Faith & Life Inspirational Message

If you are a careful reader of these inspirational pieces, you might think that you just read one on God’s dwelling place.   And indeed, you did read one with a very similar title.   I did write one that basically said God’s dwelling place was not some building, like a church, but actually was the people themselves.   The bottom line was God dwells in people’s hearts, not in buildings. I had not planned to return to this theme so soon.   But in my daily lectionary---the readings provided by the Benedictine monastery that I follow---I was pleased to see the reading from the Psalm for the Morning Prayer.   The first Psalm reading came from Psalm 84.   I don’t know the Psalms well enough to be able to say, “Oh, Psalm 84: I know exactly what that one says.”   But when I read the initial line, I realized I had heard this line many times.   And then I realized I want to pursue the theme of God’s dwelling a little further. The initial verse of ...

I am not sure Quakers are always prepared to talk about the sacred.   But I do think Quakers are taught fairly well to be prepared to engage the sacred.   Let me explain and elaborate the difference.   I suspect in the process of explaining and elaborating, some of you who grew up in other traditions or, perhaps, no tradition at all will find some resonance in my own experience.             First of all, I define the sacred as the Presence of God or the Holy One.   Sacred simply means the place or space of the Divinity.   In the history of religions the sacred might be a place, like a cathedral, a grove in the forest or some other shrine.   The sacred can be the object of pilgrimages.   Sometimes the sacred has been the place of healing, as well as revelation.   The sacred is opposite of the profane---which literally means “outside the temple.”        ...

Although I am not Roman Catholic, I feel like the Pope is in some sense “my” Pope.   Of course I don’t think the Pope is my Pope in the same sense as a Catholic must see the Pope as his or her Pope.   I know quite a bit about Catholicism and I hang out with a fairly substantial group of Catholics.   I am a lay Benedictine monk, which means I am free to participate with the Benedictine monks in their life and worship.   I am grateful for everything the Catholic community has given to me.             But I am still not a real Catholic in the sense that someone must be if he or she is actually a full member of the Church.   And I recognize the Pope is the Head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, has a special relationship with all those who are full members of that Church.   But to see the Pope in that role is to have a too narrow view of the Papal Presence in our world.     ...

I like reading a variety of things that help me on my daily spiritual trek through life.   Help comes from many and, sometimes, odd venues.   Daily newspapers, magazines, preparation for classes and even notes on the wall have provided inspiration over the years.   I am thankful for the myriad of revelational sources.   But among the lot, no doubt the biblical text still ranks right up there as very important. I am not one who thinks every verse in the Christian Bible is significant.   I am ok thinking that the Bible, as a whole, is inspired.   But it is difficult for me to think every sentence or word is divinely inspired.   That would require an extensive discussion, of course, on what “inspiration” means, how it happens, etc.   I actually don’t have too much interest in that discussion and, certainly, have no interest in pursuing in here.   Suffice it here to acknowledge that inspiration means to help, encourage, to light up your life. ...

In my spiritual journey I have learned many things, as would be expected.   Indeed, it would be sad if we were to be on a journey for a period of time and learn nothing.   That sounds more like stagnation than a journey.   One important thing I have learned is to balance working with the new---staying connected to the relevant things happening in our world---with the traditional---things like spiritual disciplines to keep me grounded.             A good bit of what I read comes from the spirituality in my contemporary world.   I do not fall for the illusion that anything new has to be better than the older ways of being spiritual.   But I am not so naïve as to think that most of whatever is new will have no staying power in our world.   For example, there is so much research coming out of our scientific community, we would be idiotic to ignore that.   Neuroscientists are discovering so much abou...

One of the things I have come to value is the daily lectionary.   A lectionary is a schedule of readings used by many Christian traditions.   It is a useful tool for anyone looking to engage in some kind of daily or regular worship and reflection.   As a young Quaker, I had never heard the word, lectionary.   We never used that, although I was aware of a few people using the Upper Room devotional booklet, which was a similar idea.             I first encountered the lectionary with my Catholic and Episcopal friends I made when I went to college.   The lectionary always had some readings from the Bible, including readings from the Psalms.   Sometimes, these Biblical readings were augmented by a reading from a figure from Christian history or some more contemporary author.   The lectionary moved one through the liturgical year.   I realized the lectionary helped me avoid simply picking out ...

So often, my spiritual education comes in ways I could not have imagined.  I appreciate the fact that I continue to be spiritually educated.  Part of me worries that I could have long periods of life when no education was happening.  I understand “dry periods,” as we Quakers describe those times when there seems to be no presence or movement of the Spirit.  During these times, I am content to wait, to stay disciplined and be engaged in the process.             My spiritual education is fairly predictable as a happening.  What is unpredictable is the particular kind of education I might receive.  Here variety seems to be the fare of the day.  I am quite content with that.  Who am I always to know what I need to know?  As long as I keep learning, then I will be true to the spirit of the Latin and Greek words for “disciple,” namely a “student” or “learner.”     ...

“ I still remember how startled I was when a young woman I was interviewing told me God had spoken to her, audibly.”   This is the opening line of an article I recently read.   The article had an enticing title: “Is that God Talking?”   With a title like that, how could I resist!   If I were interviewing someone and he or she told me that God spoke to him or her---audibly---I probably would suspect some kind of mental illness.   Maybe I am a theologian and a cynic!   Certainly the author, T.M. Luhrmann, is no kook.   She is professor of anthropology at Stanford.   Stanford is one of the leading higher education institutions in the nation.   Luhrmann has been doing anthropological studies among evangelicals.   She wants to know about their religious experience.   And in a way, I realized that I also am fascinated by people’s experience that differ from me.   I would tell people that I have experienced God and God’s presenc...

Yesterday I had the pleasure to participate in a memorial service.   I have done that probably a thousand times.   Many times I officiate the entire service.   Sometimes, like yesterday, I only give guidance to portions of the service.   I cannot remember a memorial service or funeral where I am not very conscious of the fact a human being died in order for us to be gathering in his or her memory.            The man being remembered and honored yesterday was a person I never met.   I know his son and it was through this connection, I was asked to participate in the service.   I was happy to do so.   My feeling is we never know when an act of kindness or some ministry will bear fruit that is significant in some way.   So I did my part in honor of a person whom I never met.             However, I never mind participating in a service like t...

As the Christmas season comes round, I am reminded of a one-liner I heard one day while listening to a lecture by Richard Rohr.   Rohr is one of my favorites.   He has a way of saying some very significant things, but often with a twist of humor.   No doubt, this is what endears him to so many people.   And it is also probably why some folks, particularly some Roman Catholics, find him troubling and wish he would quit speaking and writing.   The line I wrote down, as Rohr was speaking, went like this.   “The operative image of God is Santa Claus!”   Of course, this line is basically about God and not Santa Claus.   Rohr is offering a theological look into his own mind.   It is not a comment on Santa Claus.   In this instance Santa is an image or a symbol.   Let’s look more closely at Rohr’s theology to see if it makes sense in our own lives.    Clearly not everyone has the same idea with respect to Santa Claus. ...

A recent reading from the daily lectionary brought me to a familiar Psalm, Psalm 36.   The familiar words come in the middle of that Psalm.   The line I connected with is really a confessional, laudatory line.   The Psalmist says to God, “ How precious is your steadfast love, O God!”   Since most of us do not have the ability to read the Psalms in their original Hebrew, perhaps the best we can do is read a couple English translations.   A different translation of the passage just quoted goes like this: “How precious is your kindness, O God!” Clearly the first passage uses the English phrase, steadfast love, to capture a Hebrew word.   And the second passage uses the word, kindness.   In both cases the Psalmist is praising a divine attribute that characterizes God and God’s action in the world.   The Psalmist is confessing that this divine love or kindness is precious.   For some reason I very much like the idea of precious.   ...

Because I spend a great deal of time with people, I tend to be fairly aware of what is going on with them.   Sometimes they tell me and others what’s happening and other times I simply pay attention and they may “talk” with body language or other means.   I certainly don’t have any special gifts or skills in this.   I think I just pay more attention than many people.             One of the facets of being human that fascinates me is what people hope for.   It seems that humans tend to be creatures of hope.   I have no clue whether we are genetically wired that way or if our environment---especially our American culture---shapes us to be hopeful.   And I can imagine my own perception is warped by the kind of particular culture in which I live and spend most of my time.   For example, much of my time is spent in a university setting and that surely is a place of significant hopes.   Compare t...