Five or six years ago, our small church lost its pastor and couldn’t afford to hire one. It fell to me as worship chair to somehow provide a weekly message. Some weeks I hired help and others I scrambled to do it myself. I don’t know how it happened but I began receiving your mediations via emails. This was during Covid when all congregations were struggling. I took your messages that spoke to me and either expanded on them or just used them verbatim. I want to thank you for helping me through a rough and scary time. Thank you for being there when I needed you, and for helping me to grow as an adult. Becky
Love the references in this one! Brian McLaren, Teresa of Avila, Thich Nhat Hanh - among my favorites! Also I find it so sad that many try to differentiate heaven from this world… when Jesus was clear that the Kingdom is here and now! Or can be! It is up to us to see and usher in heaven here on earth. 🌍
I grow to love "Piloting Faith" a little more every day, and I find it often sneaking into my personal cockpit of spiritual guidance – you're a trustworthy and inspiring guide! I wanted to share with you though another perspective on the best-beloved "Christ has no body but yours" affirmation, one offered by my teacher Rev. Mary Luti Ph.D., the author of "Teresa of Avila's Way." In her recounting, reinforced by a 2011 post in Timothy Phillips's blog "Mockingbird Imitations," she avers that the second part was written by Methodist minister Guy Pearse in 1888, and the first added by English Quaker Sarah Eliza Rowntree in 1892. Phillips's blog post is here: http://mimuspolyglottos.blogspot.com/2011/11/whose-hands-another-possible-case-of.html.
I doubt harm will be done to pious readers by the misattribution, except to gather an implication that action and contemplation aren't inextricably intertwined in the Christian life. The poem can be read as elevating action at contemplation's expense – a typically Protestant sentiment! Still, I thought you might like to know the sources and ponder the implications.
Reading your daily meditation and prayer, and reflecting on your questions and suggested spiritual practice is coffee for my soul…. Your words wake up and guide my spirit towards the Light it longs for. I look forward to the experience each morning and am deeply grateful for the time, thought and effort you put into writing and sharing your beautiful insights. Thank you for this precious gift. 🕊️💞🕊️
Thank you! You have summed up what Christianity ought to be about in one column. We are the body of Christ, his hands are our hands. It is this life that matters - bringing 'heaven' on earth.
Five or six years ago, our small church lost its pastor and couldn’t afford to hire one. It fell to me as worship chair to somehow provide a weekly message. Some weeks I hired help and others I scrambled to do it myself. I don’t know how it happened but I began receiving your mediations via emails. This was during Covid when all congregations were struggling. I took your messages that spoke to me and either expanded on them or just used them verbatim. I want to thank you for helping me through a rough and scary time. Thank you for being there when I needed you, and for helping me to grow as an adult. Becky
Thank you for this note, Becky. This means a great deal to me. 🙏
Love the references in this one! Brian McLaren, Teresa of Avila, Thich Nhat Hanh - among my favorites! Also I find it so sad that many try to differentiate heaven from this world… when Jesus was clear that the Kingdom is here and now! Or can be! It is up to us to see and usher in heaven here on earth. 🌍
I grow to love "Piloting Faith" a little more every day, and I find it often sneaking into my personal cockpit of spiritual guidance – you're a trustworthy and inspiring guide! I wanted to share with you though another perspective on the best-beloved "Christ has no body but yours" affirmation, one offered by my teacher Rev. Mary Luti Ph.D., the author of "Teresa of Avila's Way." In her recounting, reinforced by a 2011 post in Timothy Phillips's blog "Mockingbird Imitations," she avers that the second part was written by Methodist minister Guy Pearse in 1888, and the first added by English Quaker Sarah Eliza Rowntree in 1892. Phillips's blog post is here: http://mimuspolyglottos.blogspot.com/2011/11/whose-hands-another-possible-case-of.html.
I doubt harm will be done to pious readers by the misattribution, except to gather an implication that action and contemplation aren't inextricably intertwined in the Christian life. The poem can be read as elevating action at contemplation's expense – a typically Protestant sentiment! Still, I thought you might like to know the sources and ponder the implications.
Thanks for all you do,
Carter West
Woburn, Mass.
Reading your daily meditation and prayer, and reflecting on your questions and suggested spiritual practice is coffee for my soul…. Your words wake up and guide my spirit towards the Light it longs for. I look forward to the experience each morning and am deeply grateful for the time, thought and effort you put into writing and sharing your beautiful insights. Thank you for this precious gift. 🕊️💞🕊️
I am in with this dream steadfastly to remake our world…
Like the 'your kin-dom come' - stresses the community aspect of God's coming.
Jesus’ gospel, spelled
not king-dom: kin-dom, kind-om.
Easier said than done.
Love this one, Marisol. Well, I love all of them, but this helps us get close to the heart of it all. Thank you for sharing your gift!
Your words, work, feels, deeds
meet what our wounded world needs.
Pastors walk the talk.
Thank you! You have summed up what Christianity ought to be about in one column. We are the body of Christ, his hands are our hands. It is this life that matters - bringing 'heaven' on earth.
Disciplined dreaming...
present, potential, both true.
Aligned shared practice.