Lord, teach me. . . .

The Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay. Love isn’t love till you give it away. –Oscar Hammerstein It’s that time of year when we start to receive  even more  requests from groups like St. Jude Children’s Hospital and National Wildlife Federation, groups whose very existence depends on the generosity of strangers who believe these groups matter. Their actions make a difference. They can change the world. A lot of folks don’t think churches should ever, ever talk about money. That’s the stuff the world cares about. Didn’t Jesus say we cannot serve God and money? He did ( Matthew 6:24 ). But—in context, what Jesus is telling his followers (that’s us) to do is to take the things the world finds valuable and use them for the advancement of Christ’s Reign , rather than for our own personal wealth and glory. During his brief three-year ministry, Jesus spoke about money more than any other single topic. The rich young ruler went away sad after Jesus told him to giv...

Happiness is finding peace with ourselves and ensuring a sound haven for our dreams, and at the same time, acknowledging our nothingness in front of nature’s splendor. –Erik Pevernagie   A mother walks into a room and finds her child rummaging through a drawer, pushing and pulling the contents every which way. What are you looking for? She asks. Quickly slamming the drawer shut, he hides his hands behind his back. Oh, nothing. . . . The wise mother, with a twinkle in her eye, asks: And did you find it? Some days (weeks), this is my life. I have no idea what I am looking for. I toss and turn at night; I search endlessly through articles and passages, certain that whatever it is my soul is seeking, if I just keep looking, I’ll find it. . . . And sure enough. Most days, what my heart is really looking for—is nothing . That space of quiet emptiness, where the mental traffic stops whizzing past at breakneck speed. Where the sound of silence erupts and insists I pay atten...

  Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and in the life to come. –Henri J. M. Nouwen The internet is simultaneously one of the greatest and one of the worst inventions of our time. On the one hand, in the blink of an eye, we can access so much helpful information! It can help us find our way when we are lost, and locate a gas station when the tank is almost empty. We can find answers to important questions—and trivial ones, as well. Amazing! But on the other hand, there’s social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram—and more. I have friends in corners of the world that I have never met—and I have had to unfriend people I have known for years, because the casual distance created by the internet seems to give some folks permission ...

  A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love and well-being. –James E. Faust   It happens to everyone, Sometimes it feels like prayer just ain’t happenin’, no matter how badly our heart yearns to pray. Maybe our brains feel all jumbled up, a Word Search where the letters are all scattered every which way. All the news lately may feel like an assault, and this is the result. Maybe our lives are just so busy we haven’t time to think things through the way we’d like. Maybe—maybe we never really thought about what it means to pray, so we have some crazy expectation of ourselves. Truth is, prayer is exactly whatever we believe and expect it to be. And it’s also true that sometimes, we need guidance. Help. This week, I offer you something different. (At first, it might sound like it will take more time than you have to giv...