Good morning... "The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you really are," says Carl Yung, the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. 'Who we really are' is established by our Creator long before the day of our birth. Each of us whispers in wonder the words of Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT). "You made all the delicate, [...]
Good morning... Following our opening prayer, we began a new semester. "As I read aloud the first paragraph of our book, notice which words pop out to grab you." Together we listened attentively. "When applied to the spiritual life, the metaphor of a journey is both helpful and somewhat misleading. Helpfully it reflects the fact that the essence of [...]
Following our opening prayer, we began a new semester. "As I read aloud the first paragraph of our book, notice which words pop out to grab you," I encouraged. Together we listened attentively. "When applied to the spiritual life, the metaphor of a journey is both helpful and somewhat misleading. Helpfully it reflects the fact that the essence of [...]
Good morning... God reminds me once again. The word 'cling' in Old English is 'clingan' and 'clingan' means to shrink. Those smaller gods to which we cling shrink very important parts of us. Very important parts of us atrophy when we cling to anything but God. “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from...the place of your [...]
Good morning... My son sends me his favorite sermons sometimes. This week he sent me the link to Matt Chandler's 5.27.07 sermon from The Village Church near Dallas, Texas. I found Chandler's wisdom to be very eye-opening, quite appropriate to consider as we end one year and begin another. Chandler challenges us: "Idolatry in your heart and in my [...]
Good morning... I wake with a Christmas song dancing in my head. "Still. Still. Still." I know this first word, but I can not come up with the next line. So, I crawl out of bed. I plug in the tree lights and silently scoop coffee before brewing a small pot. I choose my cobalt blue 'Whistler' mug (a [...]
Good morning... "Slow down your feet," the voice of a loving mom reminded her preoccupied preschooler. As the crowd rushed away from Sunday morning worship, I heard above the energized din, "Slow down your feet." "Don't run!" I have heard before. "Slow down your feet," is a new thing. This morning, I remind all of us: "Slow down your [...]
Good morning... "Jesus drank wine." That's what the t-shirt said. The clerk added, "We sell out of these t-shirts all the time. It's tough to keep them in our store." Why is that? Why are we so drawn to this truth? "Jesus drank wine." Because we want Jesus to sign our alcohol permission slip. If Jesus drank wine, it [...]
Good morning... I will always remember one phrase shared in our young moms' class this semester: "I would rather be late than be yelling." I ponder the roots beneath the fruits of this statement. The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to clock time, time that can be measured in seconds and minutes, [...]
Good morning... As I wrote a reminder email to my Tuesday class yesterday morning, I included the following quote from this week's chapter. In the afternoon, we settled into my living room. We shared thoughts and learned collaboratively. As we talked candidly about the things that get in the way of our whole hearted living, we read these words [...]
