When the Word of God became flesh and lived among us, it was not simply to experience the best that life on planet earth has to offer. In fact, it was to experience the totality of existence—highs and lows, feast and famine, community and loneliness—so that all creation could be presented back to God in a freely chosen offering of love.
We are called to become selectively blind to what our world labels as sinful, and concern ourselves more with seeing the connections we share in our creator.
If our testimony of faith is to have import and a Christ-like shape, then any proclamations we make need to be accompanied by actions that reveal our deepest truth.
Let us contemplate and be transformed by the ways Jesus lives in the desert, the One whose obedience has won righteousness for us.
Getting in touch with our truest and deepest motivations is one of the most important goals of our Lenten observance.
Who among us has not … been tempted to deny the truth that we have received, especially when under heavy duress and when the world seems to be falling apart all around us?
We have been built for blessing, and to serve as true channels of reconciliation, we must choose to grow together in this lifetime in the way that Christ taught and revealed.
Who are we? Who do we claim to be? Do our actions accord with our true identity and calling or do they align with a shadow version of ourselves?
There is a fine line between acknowledging and celebrating the unique gifts God has given us and tilting into idolatry and division because of them.
How much of a difference do your life and your choices make in the great story of salvation written by our God?
The most abundant life arises when we humans value the intricate and far-reaching connections we share with one another, with the earth, and with the heavens.
When we receive God’s greatest gift, and we commit to sharing his love and light with the world, the places we inhabit begin to change.
Ever since we began to believe the original lie that we were not enough—that we needed something else to distinguish ourselves from the rest of creation and each other—we have lived under the illusion that the ordinary and the holy were divided.
We are a people who know ourselves to be grafted into the Body of Christ through grace, not through the worthiness of human heritage and bloodlines.
As we continue our Advent journey, in a darkening world while focusing on the coming of the light, let us keep searching for signs of God’s presence and faithfulness among us.
