Compromise

I hear what he is saying and I know what he means. I can even sympathize with his point of view. But I still disagree.

Rainbows

Sometimes I feel I am chasing rainbows. Since I cannot really stop I can only hope they are worth pursuing.

Problem

Having named the problem he was accused of causing it.

Mixed Message

Today I met a man who felt God was speaking to him. But while he spoke distinctly God's message was not always clear. Parts seemed to make sense. Some words were easily understood. Yet when he tried to put it together something was missing. They key to it all was not actually there. Hiding behind my image I did not reply, "I know just what you mean."

God does speak. He tries to communicate. We try to say who he is and what he would like to mean. Yet his message can sometimes be garbled, maybe because having said it as best he can he must then trust us to unravel or interpret, maybe filling in the gaps or offering the key so there will be a meaning to give value to his words.

He trusts us then to act on what we thought was heard, assuring us we would never be wrong. Because of his faith in us he believes in our reply.

Exceedingly

We used to say, "I have sinned exceedingly." We don't say that anymore. If we sin at all it is certainly not exceedingly.

Incomplete

In the beginning God created all kinds of beautiful things. He made suns, moons and stars. He made earth and mountains. He fashioned oceans, rivers and any number of animals. But it was not complete until he made man. And man was incomplete until there was woman. Only when there were people could he say it was good.

Sometimes love can hurt more than anything else in the world

The Seed

Perhaps the road had wanted to receive the seed. Maybe the stones tried to nurture it. Maybe even the weeds sought to make it into something. But they couldn't. No matter how much they tried, they couldn't be earth. They would receive according to their nature, and it would be better and mean more than trying to be something else.

Before Meaning

Before determining what something means, we do well to ask what it is. When something occurs it's to be named, a step we often overlook in our rush to clarify and interpret it, never realizing we are making clear what was never there.

Easier & Simpler

It is easier to tell you what to do than ask what you might like. Simpler for both if one of us takes charge, but it is not necessarily better. Not for either of us.

Legion

It was night and he sought no day. It was winter but he wanted no spring. He dreamed of death and thought of dying, and sometimes he thought they'd already come. He was as he was because he knew nothing better. He thought it had to be this way, and so it was.

To him God meant judge; life meant suffering; existence itself meant only resignation; and love meant nothing at all. He endured. He survived until he ceased to be. His name, unfortunately, is Legion.

Why Naming Matters

Things are what we call them. They are the name we give to them, and the name determines, permits or ratifies the action following from it.

Today

You can always think today is when the miracle will occur.

Creation

They were saying God created so there would be something, then someone, to reflect his glory - a rather self-centered or egocentric and decidedly unworthy notion. If we call the process sharing rather than reflecting, making it participation, inviting creation into the glory, it becomes more worthy, more valued action.

Mistake

God, it is too late to make the difference I wanted. It is too late to undo the death, and eternal life is not the life I need. I think you have made a terrible mistake.