“So, here is this greatly respected British writer and theologian, almost twenty years a teacher at Magdalen College, having pints with J.R.R. at the bird and the baby and winding up a Christian at the end of it all.”
“Our kingdom is not of this world. It is a vast, ancient, living being that grows and transforms with each life that is born into it. It heals us and cares for us as we reach out in care for the world. It is the Truth.”
“Someone shares how when they were young, they felt a comforting presence when her step mother was mean to her and sent her to her bedroom. She says now, looking back, she knows that she can see that it was Christ with her. This presence lifted her out of fear and comforted her from the pain.”
“The Way of Jesus was a threat to the power and empires of the world. Yet, periodically, Jesus’s followers have been tempted to claim that Jesus’s kingdom IS of this world, to claim that Jesus loves the same few people he loves and hates the same people we fear or despise. But Jesus is not about power, but service.”
“My help comes from the Lord,
creator of sunrises and sunsets
wild bears and lap dogs
cherry trees, dogwoods, and dandelions …”
“The Celts approached God with awe, reverence and wonder but also saw God as an essentially human figure intimately involved in all creation and engaged in a dynamic relationship with it. This interweaving of intimacy and mystery embraced the Trinity as a family and each family unit be it family, clan or tribe was seen as an icon of the Trinity.”
“So I take a walk. I take a walk, and I notice how blustery and windy it has gotten while I have been huddling inside the house. My ears are cold; so is the tip of my nose. It is cloudy, but soon the sun breaks through, and bronze leaves swirl and leap in the street. I notice little patches of foliage still erupting green into the afternoon light.”
“People on the street had their own reactions. Some passed by, looking anywhere but where a sock might be and pretending that there really wasn’t anything wrong at all. Some trod a careful path through the socks, being careful not to step on any or come in contact with them at all.”
“Here in the story of Hannah, we see how this God who performs the great reversal on the worldly fate of us creatures has been doing so not just since Jesus’ time, but since the early days of Jewish history. And try as I might to convince myself otherwise, I know that I am one who Hannah describes as ‘full.'”
“Each of us at times in our lives will be thwarted from doing a godly task. When the evil one interferes with Christ’s light working in your life, tell him Adios, Au revoir and maybe gesundheit too so you can continue to be God’s hands and feet on earth.”