December 2011
28 posts
3 tags
a Prayer
Lord, make us a refuge to the poor. Help us prepare a feast for the hungry. Teach us to wipe away the tears of those who mourn, even as you shelter us, feed us, and wipe away our tears. Amen.
5 tags
“This is the rule of most perfect Christianity, its most exact definition, its...”
– John Chrysostom
3 tags
a Prayer
Lord, what you call compassion, others call weakness. What you call conviction, others call dissidence. What you call love, others call mixing with sinners. We pray that we too might be found weak, dissident, and in bad company, especially if it means we are closer to you. Amen.
1 tag
A prayer
Lord, your coming is still miraculous. Your joining the family of the poor and displaced still baffles and convicts us. Keep us by your manger until we learn the way of love. Amen
2 tags
“God became human and poor for our sake, to raise up our flesh, to recover our...”
– Gregory of Nazianzus
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Our Story So Far
I seldom get personal with this blog but if you’re interested I’ve got a story for you. This girl. I met her last year on a whim and haven’t been the same since. I had driven by the school after my ΘΑΚ induction dinner just for kicks and was introduced to my friend Tanner’s beautiful younger sister. From the second I met her I knew that there was something different. She...
3 tags
“Part of the difficulty with reading Paul is that the church easily lapses into...”
– N.T. Wright
1 tag
a Prayer
Thank you, Lord, that your promises are not for some distant future but are to be claimed right now, today. Teach us what we must do and say in our local communities and in our larger world to participate in your promise. Amen.
2 tags
“The whole point of what -Jesus was up to was that he was doing close up, in the...”
– N.T. Wright
2 tags
A reflection on Psalm 96:9-13
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness : let the whole earth tremble before him.
Tell it out among the nations: “The Lord is King! : he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea thunder and all that is in it : let the field be joyful and all that is therein.
...
4 tags
Following Jesus
I have now spent 7 semesters of undergraduate college talking about Jesus. 3 and a half years as a Bible major has had me spending most of my time talking about Jesus in some form or fashion. I’ve discussed theology, philosophy, sociology, psychology, political theory, and everything in between. What have I to show for it all? Some questions have been answered, but countless more have been...
4 tags
“The word of God is a tree of life that offers us blessed fruit from each of its...”
– Fourth century poet Ephrem the Syrian
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“There is no improving the future without disturbing the present.”
– Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army
1 tag
a Prayer
Lord, it was not enough for you to care for the poor. You chose to become one of them by descending as you did. Keep us free from fear and selfish preoccupations that we may walk as you walked among the poor, sick, and dying in body and spirit. Amen.
1 tag
a Prayer
Sometimes, Lord, it takes witnessing another person’s commitment for us to realize our own lack of faith. Open our eyes to learn, even from strangers who inhabit other faith traditions, what it means to be committed to you. Amen.
2 tags
“Father, I abandon myself into your hands, do with me what you will. For whatever...”
– Charles de Foucauld, American monastic