5, 2024

disappear

disappear into Me
and you will finally find
the intimacy and the union
you so deeply long for

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

bask

we can beg for mercy
but we must bask in grace
it cannot be earned
it cannot be achieved
it can only be received

grace is lavished upon us
all that’s required is openness
willingness to bathe ourselves
in his goodness and his love