“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott
“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott
Thomas Merton wrote, “A man knows when he has found his vocation when he stops thinking about how to live and begins to live.”
God’s Grace
First, God’s grace is superabundant and magnificent and overflowing; second, God’s acts in grace toward us are prior to anything we say or do; third, God always acts in grace; fourth, God’s grace is effective in what it is designed to do; fifth, God’s grace is distributed without consideration of our worth or merit; and, sixth, God’s grace can be non-reciprocal, which means God can show grace even when we refuse to respond. Of course, grace is also inherently reciprocal, that is, God gives and we become agents of giving ourselves
Scot McKnight
Biden’s Pardon
I wish Biden hadn’t pardoned his son, yet I’m secretly glad he did. If he hadn’t, I would have praised him and admired his stance, but also felt sad. I have to live with that nagging and gnawing duality within me, like most of us. That doesn’t mean I won’t support doing one’s duty, even when it has a cost. Even if it saddens me. Hegel understood the torturous anxiety that comes with choosing between two rights. So do we all.
Kareem Adul-Jabbar
Jesus for Everyone
If we do not see the face of the divine in the face of everyone else–even if we don’t believe in a God who looks like us–we should nevertheless be able to see the human face, the face we share, in everyone else. If we cannot, we are lost. … we may never get to ‘love of enemy.’ I’m not there yet, and love of enemy is not on my bucket list. But human decency, that’s attainable. The Bible helps us get there; the Jesus tradition helps us focus.
Amy-Jill Levine
God’s essence
God’s essence is beyond human conception. To peer into God’s very being is to look into an impenetrable darkness. Following Thomas [Aquinas], we can use negations to narrow in on God, sort of like approaching the event horizon of a black hole. Our knowledge is a boundary encircling a mystery rather than the grasping of something definite.
Richard Beck
View from the Lanai (Dance Floor)
View from the lanai is different this year. Hurricane Milton destroyed our screened-in lanai. We now have a very nice dance floor. Although we miss the lanai, the dance floor has been an interesting experience. Sunny for most of the morning and shaded in the afternoon, it is very comfortable. Because it is open, people seem much more inclined to come and sit with us. Weather has been beautiful for the most part. Cool mornings and warm afternoons.
Reading DISCERNMENT by Henri Nouwen, a providential discovery in Kindle Unlimited, the section Discernment in Community was the catalyst for this post.
Looking through the lens of discernment provides opportunity for a soul-searching examination of today’s church as a community of discernment.
What follows are excerpts from Discernment in Community:
We ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord. —Colossians 1:9–10 NRSV
Discernment is a spiritual understanding and an experiential knowledge of how God is active in daily life that is acquired through disciplined spiritual practice. Discernment is faithful living and listening to God’s love and direction so that we can fulfill our individual calling and shared mission.
The purpose of discernment is to know God’s will, that is, to find, accept, and affirm the unique way in which God’s love is manifest in our life.
While discernment begins in solitude, individual seekers of God always come together in community, for the Spirit gathers all believers into one body for accountability and mutual support. A person honestly seeking to know God’s will and way will choose to be in community.
Living together in community:
WE proclaim that love is stronger than fear, that joy is deeper than sorrow, that unity is more real than division, and that life is stronger than death.
WE are invited to make regular choices that radically contradict the powers and principalities of our world.
Living in community offers concrete ways to make choices that support discernment—deep listening for the way and will of God.
The choices we face often are quite specific and require thoughtful conversation around basic questions that confront our individual and collective motives and agendas:
Are we squandering our time or seizing time as a constant opportunity to discover more about ourselves, our neighbors, and our God?
Are we structuring our days to be distracted and entertained, or to let our hearts grow more mature and strong?
Are we responding to our inner fears and pains by ignoring them, or do we choose to face them and live into and through our fears and pains with the help of others who accompany us?
Are we talking or praying, worrying or giving thanks, looking at images that arouse or those that bring joy, dwelling with our anger or with the one who can bring peace?
These decisions are difficult because we live in a world that thinks we are wasting our time, that there are more exciting ways to use our talents, that there is more money to be made, more prestige, education, and success to be had, more respect and honor to gain, if we would just step away from our spiritual idealism and be realistic in our choices like everyone else.
Dying well is putting our dying to use for our sanctification and the welfare of those we leave behind.
G Ezell
The previous post focused on the welfare of those we leave behind. Today’s post will address implications of “for our sanctification”.
SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification defined as — “the ongoing pursuit of conforming our lives to the example of Jesus” was my simplistic understanding of sanctification for most of my spiritual journey. Synonyms for sanctification would have been discipleship or holy living. Early on, sanctification was a mysterious theological word that belonged in high churches, which being apostate, meant it was most likely heretical. Because the Bible said “…you were washed, you were sanctified…” Sanctification remained part of my fundamentalist lexicon. In the past several decades my understanding has deepened but is still incomplete. In my spiritual heritage, our vision of salvation tipped toward justification, i.e. we were justified by our faith[ful] obedience. So much so that, salvation was wholly identified with our understanding of justification. Sanctification was achieved through discipleship/ holy living. 1 Full disclosure, many of my comments are adapted [stolen] from Richard Beck’s posts on the subject of sanctification.
Commencing with an existential slap 2that moment when a [dying] person first comprehends, on a gut level, that death is close. For many, the realization comes suddenly: “The usual habit of allowing thoughts of death to remain in the background is now impossible,” . “Death can no longer be denied.”Nessa Coyle, a nurse and palliative-care pioneer “dying begins” begins with acceptance of our mortality.
“…is there a way to face [our mortality] without debilitating fear? … there is, but it requires both intellectual and emotional engagement: head and heart work. And so I set out to reexamine my convictions and to strengthen my faith, so that it might prove more than a match for death.” Tim Keller : “Growing My Faith in the Face of Death”
Putting our dying to use begins with reexamining convictions and strengthening faith.
In my definition of dying well, the phrase “for our sanctification” sounds good and makes it quotable, but how dying can be put to use for our sanctification depends on one’s understanding of sanctification. For example, my simplistic understanding, i.e. discipleship, holy living, puts responsibility for my sanctification on me and requires doubling down on good works — “making ever effort” . Essentially, putting dying to use would mean working harder to be like Jesus.
However, if one’s understanding of sanctification proceeds from: “Nothing can happen, not justification or sanctification, without Christ. Whatever we experience, by way of grace or holiness, is the work of Christ in us.” putting dying to use has a different appearance. Sanctification is experienced as union with Christ. “more and more embracing grace — deeper participation in the life of God — More joy —More love —More peace — we step “more and more” into the abundant life—
Putting dying to use requires maintaining tension between faith and works. Karl Barth compares it to riding a bike: you have to keep the two pedals moving to maintain forward momentum. You pedal back and forth: Justification. Sanctification. Justification. Sanctification. Justification. Sanctification. Should you ever stop pedaling, you’ll fall over.
We will experience failure and setbacks. When we do, we fall back upon grace, a grace that we will receive “again and again” in our lives. A grace made available by the “once for all” sacrifice of Christ. Which is, ultimately, our only hope. Seen this way, justification supports sanctification. Grace sets a hard floor, a safety net if you will. Security. Our failure will not cause us to fall into a pit.
According to Treatise on the Art of Dying Well, there are five temptations faced by the dying : disbelief, despair, impatience, pride and avarice.Those temptations are not confined to our final moments. They are inherent with our fallenness but they intensify with the realization ” we are going to die”; producing the opportune time for Satan to kill and destroy. To die well those temptations must be resisted. Failure to do so gives rise to sin.
A revised definition of Dying Well: “Dying well is putting our dying to use for the welfare of those we leave behind and resisting temptations of disbelief, despair, impatience, pride and avarice that come when death becomes a reality.”
STILL ON THE JOURNEY
1
Full disclosure, many of my comments are adapted [stolen] from Richard Beck’s posts on the subject of sanctification.
2
that moment when a [dying] person first comprehends, on a gut level, that death is close. For many, the realization comes suddenly: “The usual habit of allowing thoughts of death to remain in the background is now impossible,” . “Death can no longer be denied.”Nessa Coyle, a nurse and palliative-care pioneer
…it is very hard to expect change from people who benefit from the system as it is. Change requires us to listen to voices outside of what has become our norm.” Danielle Strickland
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. Rene Descartes
Do yourself a favor
Once we stop expecting, needing, or demanding that something or someone be perfect, we’re much happier. We’re doing ourselves and the world a favor. It’s not easy to do apart from the life and grace of God flowing through us. That’s why, for me, the notion of God as Trinity, the flow of relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is so important. Without that daily flow, we get trapped in the negatives. We all do. We all will, unless we tap into the love of God flowing through us.
Richard Rohr
Men
· Men are 50% more likely than women to struggle with alcohol and substance abuse.
· “Men died of overdose at 2-3 times greater a rate than women.”
· “Men outnumber women… about 2 to 1 among people with gambling addictions.”
· Men comprised 98% of active shooters in 2022-2023.
· Men comprise 90% of the prison population (1,653,600 men, 174,000 women; not a typo).
· Almost 400,000 men in the prison population are Protestant.
· An appalling number of male pastors and ministry leaders, including 700+ SBC pastors, have sexually abused girls and women, then attempted to cover up the abuse.
It’s important to note that the above behaviors and statistics do not apply to all men! But they nevertheless provide compelling evidence that an enormous number of men engage in emotionally driven behaviors that ironically fit the Merriam-Webster definitions for irrational, illogical, and dare I say… hysterical. Yet the false belief that all women are irrational, illogical, and hysterical endures, due to its underlying premise: that women are allegedly inferior to men.
Imagine that every time you receive the Holy Eucharist, your mind is filled with thoughts of the chemistry of bread and wine. Indeed, the thoughts become so dominant that the presence of Christ is largely forgotten. In particular, the relationship of heart to sacrament is disrupted. If, in such circumstances, someone began to absent themselves from communion, it would not be surprising.
The reading of Scripture in the life of the Church is quite properly compared to the reception of communion – for the Scriptures are best described as sacramental in nature.
If the whole time you read, the question is, “Did this happen? Did it happen like this?” etc. there is no engaging of the Scripture as Scripture. The distance between reader and text could hardly be greater.
Fr Stephen Freeman
A dose of reality
I have had an X (formerly know as Twitter) account for several years. I do not recall ever posting to it, but regularly scrolled through to get a feel for what was going in the Twitter world. I did not find it to be particularly beneficial. in my opinion, since Elon Musk bought Twitter , the cesspool seem to descend into an even darker realm. Discovering Bluesky, a new social media platform that presents itself as an better alternative to X, I deleted my X account and signed up for Bluesky — @grezell.bsky.social . I have no anticipation of posting on a regular basis but I am interested in seeing how it contrasts to X and follow some relevant users.
To introduce myself, I decided post a link to one of my recent posts. I usually only share my posts with subscribers to my blog, a small number of faithful readers I know and who seem to appreciate what I write. Needless to say, my post on Bluesky did not go viral, but I did one comment :
“What an absolute heaped and steaming pile of shit. The authors need to reevaluate their conscience as do anyone who agrees with this utter nonsense.”
It is hard to describe the impact that comment. It was a dose of reality on several counts:
Clearly my subscribers are an echo chamber. I do not get a lot of comments but they are, almost without exception, positive. My posts are generally unchallenged. As a result, agreeable comments have produced an inflated and unhealthy self-perception about my writing. Don’t get me wrong, I love positive comments. They are wonderful and a positive reason for echo chambers. The shocking negative comment I received was a reminder of the necessity of dissenting voices for a healthy echo chamber and ego.
The comment disabused me of any idea that there is any “safe/sane” social media platform. Living in an echo chamber creates a false notion that everyone is basically a good person. Reality is, there are mean spirited people who live for an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction in hateful and or destructive ways. Social media is a petrie dish for evil. There are positive aspects to social media but the likelihood of getting a serious infection is dangerously high and requires careful precautions.
Receiving that comment exposed my spiritual vulnerability. Despite my “love your enemy” conviction, my first reaction was anger and resentment followed by an impulse to retaliate — a “Nathan/David” moment. Her comment was a needed wake-up call.
I would have preferred some thoughtful, cogent criticism but I must say,”steaming pile of shit” and “utter nonsense” got my attention. I have re-read the post several times and continue to reassess my thoughts and conclusions. Some times you beed a slap in the face. OUCH! I struggle between dismissing the comment out of hand and deleting the post. Those are false choices. I need to reassess and, revise my post if needed
I have not decided to post any more on Bluesky or whether I will even keep my account. Withdrawing from social media most likely would mean seeking comfortable confines of an echo chamber. Not a bad idea. It is a lot easier to love my enemy from there and feel really good about myself and my writing.
Sometimes I shock myself with the smart stuff I say and do. Then, there are the times I try to get out of the car with my seat belt on.
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If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?
EVIL
Going back to biblical notions of evil. Evil in the bible is very simple. It is transgression. Evil isn’t a prerequisite for sin. Evil is sin. That is the biblical view. Evil is not a noun. It’s a choice.
Richard Beck
Separateness
We go through our lives, our years on this Earth, thinking of ourselves as separate. That sense of separateness basically causes every stupid, sinful, silly thing we ever do. The little, separate self takes offense when people don’t show us proper respect. The separate self lies, steals, and does unkind things to other people. When we’re separate, everything becomes about protecting and defending ourselves. It can consume our lives.
One word for overcoming that false sense of separateness, that illusory self, is heaven; quite frankly, that is what death offers us. It is simply returning to the Source from which we came, where all things are one. The whole gospel message is radical union with God, with neighbor, and even with ourselves. I think that’s why so many people are drawn to church each week—to receive communion and eventually, hopefully, realize that we are? in communion.
Richard Rohr
Belonging
Social group identities and norms, as opposed to theological beliefs, as the primary psychological drivers of religious interpretation and expression.” Our religion is about what our group defines as sacred. Belonging before believing.
Samuel Perry
Humility
…humility simply means living in the reality of the human condition. The word “humility” comes from the Latin root for “ground” (hum-) which it shares with both “human” and “humus”—that nutrient rich soil that gardeners love. In this way, humility suggests a kind of groundedness or acceptance of our limits as earthbound creatures. Humility puts us in our place, teaching us that for all our ambitions and aspirations, our lives are lived in this moment, in this time, in this place.
Hannah Anderson
WE ARE STUPID!
Prov. 12: 15 Stupid people always think they are right. Wise people listen to advice. (GNT)
Wise people are really aware of how often they are wrong. Even when they are right they feel a sense of wrong.
Stupid people always think they are right. They never have to justify their actions. They never have to justify their choices because they think they’re right. If you are always right you’re not always right, you’re always stupid.
By choosing to listen you begin to attack the stupidity in your life. Wise people listen to counsel. You never get so wise that you do not need advise.
Stupid people think that wise people don’t need advise. And that’s why they are stupid. Wise people need less advice and want it more. Wise people need less advice and seek it more. Stupid people need more advice and seek it less.
Here’s how to know where you fall on the spectrum of stupid or wise. If you are asking people for counsel and input in your life you are wise. If you are looking for people that agree with you, you are being stupid. Ironically, stupid people always pretend they are getting advise.
