Earlier this week I was reading a blog that referred to a saying: “Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having had a different past.” I’d never heard it before, but the minute I read it, I felt struck with insight.
I’ve said before that outsiders to faith sometimes see the Christian…..
I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word, “Repent!” I’m picturing a crazy person with a placard proclaiming the end of the world. Somehow it seems difficult to treat the idea of “repenting” seriously.
Maybe it’s because we think only really big wrongs call for repentance. It’s not…..
Years ago I rented the movie, “The Sixth Sense,” famous for its surprise ending. Unfortunately, while I was in the video store, I had heard people talking about the movie and, about halfway through watching it myself, I realized their comments had clued me in to the twist at…..
I have friends who have dual-citizenship, and therefore, two passports. This means that if they’re traveling in Europe, for instance, they use their European passport because they can pass through the entry points more easily. Then they use their US passport to come home.
We actually all have several forms of…..
A continuation of last week’s post: At the Cross. An imagining of Johanna’s experience of Easter and its aftermath based on Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12, 33-53; and John 20:1-22.
In the days following that first Resurrection Day when she had gone with the Marys to the tomb and…..
A continuation of last week’s post Finding Purpose. An imagining of the crucifixion based on Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:40-41; Luke 23:26-46; and John 19:25-27.
Thank God John had come to tell Jesus’s mother. Under a sky still black with night, the alarm sounded from house to house among the women……
A further imagining based on Matthew 9:18-26/Mark 5:21-43/Luke 8:40-56 and Luke 8:1-3. A continuation of last week’s post New Life.
In the months that followed her healing, Johanna, who had lived twelve years an outcast, now found herself embraced with community. As much as she could, she joined along with the women…..
A further imaging based on Matthew 9:18-26/Mark 5:21-43/Luke 8:40-56 and Luke 8:1-3. See my post The Touch for the beginning of the story.
It wasn’t a dream. Johanna woke up the morning after the Rabbi had healed her hemorrhaging, savoring her newfound cleanliness. Samuel rested peacefully beside her, doubtlessly still…..
Christianity faces a tall order in explaining God’s forgiveness. On the surface, it just seems too simple. A person can do any evil, and God guarantees a full pardon? Paul anticipates the problem in Romans 6:15 – “So should we sin more that grace may abound? Of course not!”
…..
While it’s easy to cast blame on others, dealing with our own misdeeds can really trip us up. Instinctively, we know guilt is toxic to us.
We have so many ways to evade feeling guilty – excuses and rationales to make us believe “there’s nothing to feel guilty about.”…..