“The word, joy, does not mean happiness. Nor is joy the explosion of giddiness. Joy is deeper – a spiritual experience, something the Apostle Paul dubs a fruit of the spirit, and ranking right up there with love and peace.”
“Peter failed – betrayed – Jesus three times. From experience, I can tell you that betrayal cuts the soul to the quick; reality becomes quicksand. Yet, the Jesus of seventy times seven love turned to look at Peter, and Peter wept bitterly. How many of the following nights did Peter dream of that moment, having betrayed the man to whom he had sold his soul? I am certain Peter’s anxiety dreams ended that day weeks later when standing on the beach, Jesus invited Peter three times to tell Jesus how much he loved him.”
“I offer this reflection by Tim Mathiessen (The Snow Leopard, p. 169, Penguin Books, copyright 1978) as consistent with Ash Wednesday, when the priest marks your forehead with ashes using the same cross that marked your forehead with oil at baptism, this time reflecting the transient nature of human existence. You are dust, and to dust you shall return. Absent grace, where is the meaning?”
“At the time, and as a new priest still youngish (any Episcopal priest under fifty is considered “young”), I watched Laura suffer and wonder about how a person in pain or suffering engages spiritually. Centering prayer, meditation, the Daily Office, reading Scripture, praying for others? What might one do to fortify the soul against the body’s attack? What might God ask of the person whose task in life has been reduced to pulling one additional tug of breath into the lungs? Is spirituality possible? Will engaging the spirit ease suffering?”
“Epiphany is not about preparing to receive light. Nor is it about arcane credal words suddenly illuminated. Instead, Epiphany is the nascent light of Christ splitting night into two. Not because we are worthy, but because God decided for reasons unknown to exist with us.”
“The light of Christ is reflected in the faces of Mary and Joseph, and the band of shepherds, in adoration, one and all.”
“People will stop seeking war because they will seek a knowledge of the Word of God instead. A passion for God will supplant blood-thirst. It will no longer be about war, but human kindness.”
“Negotiating peace sometimes results in peace, but sometimes it results in war. Or estrangement. A personal expression of kindness can just as often attract hate as it does appreciation. Just ask Jesus. And his disciples.”
“Because friendship has less to do with knowing facts about a person than with intuitive knowing of that person. Friendship happens at the subterranean level, which is why it is so easy to fall back into the old friendships of youth, even after thirty or forty years.”
“Death was a part of life. And for us, falling to sleep each night is a dress rehearsal. You close your eyes, let go, and give yourself over to something greater.”