Tag Archives: grace

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I wish I could hate them.

I wish I could hate them.
I wish I could hate them. In ways, it would be so much easier. Their violence, racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, xenophobia, greed, exploitation of the poor, the anything-to-win-politics and indiscriminate, consumption of the planet and each other.  I hate the scapegoating, half-truths, spins ... all the bullshit.  I hate the value of winning at all…
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Thorns of Life

Thorns of Life
I came across this story while listening to the audiobook version of The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer.  It struck me so profoundly I spent the next few kilometers repeating the stunned mantra of “oh wow... oh wow...”.   I was so moved that I wanted to retell in my own words to reduce the…
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Games we play to Avoid Dealing with Emotional Pain

Games we play to Avoid Dealing with Emotional Pain
I’m a little Tea Pot... when I get all steamed -up hear me shout!  A familiar nursery rhyme but what an interesting allegory when we are talking about heart-wounds, stress and emotional pain.  Picture yourself as a tea-pot (or kettle). Add some water, some heat, and when water boils, steam (energy) is released through the…
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Missing God in both Success and Failure

Missing God in both Success and Failure
Why is it that when I sense a leading from God and follow through, the results so profoundly determines my hindsight? If things fit together with ease and all goes well I am confident that I have indeed heard God. Alternately, if things blow up in my face, I am suddenly stricken with a rash…
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The Humility Substitute

The Humility Substitute
We sat across the table from each other, sipping our coffee. He wasted no time. "Mike, the first time we met I would have told you I had perfect doctrine. I wouldn't have said it that way, but the truth is I thought my doctrine was perfect. For the past 47 years, I have been…
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Confronting my Sacred Violence

Confronting my Sacred Violence
As I continue to wrestle with my own violence, and the violence of my tribe, I am aware how I (we) often whitewash our violence with a smile, a bible verse or rationalize our aggression in the name of God (or God causes) as if the end somehow justifies the means. Violence, even sacred violence…
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Being Acceptable to God: Holiness in Real Life

Being Acceptable to God: Holiness in Real Life
One of the greatest pleasures in my life is working with wonderful and diverse people.  It is so incredible to see how the Father works in each life.  Far too often I am afraid when I get to meet some of these folks, it is because they are experiencing some sort of crisis in their…
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Excavating Your True Self

Excavating Your True Self
There’s a lot of mystery and often a lot of confusion when we start to speak about one's “True Self.” Depending upon your religious background, this can be relatively normal, completely bizarre and for some quite dubious. However, in the sense of healthy Christian faith, the pursuit of the authentic self is simply discovering and…
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Black Holes, Jesus and the Victory of God

Black Holes, Jesus and the Victory of God
I am a bit of a sci-fi geek. I grew up watching Star Trek, Star Wars and just about anything with aliens and outer space.   One of the coolest phenomena which provided great plots and excitement was the mysterious Black Hole! A Black Hole is a phenomenon in outer space that has a gravitational…
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Don’t Mind the Mess. Jesus Doesn’t.

Don’t Mind the Mess. Jesus Doesn’t.
I had an aunt who was a neat freak.  There's no other way to put, and she would agree, if through gritted teeth and tight-lipped smile.  I have a memory of visiting her home and my wife-to-be mistakenly walking into the freshly vacuumed family room.  My aunt shrieked with panic as my betrothed's socked foot…
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