Faith & Life Inspirational Message

When I find a phrase or sentence in a book that arrests my attention, I feel like I just found a diamond.   Of course, it is not materially valuable, but a great phrase or sentence adds value to my life and the way I understand life.   In fact, I wish I had started collecting these “diamonds” early in my life---maybe from college to today.   I wonder how many of these I would have in my treasury?              I am sure if I were to cull the various things I have written, I would have a minimal list of these phrases and sentences.   They would fill many pages in a notebook and would be a wonderful reservoir of inspiring thoughts.   Even though I don’t have that notebook, I still go in search of the phrase or sentence that stops me in my tracks and lets me exclaim, “Yes!”             I found one of these sentences recently when I was re-reading ...

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. ...

Every time I read or hear Richard Rohr, I connect with something he says.   I appreciate his witness and his words.   Rohr is a Franciscan priest who founded and headed up the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM a few years ago.   I am sure part of why I like what Rohr is doing is the fact that he is basically the same age I am.   Although he grew up in a rather pious Catholic home in Kansas and I in a less than pious Quaker home in Indiana, we nevertheless have a good bit in common.                I still use a couple of his books in classes I teach, so periodically I have a chance to reread some of my favorite lines.   However, it is also true that rereading a book always seems to lift up something you know you read the first time, but somehow it did not catch your attention in that first read.   That just happened to me when I turned to a chapter in his book, Everythin...

I try to follow various people I respect to see what kinds of things they are doing with regards to spirituality.   One of the people I respect is Richard Rohr.   While I don’t agree with everything he writes, I find his Franciscan spirit resonates with my Quaker spirit.   He and I are about the same age, so it makes it easy to understand some of his concerns and issues.   Neither one of us deals with teenage problems any more!             He has the ability to look at a common issue and see it in a way I might not ever look at it.   Perhaps some of that is due to our different backgrounds and experience.   I recall Rohr talks some about growing up in Kansas.   That might not be too different than growing up in rural Indiana.   But he also talks about his caring German, Roman Catholic family.   My family certainly was caring enough.   I have no complaints on that score.   But...

The words in my title come from a little online meditation piece I read from one of my favorite authors, Richard Rohr.   Rohr is a Franciscan who founded and runs a Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM.   I have been reading Rohr for a long time and still use a couple of his books in my classes.   He is a Catholic who has taught this Quaker a great deal over time.             Rohr always has a fresh way of putting things, even if I have thought about those things in my own way.   He makes me twist my head---symbolic of twisting my mind---and pondering something in a different way.   In a way the title of this little piece is evidence of that.   I never thought about God as a Divine Ambusher!   I don’t know that I would find that image for God in the Christian Bible, but I think the sense of the way God sometimes acts resonates with the title.   Let’s look at how Rohr puts ...

One of my favorite writers, Richard Rohr, has a daily column in which he meditates on life and spiritual ways to live life.  Those meditations are fairly short.  I enjoy looking at them and seeing how his mind thinks about these kinds of things.  Obviously it is a bit similar to what I do in these reflections, but mine are longer.  Maybe I should take a cue from him!             Of course, it would be easier to write something short---maybe a paragraph or two.  But I would miss the chance to ponder issues a little longer and to develop my thoughts a little further.  It is a spiritual discipline for me.  And for those who read it, I hope it is a form of spiritual discipline for you, too.             In one of his recent pieces Rohr had a sentence that caught my attention.  This is the kind of kernel of wisdom I look for and on whic...

We live in it at all times.   It surrounds us, penetrates us and yet is probably separate from us.   It is independent and dependent at the same time.   It is mysterious and, yet, completely transparent and knowable.   It’s reality. Of course, there are different philosophical and theological perspectives on just what reality is.   I am sure there must be scientific versions, as well.   Psychologists might tell is reality is a matter of perspective.   I suppose some extremists are confident there is no such thing as reality.   Maybe I am in illusion, but it seems to me pretty clear there is such a thing a reality.   The good news is, I do not intend to explore its philosophical and scientific roots.   I am going to take reality for granted.   For me, it is.   Let’s think about the reality of reality. What prompted these beginning thoughts was a random sentence in an article I was reading.   The article was not very g...

I ran across a line in one of Richard Rohr’s books that I use for a course I teach.   The book is entitled, Everything Belongs .   I have used the book a number of times in some classes.   I find it challenging, comforting, and encouraging.   It is encouraging when I read that ultimately everything belongs.   Obviously, that is pretty general.   But it is also radical. It is general and sometimes generalities don’t mean much.   It is tempting to say, “yeah, everything belongs, but belongs to what?”   The first place in Rohr’s book where he addresses this question provides a good, beginning answer.   He says, “In God’s reign, ‘everything belongs,’ even the broken and poor parts; the imperial systems of culture, however, demand ‘in’ and ‘out’ people, victors and victims.” When Rohr says “everything,” he means every thing.   That includes me and you.   That means all of us and all of our world (and every other world out there...

I love what I do.   I have been privileged to be involved in spirituality for many years now.   I have done it through teaching and a variety of what I like to call ministry venues.   I like the Latin basis of our word, ministry.   Literally, it means to “serve.”   I am content to think that I have spent a great deal of my life serving.                I am convinced that is one of the aspects of the Christian journey.   Everyone who walks this path has an obligation to serve.   But I also am sure that it is not a Christian thing.   I know Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others encourage the same walk of faith.   I suspect part of the reason service is a given in these major religious traditions is the fact that they all are grounded in love.   Love inevitably issues forth in service.   Love will put us all at the feet of others.   Sometimes we literally wi...

The title of the reflective piece may suggest spirituality and sports.   They may be related, but that is not my intention.   Actually, the idea for this piece came in an extended article I found yesterday at cnn.com.   Now that in and of itself is a little unusual.   One typically does not find spirituality articles at CNN.   Certainly, one usually does not find spirituality articles being highlighted on the home page.   But that was the case with some extended thoughts from Richard Rohr. My eyes lit up when I saw Rohr’s name.   He is one of my favorite contemporary writers on spirituality.   I routinely use a couple of his books in my classes.   And he has been a provocative help to me in my own spiritual growth and development.   Even so, I was not quite prepared for the title of the CNN article: “Priest pens spiritual survival guide for recession.”   I learned soon, however, as I read into the article that it was a kind of ...