Touchpoints on The Gospel (Page 2)
Earth, Water and Fire
“In this unimaginable heavenly experience, I love the human part of the story. Peter was terrified and doesn’t know what to say. So, he offers to build dwellings for the three on the mountain. What else would a guy say who has heard about the Ark of the Covenant, the Temples… the tents where God lived? He just was stunned in the moment. I seriously had to stop and laugh. The writer must have had fun writing, ‘Peter didn’t know what to say!’ In the awkward silence, as they gazed up at the three prophets whispering to each other, somebody had to bail everyone out!”
Engaging Solitude
“We are vulnerable in our loneliness, but Jesus sought engagement with the light that was previously revealed to him in the Jordan. He quoted words that he held on to his whole young life. He had no desire to be famous or powerful. In this moment, when his fame was at its peak, it was time to go to a solitary place for authentic connection. What a paradox that in a crowd, we may need to be alone to connect.”
Devils and French Fries
“The evil is real, but I do not understand it. However, since I shook off the idea that I must wage a war against it, I have not encountered it. It has no life-giving breath, but only a stink in the air. Maybe a good candle and a centering prayer will help create an emotional receptivity to God as king rather than a panic-driven election of a false god.”
Let’s Get Tattoos!
“At baptism it is not about our declaration of acceptance of God, it’s about our full acknowledgment of God’s reception of us! This mystery invites us into God’s heart. This mystery is the heartbeat in all people, whether aware of it or not. Though we may sin, doubt, judge, curse, deny, betray, we cannot remove the tattoo placed on our hearts as a reminder that we belong.”
Damn Serious
“It causes me to ask myself, have I not evolved from euphoria and intellectual devotion? Have I become spiritually self-indulgent and neglected those God shows preference for in suffering? I can tell you that as a preacher, my words have not neglected them. My actions are what I would prefer to think about.”
It’s Absurd
“To paraphrase De Mello, it only takes a willingness to see things in a new way. This is what I like to tell my clients in AA. ‘You’re right, it’s not about willpower. Willpower doesn’t work. It’s our willingness and God’s power. If you are faced with repercussions for seeing things in a new way, you also may be invited into the ineffable presence and co-laboring nature of God, who is not anything like the master in this story.'”
Present to the Finish
“In our spiritual life, to be present is the goal, not Bible reading. Contemplative practices are not the Mystery, they are the means to be present to the Mystery.”
The G.O.A.T.
“All the laws hang on these two commandments and those commandments defer to the real, genuine greatest of all time. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting goat bumps! What if all our efforts to legislate law in our personal lives and communal lives needed to be filtered by these two commandments? What would be different?”
A New Song
“It appears to me that Jesus is constantly trying to save people from themselves… from our egos searching for identity and value in the wrong places. Doesn’t it seem like that to you? These guys come to him and say, “What is your opinion on Caesar’s empire built on unfair taxes?” Jesus says in effect, ‘Here’s what I think of your unfair tax. You rob people of their assets for a coin that is worth much less.'”
Inner Light, Outer Darkness
“Outer light illumines what we see. Inner light illumines what we can’t see. When our outer world brings us to our knees in darkness, we must attempt to create our own light. Like the man serving a life term, we must depend on the inextinguishable light.”
Rejected
“Over the past three and a half years, there have been many times when I wondered if the Board was right in the first place by overlooking me as a serious candidate. I have questioned my ability to lead this ministry. Maybe a big piece of the stone that left me broken and crushed ended up as a chip on my shoulder… left me needing to prove I belonged here, in this position, leading this ministry, without the credentials that were so important to those in charge.”
The Divine Slam Dunk
“What we think may not be the authority, but it reveals what we have surrendered to. If we believe that we belong once we ask the Spirit to indwell, then prior to this moment, we did not belong. There would be prerequisites. What if we always belonged in our intrinsic nature? Changing our thinking, metanoia (repentance), is simply surrendering to the declared truth that always was.”