As believers, disparate as we might be in our denominations and our methods, we all belong together to the body of Christ. When you have the chance, permit that wonder to enter into your life, and don't be afraid to reach out to believers outside your denomination or worship style. [Click title to read more.]
Category: spirituality
Weekly Roundup
Let's catch up, pray, and rest together.
The Dangerous “Starter” Mentality
The starter mentality is inherently problematic, because it perpetuates dissatisfaction. It tells us that what we have is not "good," but rather "good enough...for now." [Click title to read more.]
The Usefulness of Ritual
It's absolutely possible for rituals to become meaningless, of course. But on the flip side, rituals can become a deep wellspring of meaning: an anchor in a chaotic world. [Click title to read more.]
Stasis: The Soul-Killer
If our spiritual life feels "fine" - not great, not spectacular, but "fine" - we often don't feel that compelled to change things. Above all, humans are creatures of comfort. [Click title to read more].
You Are The Window To Wonder In A Skeptical World
Most people look askance at the mere concept of miracles in general. Or angels. Or an afterlife. The idea that humans might be part of a bigger, broader story, that there is something epic and cosmic and important above and beyond us, has fallen into irrelevance beside the urgency of now. And that is why love matters. [Click title to read more.]
The Importance of Remembering Death
Our culture rarely deals intimately with death any more: we have cordoned it off, confined it to funeral homes and hospitals, done everything to keep it separate from us as we try to think up ways and means to evade the inevitable ourselves. But it wasn't always that way. And I suspect that in the interim, something has been lost.
Cultivating A Sense Of Wonder Is A Christian Act
Wonder is a quality that we must embrace and cultivate as believers. We live in an often-cynical world, heavy with pessimism. Unironic enthusiasm and delight sometimes seems out of style, and out of step. But as Christians, wonder is part and parcel of our experience. [Click title to read more.]
Christian Peer Pressure: When It’s Okay To Be Out Of Step Sometimes
The thing is, peer pressure to participate in certain activities or trends or events exists among Christians as much as it exists in any other group, and I'd argue that for Christians it's especially difficult to navigate, because we often wonder if it's okay not to like something "godly," or to want to do something different than all of the believers around us are doing. When is it okay to take a pass and not participate, to be the odd duck of the group? [Click title to read more.]
Sports and Misleading Narratives of Christian Victory: Or, That Time I Swore I’d Shave Off My Eyebrows
It's interesting to me that we never equate God's victory with loss. That we never equate God with the less-than-happy-end, or with what happens when things don't turn out right. The team that slumps into the locker room doesn't say, "Well, He's the reason we're here." After a fumble or a turnover, the football player doesn't crouch and quietly thank God.
Samaritan's Song 