Stones Along the Way
“In this gospel, we also hear something that always has made me pause: the devil quoting one of my favorite psalms in his testing of Jesus.”
“In this gospel, we also hear something that always has made me pause: the devil quoting one of my favorite psalms in his testing of Jesus.”
“The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down….”
“The stories of Hannah and of Mary, reminds me that our children are not ours—they are lent to us for a season. They are our children forever, but not for keeps.”
“Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.”
“Even into the depths within ourselves, God still presses upon us, behind and before, below and above, and calls us out of ourselves, out of the toxic individualism that leaves us afraid, instead calling us into community with God, and with each other.”
“The little seeds of the gospel are waiting to sprout up—often in places where we least expect it.”
“We are captured in the pull of love, and it holds us with the force that cannot be broken, knit together by the fingers of God.”
“My time with my friend showed me that rare gift of contentment and wonder that is so easy to lose. She treasured each moment, and that was where her heart was.”
“I am reminded of my need to prune away the things in me that bear no fruit: anger, fears, worries, frustrations that do nothing to help me lead a more God-centered life, but instead trap me in a cycle of winter within my heart and mind that clings stubbornly to me as the winter weather patterns are right now.”
Almighty God, you alone can bring order to the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and