Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy are lying on a hillside looking up at the clouds. Lucy says, “If you use your imagination you can see lots of things in the cloud formations. What do you think you see, Linus?” Linus replies, “Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of Honduras on […]
A couple of days ago, I shared a little about a podcast interview I heard with the author Sylvia Boorstein. She was talking about dealing with anger, and at one point, she brought up the old-school GPS in her car. You may remember when you missed a turn, the GPS would say, “Recalculating.” Then it […]
If you walk into our local hospital these days, you’ll be greeted by a large poster that says: Aggressive behavior will not be tolerated. This includes: Physical abuse. Verbal Harassment. Abusive or foul language. Threats. Damaging system property.” At a hospital! – a place for healing. More and more we see signs like this in […]
In Ephesians, chapter 4: 25-5:1, Paul writes, “Be angry but do not sin… It’s a fine line, isn’t it? I was listening to a podcast interview with Sylvia Boorstein the other day and she said, “I remember my father, who is now long gone, hearing me teach about transforming anger into work in the world; […]
Sometime back, I heard the Benedictine monk, David Steindl-Rast talk about the word “spirituality” which comes from “spiritus” which means “life,” “breath,” “aliveness.” He says that “spirituality is aliveness on all levels. It has to start with our bodily aliveness, that is being alert/aware of all that is around us. But of course, when we […]
Henri Nouwen once told about a time when he visited a monastery on retreat. The monks at that monastery observed vows of silence and the retreat was to be meditative and prayerful. Nouwen was delayed and had to arrive late on a rainy night, well after bedtime. He was met at the door by one […]
In the book of Deuteronomy, after laying out a beautiful way of life, God instructs us, “You shall write these words of mine in your heart and soul and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as emblem on your forehead… Write them on the doorposts of your house […]
A second grader once asked his teacher how much the earth weighed. The teacher googled the answer. “Six thousand million, million tons,” she answered. The little boy thought for a minute and then asked, “Is that with or without people?” The story is funny! And it is true. People matter! People especially matter to God. […]
Many years ago I remember hearing about the Royal Palace in Teheran, Iran. Apparently, an architect planned for the walls of the royal palace entry to be covered with sheets of beautiful mirrors from Paris. But when the shipment of glass arrived, they discovered that every mirror had been smashed in travel. The entire shipment […]
Psalm 139 is one of my favorites. If we pray it, it reminds us of the truth that each and every one of us is created by God. We are the work of God’s hands. I love the imagery. Verse 13 claims, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (I can just picture God […]
