How many of us wake our children up for school because it’s so much easier than relying on them to do it for themselves? While we’re at it we might as well clean up their messy bedrooms, or do their laundry long after they could do it themselves.
These are…..
As I’ve said before, one of the clearest metaphors of God’s love for us lies in the complicated love of a parent for a child. A parent “falls in love” with the child but quickly discovers that it’s not only impossible, but also imprudent to give the child whatever she wants.
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Last week I described the instantaneous connection that parents generally feel at the birth of their child as an example of “unexplainable” love. Of course, there are others. Why does Romeo “love” Juliet? What makes us suddenly decide we “love” music, or medicine, or tennis?
Our expression in English…..
Poet John Donne intoned: “No man is an island.” Even the staunchest individualist wouldn’t really enjoy being shipwrecked alone or condemned to a solitary existence. Humans are essentially social creatures.
Unlike us, God doesn’t need society for survival. God could have chosen to be God all alone. Instead,…..
Mark Twain quipped: “Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.” How do people of faith get such a bad reputation?
When the Lord made humans “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26), one of the ways we resemble our Parent is in our capacity for joy. Think how our bodies…..
While it’s true that God has great plans and purposes for our lives, I worry that we can forget that the Lord cares about our hardships along the way.
Let’s face it: when we hit bad bumps in the road of life, it’s hard to believe what Paul tells us – that…..
Charles Dickens opens David Copperfield with: “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”
Is this God’s vision of what I called last week – “the greater version of ourselves…..
Thinking about vocation, reminds me of the other, often discounted aspect of God’s call on our lives: our internal transformation. In light of this, I share some thoughts from one of my earliest posts.
When I fully embraced my Christian faith in my late teens, I expected to have God’s help…..
The signs and symbols of vocation filled my dance card last week. Nieces and nephews graduated from high school, my son from college, my husband gave a commencement address and then joined me at a wedding.
On top of all this, in the middle of the week, I attended the Buechner…..
As a little girl, I liked the idea of “spring cleaning.” It was so satisfying to spend time organizing my room or closet and getting all my possessions neatly arranged.
Throughout my adulthood, I’ve been able to revisit that sense of accomplishment from time to time by waiting for the “spirit” to motivate me. It’s…..