Faith & Life Inspirational Message

The title of this inspirational piece may seem odd.   When in doubt, we should wait.   That does not seem like the American way.   I think Americans tend to be more pushy.   When in doubt, push ahead.   Force things!   Make things happen!   You can do it!   There are many ways we express the fact that we should seldom wait---for anything.   We pride ourselves that we lived in a fast-paced fashion.   “Get yours while the getting is good,” is a phrase I heard all my life.   The implication was you had to be quick, perhaps a bit grabby, and certainly never dally.   Slow people are losing people.             There may be times the above-mentioned perspective serves us well as people and as a nation.   But spiritually speaking, that is usually not a good way to go.   However, I believe that we often carry our lives-as-normal into our spiritual lives.   That sho...

On my good days I like to think I am on a spiritual journey.   I feel more comfortable putting it this way, rather than saying I am spiritual.   Simply to say I am spiritual seems arrogant to me.   I would say that I know some people whom I consider to be spiritual.   I look at their lives and actions and it is a no-brainer.   I even know a couple folks who can be seen as spiritual masters.   I feel like I am on the other end.   Some days I feel engaged on the journey.   Other days I am not sure I have even begun. Two elements are necessary for a consistent spiritual journey.   They are simple elements, but are necessary.   The first element is commitment.   Commitment includes the initial “yes” to a relationship with God.   And then it is locking in that “yes” in a daily living out of the relationship.   This is where the second element comes into the picture.   That element is discipline.   Discipline is t...

One of the things I like about hanging out with Catholics is the fact that I am continually sharing parts of that particular Christian tradition that my own Quaker tradition does not emphasize.   One of the things is their use of the saints of the Church.   I like that so many days of the year are dedicated to particular saints.   In my own mind there is no necessary connection of a day and the saint associated with that day.   But it is always a good occasion to focus on a special person of the Church.             Recently one of the saint days that I welcomed was the day celebrating Polycarp.   I used to spend some time with that old saint, but since I don’t teach more specialized courses in Christian history, I seldom have occasion to think about Polycarp.   So to share his saint day was like a reunion with an old friend.             I am s...

I was reading along in a very nice little book and hit these lines about commitment.   The author, Mitch Albom, uses the voice of one of the main characters of his nonfiction book about faith to reflect on commitment.   The voice belongs to Albom’s old rabbi of the Jewish synagogue where he went until his college days.   The old rabbi, Albert Lewis, says “the word ‘commitment’ has lost its meaning.”    The rabbi continues in a way that surely would have many people saying, “Amen!”   About commitment he says, “I’m old enough when it used to be a positive.   A committed person was someone to be admired.   He was loyal and steady.   Now a commitment is something you avoid.   You don’t want to tie yourself down.”   I also think I am old enough to know that commitment was usually a positive word.   I can think of a range of situations in which commitment would have been seen to be positive.   For example, growing up was f...