Haunted by St. Francis

It was nearly a half of a year ago when my cousin reminded me of the “Prayer of St. Francis.” Lately, I have been reading it over nearly every day. A monk from the thirteenth century penned something so counter intuitive, so aspirational, so challenging, that I wonder if I… Continue reading

Christianity in 100 Words

Saw this somewhere and decided to take the challenge. Jesus. Christianity is based on Jesus, not a church or a prescribed set of beliefs. Love. Christianity is based on love, loving God, loving others (especially those we do not understand), and loving ourselves (in a healthy, non-arrogant sort of way,… Continue reading

Don’t Let Anyone Should on You (Column Version)

My column in the Kenosha News, last Monday: Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.— Howard Thurman What makes you feel alive? You may be able to answer quickly, or… Continue reading

Crazy Grace

Jesus really messed things up! God becoming a baby, being born to an unmarried teenager, loving  all of the wrong people…prostitutes, greedy cheaters, traitors, rough, angry blue collar types, beggars, deformed people, individuals with disgusting diseases, terrorists, and  soldiers of the occupying super power. He deliberately reached out to people that his… Continue reading

Grace is Hard

Grace is the most counter-intuitive, mysterious thing in the world. It doesn’t make any sense at all. Christians seem to be particularly confused and conflicted about grace. Yet, they sing about it, preach about it, and would fight other Christians who disagreed with them about it. They say grace refers to… Continue reading

To Love Another Person is to See the Face of God

We saw Les Miserables last night. I didn’t know much about it. I did know it was a classic that had something to do with poverty, love, and the French Revolution. That’s it. Spurred on by the comments of Face Bookers who were deeply moved by watching it and a desire to… Continue reading

Gr-attitude

This post is part of a synchroblog on gratitude as a spiritual practice. The other contributions are listed at the end of this post. I don’t exactly feel like the most qualified person to write about gratitude. If the topic were complaining or ranting, I would be in more familiar territory. When… Continue reading

Provocative

I have hit an awesome chapter in Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward and I am trying to unpackage it. Every time God forgives us, God is saying that God’s own rules do not matter as much as the relationships that God wants to create with us. (pp. 56-57) I always thought of forgiveness as… Continue reading

Am I Good Enough?

I was mesmerized by Whitney Houston’s televised memorial service. Maybe, I do miss church gatherings a little bit after all. They certainly “had church”! Whitney was blessed with an amazing gift, a voice that she honed into something extraordinary. She was, apparently, a very sweet, relational soul with an abiding faith in… Continue reading