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Category Archives: Spiritual Life
The Shield of Faith
Above all, we must take the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16), and faith here is not so much believing this thing or that thing about God as it is hearing a voice that says, “Come unto me.” We hear the … Continue reading
Where God Seeps Through
Bruce Epperly on thin places where God seeps through: Having spoken of God’s presence, it is equally clear that certain times and places have a unique feel to them. In our own lives, these might be holding a grandchild, the … Continue reading
Spirit Based, Not Text Based
Sunday night our Lenten studies continued. A rabbi from Sylvania talked to us about Judaism. Excellent speaker. He held our attention for over an hour, without notes; he showed us a number of objects, including a portion of a Torah … Continue reading
Posted in Spiritual Life
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I wander from day to day
I wander from day to day. What am I looking for? Love? Happiness? Peace? But when I look to you, O Christ, my face shines with joy, shame skulks away, demons flee. I am delivered! You are the life I … Continue reading
An Open Wound of Love
I visit parishioners in care facilities, like this one on Sand Creek Highway. I saw a man and a woman there today. The woman was asleep so I simply sat at her bedside for a time. I call these Quaker … Continue reading
The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks. Translated by Benedicta Ward. The Desert Fathers and Mothers flourished in the Middle East from the 3rd century onward. Their words and way of life became the foundation of Christian monasticism. … Continue reading
Fresh Sap
From Rufus Jones (1863-1948), Quaker writer and humanitarian: When a man’s praying sinks into words, words, words, it means that he is trying to get along with a dead conception of God. The circuit no longer closes. He cannot heighten … Continue reading
Seasons of Silence
When an old cottonwood tree next to her home loses its leaves, Maria Evans becomes sad with the ensuing silence. The tree no longer makes its “heavenly applause” as the wind blows through its leaves. Winter is a season of … Continue reading
Posted in Nature, Spiritual Life
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‘doubt is as old as faith’
Allan R. Bevere called my attention to this post from James K. A. Smith, professor of philosophy at Calvin College, where he notes that doubt has always had an honored place in orthodox forms of Christianity. It seems that those … Continue reading
Spiritual Royalty
On Friday my wife turned on the TV in our room at 6 a.m. to see the royal wedding while we were staying with a relative in Newport News, Virginia. I asked her to hand me my glasses and settled … Continue reading
Posted in History, Spiritual Life
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‘God does indeed communicate’
The one corner-stone of belief upon which the Society of Friends is built is the conviction that God does indeed communicate with each one of the spirits he has made, in a direct and living inbreathing of some measure of … Continue reading
Prayer Spaces
On the trapped miners in Chile: Jimmy Sanchez, one of the 33 Chilean miners who have been trapped for over two months in the San Jose copper-gold mine in the Atacama Desert, would like to make one small correction to … Continue reading
Christian Simplicity
“It is, indeed, not easy to define the precise kind or amount of luxury which is incompatible with Christian simplicity; or rather it must of necessity vary. But the principle is, I think, clear. In life, as in art, whatever … Continue reading
Isaac Pennington on Grace
“Grace is a spiritual inward thing, an holy Seed, sown by God, springing up in the heart. People have got a notion of grace, but know not the thing. Do not thou matter the notion, but feel the thing; and … Continue reading
What To Do With Doubt
Gordon Atkinson offers guidance to believers on what to do with doubt. His best advice is to continue on with your religious practices even in times of doubting. It’s like when a man asked the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins how … Continue reading
Gordon McDonald on an Inner Conversation
Gordon McDonald believes clergy need to take regular time each week for an inner conversation with God and with themselves. He envisions a time to ask questions of ourselves and look for insight on what God is teaching us. He draws … Continue reading
Prayer for Kids
I helped with children’s Sunday school last Sunday. Since worship and education run concurrently, that meant skipping out of the worship service itself. Being an associate with only minimal responsibilities in morning worship, I can easily do this. I understand … Continue reading
Mid-Life Conversions
Paula Huston on the radical spiritual changes than can happen in mid-life, which she calls the third conversion: Despite my upbringing as a level-headed Lutheran and my later allegiance to a church that locates the source of spiritual growth primarily … Continue reading
