Good morning... I had heard the phrase before, but I chuckled when she said it in a casual conversation. "Don't 'should' on yourself." I "should" do this. I "should" not do that. I "should" say this. I "should" not say that. I "should" think this. I "should' not think that. We "should" on ourselves all the time. Other people [...]
Good morning... In seven short Bible verses, we move from the freedom of our true self, Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame, (Genesis 2:25) to the covering of our false self, Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and [...]
Good morning... When we are afraid we begin to draw lines. "Us or them." "In or out." "Bad or good." Our lines litter our own comfort zone, shutting out others, "No. No. No." The very first female did the exact same thing. We pick up Eve's story in Genesis 3:1-3. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of [...]
Good morning... "All great spirituality teaches about letting go of what you don’t need and who you are not," says Richard Rohr, American Franciscan friar who is a beloved, prolific writer. "Then, when you can get little enough and naked enough and poor enough, you’ll find that the little place where you really are is ironically more than enough [...]
Talking after class, we stumbled upon God’s peace-making wisdom: "Comparison kills. Conversation brings life." Often we catch ourselves comparing, beating ourselves up for not being "good enough" or seeing ourselves as "somehow superior." Might this be the perfect time for our brain to tell our heart, “Raise your white flag?” In times of combat, the white flag is recognized [...]
Good morning... If you knew your close friend would betray you by evening's end, would you sit down beside him and share a meal? If you knew this would be your final dinner, would you willingly pull up a chair and relax into your seat? If you knew this celebration would lead to your death, would you show up [...]
Good morning... I happen upon Psalm 145:17 in the Message translation. Everything God does is right—the trademark on all his works is love. My mind wanders and wonders: "What is the definition of trademark?" Researching I learn, a trademark is a distinctive characteristic by which a person or thing comes to be known. A stamp or seal. A trait [...]
Good morning... I have a good friend who explores the meaning of "spirit animals," so when my weird dream included a pampered guinea pig in a king-sized bed, I thought to myself, "What do guinea pigs symbolize?" Sure enough, there are several websites on such topics, so I asked God, "What do You want to teach me through this [...]
Good morning... If there were ever two scriptures designed to walk down the aisle together, these two would be the perfect pair. Marrying 1 John 4:8b, "God is love," with the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, we feel God's trustworthy character. Like a good math equation, if "God = love," we can replace the word "love" with the word [...]
Good morning... I passed a sign in the front lawn of a little church. "What you hold on to is your God." If I were the sign-putter-outer, I would change three things. The pronouns. The capitalization. And I would add one more word. "What we hold on to fiercely is our god." First off, God is God, and God [...]
