The experience of peace and reconciliation comes when people are very honest and compassionate with one another, when they are vulnerable and open about their mistakes and weaknesses. The seed that falls into broken ground bears much fruit. So perhaps it is wise to begin to shift our thinking. We want to move away from emulating successfulness and begin to dream about a life of fruitfulness. — Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit
Reflection Question: How have you seen God use your life to bear good fruit?
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. – Romans 12: 3
Please, Lord, join me on the road, enter into my closed room, and take my foolishness away. Open my mind and heart to the great mystery of your active presence in my life, and give me the courage to help others discover your presence in their lives. Amen. — Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life
Reflection Question: When did you last make space to reflect on the great mystery of God’s active presence in your life?
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. – 1 Corinthians 1: 25
Verse of the day
“Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of yours?”
– 2 Chronicles 1:10
Voice of the day
Maybe what we lack isn’t love but wisdom. It became clear to me that I should pray above all else for wisdom.
– Richard Rohr
Prayer of the day
Gracious God, grant us wisdom and knowledge to lead with humility, discernment, and care. Guide our steps as we serve others. Amen.
Verse of the day
Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
– Mark 11:25
Voice of the day
Everyone, real or invented, deserves the open destiny of life.
– Grace Paley
Prayer of the day
Reconciling God, give us the grace to adopt a mindset of giving the benefit of the doubt and the wisdom to know when that is not merited. Amen.
Verse of the day
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from works, and I by my works will show you faith.
– James 2:18
Voice of the day
This is a challenge that does not allow us the comfort of believing in something and not putting it into practice.
– Andrew Suderman
Prayer of the day
God of faith and action, help us live what we believe, putting our faith into practice through love, compassion, and service. Amen.
even though aging can be terrifying,
the slowing, the relinquishing,
you will return to wild places
and carry pockets full of acorns and stones,
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, What Enters Through the Open Heart: Poems
In your sacred aging, what are you relinquishing? What are you returning to?
Join us for a book launch celebrationOctober 19th!
Life is God’s initiative and can end or change suddenly, unexpectedly, and unpredictably. When we humans are ready to give up hope and resign ourselves to inevitability, God intervenes and reveals completely new beginnings. The resurrection of Jesus is God’s sign breaking through every form of human fatalism and despair. — Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life
Reflection Question: Recall a time when something unexpected happened that revived in you a sense of hope.
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.– Genesis 22: 13
“To become a saint doesn’t mean to be some contrived image of holiness, practicing your faith in ways that imitate others. It means finding your own unique expression in the world, the seed that was planted within you when you were born. You are a revelation of the Sacred, and there is only one revelation just like you.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
How can you allow nature to help you live into this truth of sanctity?
To register for the self-study companion retreat to the book with extra resources and guidance click here. Use code EARTH20 to take 20% off through September 30th.
Verse of the day
As far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.
– Psalm 103:12
Voice of the day
God is not a celestial prison warden jangling the keys on a bunch of lifers—he’s a shepherd seeking for sheep, a woman searching for coins, a father waiting for his son.
– Clarence Jordan
Prayer of the day
God who redeems, infuse our world with a mindset of abolition rather than punishment. Amen.
Don’t be led astray either by the allure of power and money or by following false ideologies. True hope is not found there either. True hope is not found in a revolution of violence and bloodshed, and hope is not found in money and power – neither on the left nor on the right. The hope that we must account for and that makes us speak with valor is found in Christ, who reigns even after death, even after murderous death. And with him reign all who have preached his justice, his love, his hope, his peace. — The Violence of Love, pp. 45-46 (Kindle Edition)
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 