Reflecting God’s Love

God’s love for us is everlasting. That means that God’s love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died. It is an eternal love in which we are embraced. Living a spiritual life calls us to claim that eternal love for ourselves so that we can live our temporal loves – for parents, brothers, sisters, teachers, friends, spouses, and all people who become part of our lives – as reflections or refractions of God’s eternal love. No fathers or mothers can love their children perfectly. No husbands or wives can love each other with unlimited love. There is no human love that is not broken somewhere.

When our broken love is the only love we can have, we are easily thrown into despair, but when we can live our broken love as a partial reflection of God’s perfect, unconditional love, we can forgive one another our limitations and enjoy together the love we have to offer. - Henri Nouwen

God Rescued Us

“God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.” Col. 1:13, 14 (The Message)

Praise You, Lord, for Your mercies and grace. You did not leave us in dead end alleys and the dark dungeons of sin, but You lifted us up and gave us freedom through Christ Jesus our Lord. We are forever grateful to You for this unspeakable gift; a gift we did not deserve, a gift we can never repay. Thank You for Your abounding grace. Amen

Weird and Crazy

When people say that Christianity is weird, they’re right. Faith is weird. The idea of having a personal relationship with the creator of the universe is crazy. That’s a big, wild thing if you think about it and sometimes when I do, I can’t believe I have a relationship with God. But I do and that’s what God wants. A relationship, not a ritual or a reward system.

This Is The Air I Breathe

Awesome God

I live in awe. I was reminded of this a couple of years ago when I was driving around the Canadian Rockies. There’s this one ridiculous moment where you cross this river and the mountains are looming over you reminding you how small your big problems really are and the sun was blazing big and bright in a sky I didn’t create and I was in awe. My hope is that someday it won’t take a mountain vista to spark my sense of awe for God but that I will see that more in the people I know and the places I spend my days. But I’m cool with starting with a mountain and working toward seeing the beauty of it all.

Get Real Gary

This is me going through the motions of a relationship. This is me trying to do what I think good Christians are supposed to do. This is me church acting and bouncing between friendships as I pretend to be deeper than I really am, more connected to God than I really am and happier than I really am. I am tired of pretending. God demands that I be real…snap out of it, Gary.

Falling Short

I know by any measure I will always fall short. This is not a possibility when it comes to me and God. This is a promise. I will fall short. I could work as hard as I want to for the rest of my life, say all the prayers one mouth can physically speak and do as much charity as one pair of hands can accomplish. And it would still fall solar systems short of being worthy of God. Thank God he sent Jesus.

Edited For God

Ever edit yourself for God? Ever spend your entire day talking one way and then talk with a completely different vocabulary when you pray? Why do we do that? Is it reverence? Are we afraid to say something idiotic? I am. And in that fear I often end up babbling and ruining one of the most beautiful parts of prayer, listening.

Dress Up For God

Have you ever dressed up for God? Dressed up some issue? Dressed up some desire that you think is wrong or not true or too big for him to handle or too small for him to care about? You know if you behave the way you really behave, everyone  would recognize that you’re a complete dope. The key word in that sentence above is “recognize.” At times, I am equally terrified of being recognized and never being recognized. That if God knew who I really was he wouldn’t love me and if no one knows who I am then I might as well be invisible. But he recognizes me. He created me. He knows me inside and out, the parts that are ugly and the parts that are beautiful and the parts I don’t even know exist yet. And he doesn’t see a dope. He sees a son.

Forgiveness

Community is not possible without the willingness to forgive one another “seventy-seven times” (see Matthew 18:22). Forgiveness is the cement of community life. Forgiveness holds us together through good and bad times, and it allows us to grow in mutual love.

But what is there to forgive or to ask forgiveness for? As people who have hearts that long for perfect love, we have to forgive one another for not being able to give or receive that perfect love in our everyday lives. Our many needs constantly interfere with our desire to be there for the other unconditionally. Our love is always limited by spoken or unspoken conditions. What needs to be forgiven? We need to forgive one another for not being God! - Henri Nouwen