“I have a snapshot of my children dancing and twirling in the aisles of the church. The organ and piano were playing and the congregation was singing. The kids didn’t know the words to the song but they used their bodies to share in the good news it proclaimed. Both of them had smiles that lit up the room; so palpable was their joy.”
“I find it a hard truth that not everybody is going to like me, and what I find most painful is the periodic insight that people whom I have loved and trusted don’t know me at all and I feel like a projection of their reality, thus diminishing my own.”
“When we invite people to share with us the joy of serving God, we don’t have to argue against what might be keeping them from doing this. We don’t need to act more assured, more pious, more evolved or even more authentic than we really are. God speaks through us best when we are simply living our lives as disciples, listening to God in prayer and following the Way of Christ, which is the way of love – always the way of love.”
“I’m grateful to have the ingredients of a spiritual salad available to me to study, learn, perhaps practice, and appreciate. It keeps me spiritually fed and nourished as well as going my heart good to acknowledge that God is present all around and within.”
“Deacons tend to follow their noses rather than roll things around in their heads. Even if a congregation doesn’t have an ordained deacon, it’s a safe bet even the smallest congregations have at least one person who is out there following his or her nose, putting the church out into the world.”
“In the face of loss and grief, resilience is a powerful form of resistance. In our words from Jeremiah, resilience and an embrace of the future is exactly what is being urged. What is being urged by God is not surrender. Rather, God is encouraging the people to stay strong, to keep their culture alive, in hope for tomorrow.”
“I believe that the church will not only live, but it will thrive. I also believe that it will look very different from what we have been thinking a healthy church is.”
“On those days when the darkness seems too dark and the light feels so far away, open my eyes to your presence”
“The Holy Spirit takes us from where we are, and yet as she turns us and transforms us, she uses the material we brought to the table.”
“Jesus seems to downplay the role of faith here, though. Even the tiniest bit is enough, he says. You don’t need more than you have.”