Monthly Archives: September 2014

Daily Riches: Jesus and His Undesirables (Philip Yancey) *

Posted on by under Loving Well, The Poor and Disenfranchised

“As I studied the gospels, I noticed a pattern so consistent it almost reduces to a mathematical formula. The more ungodly, unwholesome, and undesirable the person, the more that person felt attracted to Jesus. And the more righteous, self-assured, and desirable the person, the  more that person felt threatened by Jesus.”

“We see ourselves as on the side of Christ by giving to the needy. The new Testament makes plain, however, that Jesus is on the side of the poor, and we serve best by elevating the downtrodden to the place of Jesus. … the direction of charity is not condescending, but rather ascending: in serving the weak and the poor, we are privileged to serve God himself.” Philip Yancey

“Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there.’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet.’, have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:1-4

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Picture the “ungodly, unwholesome, and undesirable” people Jesus embraced. Would you want them if you were interviewing candidates for a job? if you were renting out a room? as a suitor for your son or daughter? as a neighbor? And yet, Jesus built his budding “church” with such people. It’s a familiar story, but doesn’t it seem ridiculous?
  • Have we “stayed the course” with this value system of Jesus, or fallen into the trap James mentions? Do you accept ungodly or undesirable people? Do you make time for them? make space for them? befriend them? love them? Does your church?
  • When is the last time you had a misfit or “down-and-outer” in your car? your home? included with your friends? over for Thanksgiving dinner? What does your answer say about you?

Abba, help me to learn to love those who loved you the most. When I see the poor, help me to see Jesus there, in solidarity with them.

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For More: Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey

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These “Daily Riches” are for your encouragement. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Suffering’s Unwelcomed Gift (David Benner, Richard Rohr and Henri Nouwen) *

Posted on by under Desolation's Gift, Detachment and Attachment, Embracing Losses and Limits, Suffering and Grace

“Suffering can be a path to awakening when we engage it with receptivity to the gifts it holds rather than simply attempt to endure it. One of those gifts is that suffering has unique capacity to help us soften and release attachments and move toward a life of non-attachment. Simone Weil said that suffering that does not detach us is wasted suffering. Don’t waste suffering. It’s always a shame to have to repeat lessons because we don’t get their point but suffering is a particularly bad lesson to be slow to get.” David Benner

“Real holiness doesn’t feel like holiness; it just feels like you’re dying. It feels like you’re losing it. And you are! Every time you love someone, you have agreed for a part of you to die. You will soon be asked to let go of some part of your false self, which you foolishly thought was permanent, important, and essential! You know God is doing this in you and with you when you can somehow smile and trust that what you lost was something you did not need anyway. In fact, it got in the way of what was real.”  Richard Rohr

“… in the middle of the pain there is some hidden gift. I, more and more in my life, have discovered that the gifts of life are often hidden in the places that hurt most.” Henri Nouwen

“Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” Hebrews 5:8

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Can you imagine embracing suffering that comes your way as a giver of “gifts?” Can you remember to look for such a gift when you’re in those “places that hurt most?”
  • Has suffering in your life caused you to loosen your grip on things? Has it changed your perspective about what is “permanent, important, and essential?”
  • When it “feels like you’re dying” or “losing it”, can you trust God to be at work for your good in the very thing that is “killing” you?

Abba, your Son suffered that he might know me. Help me to embrace the gifts of suffering that I might know him. I know I’m going to want to run from it like the disciples ran from the garden.  Strengthen me.

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For More: Spirituality and the Awakening Self by David G. Benner

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These “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: The Constant Purification of Motive (Richard Rohr and Thomas Keating) *

Posted on by under approval addiction, Ego Issues, Loving Union with God, Obscurity and Secrecy, Spiritual Formation

“Whenever you perform a religious action publicly, it enhances your image as a good, moral person and has a strong social payoff. Jesus’ constant emphasis is on interior religiosity, on purifying motivation and intention. He tells us to clean the inside of the dish instead of being so preoccupied with cleaning the outside, with looking good (Matthew 23:25-26). The purifying of our intention and motivation is the basic way that we unite our inner and our outer worlds. (Please read that twice!) All through the spiritual journey, we should be asking ourselves, “Why am I doing this? Am I really doing this for God, for truth, or for others? Or am I doing it for hidden reasons?” The spiritual journey could be seen as a constant purification of motive until I can finally say, “I have no other reason to do anything except love of God and love of neighbor.” Richard Rohr

“In the Near East, centuries ago successive cultures built new cities on top of the last ones. … The ruins of these ancient cities built one on top of the other are called “tells.” The spiritual journey is like an archaeological dig through the various stages of our lives, from where we are now back through the midlife crisis, adult life, adolescence, puberty, early childhood, infancy. What happens if we allow that archaeological dig to continue? We feel that we are getting worse. But we are really not getting worse; we are just finding out how bad off we always were. That is an enormous grace. … What happens when we get to the bottom of the pile of our emotional debris? We are in divine union. There is no other obstacle.” Thomas Keating

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness
in front of others
to be seen by them.”
Jesus in Matthew 6:6

Moving From Head to Heart

  • “Am I really doing this for God, for truth, or for others? Or am I doing it for hidden reasons?” Do you regularly ask yourself these questions?
  • Have you experienced the “enormous grace” or sifting through your “pile of emotional debris?”
  • What practice can you adopt to help you focus on “interior” religion?

Abba, may all that I do be only for love.

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For More: The Human Condition by Thomas Keating

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In these “Daily Riches”  my goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. Thanks for your interest. When you find it useful, please share!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

 

Daily Riches: More Important Than Our Love for God (James I. Packer) *

Posted on by under Being the Beloved, Humility, The Love of God

“What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it – the fact that he knows me. …There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way that I am so often disillusioned about myself…. There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow-men do not see (and am I glad!), and that He sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, He wants me as His friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given His son to die for me in order to realise this purpose.”  J. I. Packer

 “… you have come to know God, or rather, to be known by God.”  Galatians 4:9

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • What feeling arise when you consider that God’s love for you is “utterly realistic” and without illusion?  that He “wants you as His friend?”
  • If God’s knowledge of you is “based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about you”, then what can you do to ruin God’s love for you?
  • What “matters supremely” is not, in the final analysis, that you know God, that you cling to him, or that you love him. These things matter – a lot – but what “matters supremely” is that God knows you, that God clings to you, and that God loves you. Take a moment to let that sink in.

Abba, thank you for loving me when I was cold to you, for seeking after and finding me when I was hiding, and for protecting and treasuring me as your child in spite of twisted things about me that my fellow-men do not see, and the corruption you see in me which is more even than that which I see in myself.

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For More: Knowing God by J. I. Packer

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These “Daily Riches” are for your encouragement. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

 

 

Daily Riches: God, the Promiscuous Lover (Hans Kung, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Hannah Hurnard) *

Posted on by under Loving Well, The Love of God

“Through meal-sharing, preaching, teaching, and healing, Jesus acted out His understanding of the Father’s indiscriminate love–a love that causes His sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and His rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike (Matthew 5:45). …The absolute unpardonable thing was not his concern for the sick, the cripples, the lepers, the possessed … not even his partnership for the poor, humble people. The real trouble was that he got involved with moral failures, with obviously irreligious and immoral people…. What kind of dangerous and naive love is this, which does not know its limits: the frontiers between fellow countrymen and foreigners, party members and non-members, between neighbors and distant people, between honorable and dishonorable callings, between moral and immoral, good and bad people? As if dissociation were not absolutely necessary here. As if we ought not to judge in these cases. As if we could always forgive in these circumstances.” Hans Kung

“The sign of true love, we remember, is that it is universal love, love to all, without exception, not just to a chosen few or to a special coterie of particular Christians.” Hannah Hurnard

“Christ’s love cannot be limited by human qualities, character, sins, weaknesses or boundaries but stretches beyond all limits.” Hans Urs von Balthasar

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?
Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your own people,
what are you doing more than others?
Do not even pagans do that?
Be perfect, therefore,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • God’s love “stretches beyond all limits.” It’s “universal … without exception.” It’s indiscriminate. It’s promiscuous. Does this seem “dangerous” or “naive” to you? Does it make you uncomfortable?
  • How do you do when it comes to showing love that crosses boundaries of race, religion, political party, social status, gender, or sexual orientation? Are you also promiscuous? If not, what does that say about you?
  • How can you be more indiscriminate with your love at work, in your neighborhood, at church?

Abba, where would I be without your promiscuous love?

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For More: On Being a Christian by Hans Kung

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These “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: The Primary Work of the Christian Leader (Gordon MacDonald, Henri Nouwen and Parker Palmer) *

Posted on by under Being and Doing, Change Yourself First, Loving Union with God, Self-care, Striving and drivenness, Success

“The forming of the soul that it might be a dwelling place for God is the primary work of the Christian leader. This is not an add-on, an option, or a third-level priority. Without this core activity, one almost guarantees that he/she will not last in leadership for a life-time or that what work is accomplished will become less and less reflective of God’s honor and God’s purposes.” Gordon MacDonald

“Before we can conquer the world we must conquer the self.” Oswald Sanders

“Self care is never a selfish act. It is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have – the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.” Parker Palmer

“The goal of education and formation for the ministry is continually to recognize the Lord’s voice, his face, and his touch in every person we meet.” Henri Nouwen

“How lovely is your dwelling place,
  Almighty Yahweh!
My soul yearns, even faints,
 for the courts of Yahweh;
my heart and my flesh cry out
 for the living God.”
Psalm 84:1-2

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Christian leader, do you consider “the forming of your soul that it might be a dwelling place for God” to be your “primary work?” Have you established routines and prioritized practices accordingly?
  • When you think about whether you are successful, how often do you turn to consider how you’re doing at this “core activity?” If not this, what do you think about instead? Are other responsibilities, real or imagined, deterring you from this non-optional, first-level activity?
  • Gordon MacDonald is a wise guide here. Can you accept his warning that if you fail at this point you probably “will not last in leadership for a life-time … [or your work will] become less and less reflective of God’s honor” over time?  Can you take the time to be this kind of leader in spite of the expectations and pressures others place on you – even perhaps with little encouragement from anyone else?

Abba, I pray that the Christian leaders I know would live a life of deep intimacy with you. Call them to yearn for you like the psalmist does, and to seek your empowering presence. And Lord, help those of us under their care to prayerfully support them and diligently protect them when they attempt this greatest of all work.

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For More: Cultivating the Soul by Gordon MacDonald

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These “Daily Riches” are for your encouragement. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: The Backbone of the World (James Campbell, Tennyson and David Benner) *

Posted on by under Being the Beloved

“Father is a name which implies personal and affectional relations. It embodies the highest conception of God which can be gathered from our knowledge of earthly relationships. It is the divine name which constituted the most distinct contribution of Jesus to religious thought. … Tennyson says that to take it away is to “take away the backbone of the world.” The God who is over all is the Father of all; the God who is through all is the Father of all; the God who is in all is the Father of all. This is the God to whom every man may come, claiming a child’s place, a child’s privileges, a child’s blessing.”  James Campbell

“Imagine God thinking about you. What do you assume God feels when you come to mind? [Many people say disappointment or anger.] … In both cases, these people are convinced that it is their sin that first catches God’s attention. …the truth is that when God thinks of you, love swells in God’s heart and a smile comes to God’s face. God bursts with love for humans. God is far from being emotionally uninvolved with creation. God’s bias toward us is strong, persistent and positive. The Christian God chooses to be known as Love, and that love pervades every aspect of God’s relationship with us.” David Benner

“So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.
Whatever is good and perfect
comes down to us from God our Father,
who created all the lights in the heavens. ….
And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”
James 1:16-18

Moving From Head to Heart

  • Do you think of God as one to whom you can come “claiming a child’s place, a child’s privileges, a child’s blessing?” Do you think of yourself as his “prized possession?”
  • If instead, you feel God must be disappointed or angry with you, can you quiet yourself and listen for his voice to you, letting him confirm his love? his “bias” towards you?
  • Can you dare to believe that “when God thinks of you, love swells in God’s heart and a smile comes to God’s face?”

Abba, may I always remember how you prize me.

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For More: Surrender to Love by David G. Benner

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The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day which you might share with others. –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Reigning in a Critical Spirit (Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Henri Nouwen) *

Posted on by under Loving Well, Silence

“Often we combat our evil thoughts most effectively if we absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words. It is certain that the spirit of self-justification can be overcome only by the Spirit of grace; nevertheless, isolated thoughts of judgment can be curbed and smothered by never allowing them the right to be uttered…. Thus it must be a decisive rule of every Christian fellowship that each individual is prohibited from saying much that occurs to him.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“If we could control our tongues,
we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.
And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go,
even though the winds are strong.
In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
…People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue.
It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father,
and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.
And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.
Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!”
James 3:2-10

“It is a good discipline to wonder in each new situation if people wouldn’t be better served by our silence than by our words.” Henri Nouwen

 Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Think about your conversations at church. Do you tend to say whatever occurs to you? Could you determine never to speak in defense of yourself or in judgment of another?
  • Does your congregation have a “decisive rule … that each individual is prohibited from saying much that occurs to him?”
  • Both James and Bonhoeffer admit the difficulty of controlling our words. Even so, both men seem to suggest that we will control ourselves by controlling our words. Can you control your words?

Abba, may my words be surrounded by much silence and informed by much love.

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For More: Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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These “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and he seeks after you. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Contemplative Prayer and Friendship with God (Thomas Keating) *

Posted on by under Contemplation, Contemplative Prayer, Prayer

“Contemplative prayer is a deepening of faith that moves beyond thoughts and concepts. One just listens to God, open and receptive to the divine presence in one’s inmost being as its source. One listens not with a view to hearing something, but with a view to becoming aware of the obstacles to one’s friendship with God.” Thomas Keating


To his disciples Jesus said:
“I no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know
his master’s business.
Instead, I have called you friends,
for everything that I learned from my Father
I have made known to you. …

And to his Father Jesus said:
I have made you known to them,
and will continue to make you known
in order that the love you have for me
may be in them
and that I myself may be in them.”
John 15:15 and 17:26

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Sometimes we think of God mostly as “out there.” Keating suggests listening for God’s presence in your “inmost being.” Does that seem strange or wrong, or perhaps misguided, to you?
  • Can you wrap your head around the God of heaven being your “friend” and making his residence “in” you (something emphasized by Jesus in John 13-17)?
  • “One listens … with a view to becoming aware of the obstacles to one’s friendship with God.” Are you willing to listen that way? If so, what specific plan can you make to see that you follow through with your good intentions?

Abba, I can’t understand why you would long to be my friend, desire my affection, or condescend to live in me. As I’m able to bear it, and as I take time to listen to you, please show me the obstacles in my life that hinder our friendship.

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For More: The Human Condition by Thomas Keating

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The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: The Willingness to Wait (Henri Nouwen and Pete Scazzero) *

Posted on by under Busyness, Hurry Sickness, Waiting on God

“A waiting person is a patient person. The word ‘patience’ implies the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Impatient people expect the real thing to happen somewhere else, and therefore they want to get away from the present situation and go elsewhere. For them the moment is empty. But patient people dare to stay where they are.” Henri Nouwen

“Do not leave Jerusalem,
but wait for the gift my Father promised,
which you have heard me speak about.”
Jesus in Acts 1: 4

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Are you a patient person? Able to stay where you are, even if it seems nothing is happening?  waiting expectantly to see what God will do?
  • Are you a patient person, willing to look for God’s fullness where you are?  willing to live in the present situation and it’s fullness – a fullness which may not be obvious?
  • Can you resist the urge to “go elsewhere”, running to a better moment rather than the present one that seems so “empty?” Can you “dare to stay where you are?”
  • Think about the quiet seemingly empty moments in the various Biblical accounts that exploded into significance when God acted in them. What might you miss if you can’t stay put in “quiet, empty” moments?

“Lord grant me the grace to do one thing at a time today, without rushing or hurrying. Help me to savor the sacred in all I do, be it large or small. By the power of the Holy Spirit, empower me to pause today as I move from one activity to the next. Declutter my heart, O God, until I am quiet enough to hear you speak out of the silence. Forgive me for running my life without you sometimes. Help me to be still, to surrender to your will, and to rest in your loving arms. Amen.”  (Pete Scazzero)

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For More: The Daily Office by Peter Scazzero

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These “Daily Riches” are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in less than 400 words. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: The Transforming Power of Love (Thomas Chalmers and David Benner) *

Posted on by under Loving Well

“There are two ways in which a practical moralist may attempt to displace from the human heart its love of the world – either by a demonstration of the world’s vanity, so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon simply to withdraw its regards from an object that is not worthy of it; or, by setting forth another object, even God, as more worthy of its attachment, so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon  … to exchange an old affection for a new one. [Because of] the constitution of our nature… the latter method will alone suffice for the rescue and recovery of the heart from the wrong affection that domineers over it.” Thomas Chalmers

“Christianity is the world’s great love religion. If you miss that, you miss its essence and will always end up emphasizing the wrong thing. The heart of its good news is that God comes to us as love, in love, for love, wooing us with love and working our transformation through love. … love is the strongest force in the universe. Gravity may hold planets in orbit and nuclear force may hold the atom together, but only love has the power to transform persons. Only love can soften a hard heart.  …There is nothing more important in life than learning to love and be loved. Jesus elevated love as the goal of spiritual transformation. Psychoanalysts consider it the capstone of psychological growth. Giving and receiving love is at the heart of being human. It is our raison d’être.” David Benner

“God is love, and all who live in love
live in God,
and God lives in them.”
1 John 4:16

 Moving From Head to Heart

  • Reread Benner’s words thoughtfully. Is learning “to love and be loved” the most important thing in your life? Is love how you measure maturity? spirituality? success?
  • “Hate sin more.”, “Love God more.” Which approach do you usually hear? Which approach do you usually take? What approach do you teach?
  • What do you do on a daily or weekly basis to grow in your love for God and others? Do you have a specific plan? Do you have anyone journeying with you on that path?

Abba, may I surprise others with my love as you have surprised me with your love. May your love just change everything.

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For More: From Surrender to Love by David G. Benner

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These “Daily Riches” are for your encouragement as you seek God, and as he seeks you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in less than 400 words. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

 

Daily Riches: Dangerous Jesus (Kathleen Norris and Dorothee Soelle) *

Posted on by under Prayer, Solitude, Waiting on God

“The experience that Jesus had in Gethsemane … is the experience of assent. The cup of suffering becomes the cup of strengthening. Whoever empties that cup has conquered all fear. The one who at the end returns from prayer to the sleeping disciples is a different person from the one who went off to pray. He is clear-eyed and awake; he trembles no longer. ‘It is enough; the hour has come. Rise, let us be going.’” Dorothee Soelle

“In that gruesome and interminable night, waiting revealed itself as a true ally, a bulwark against fear. And Jesus became the most radically free and dangerous man of all, the one who embodies hope in the face of death and is afraid of nothing.” Kathleen Norris

 “Then he returned to the disciples and said to them,
‘Are you still sleeping and resting?
Look, the hour has come,
and the Son of Man is delivered
into the hands of sinners.
Rise! Let us go!
Here comes my betrayer!’”
Jesus in Matthew 26:45

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Suffering, waiting, assent – these activities transform us. When extreme suffering engulfs you, can you do what Jesus did and allow “the cup of suffering to become the cup of strengthening?”
  • If Jesus sought out solitude and prayer in his darkest hour. If  he needed to “return from prayer … a different person from the one who went off to pray”, is our need any less?
  • Will you learn how to wait and give assent to God in prayer now, or hope to learn that when the hour of darkness comes? What practices can help you learn it now?
  • Wouldn’t you like to be a “most radically free and dangerous man or woman … who embodies hope in the face of death and is afraid of nothing?” Imagine where we would be if Jesus hadn’t been “radically free and dangerous.”

Abba, it’s your approval that counts, and if I have that, it’s all I need. Deliver me from my fears to be a radically free and dangerous man.

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For More: Acedia And Me by Kathleen Norris

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The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: God, Our Jilted Lover (Richard Foster and Karen Drescher) *

Posted on by under Being the Beloved, Prayer, The Love of God

“Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to him. He grieves that we have forgotten him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence.” Richard Foster

“Search the Scriptures,
for in them you will find
this God of the loveless,
this God of Mercy, Love and Justice,
who weeps over these her children,
these her precious ones who have been carried from the womb,
who gathers up her young upon her wings
and rides along the high places of the earth,
who sees their suffering
and cries out like a woman in travail,
who gasps and pants;
for with this God,
any injustice that befalls one of these precious ones
is never the substance of rational reflection and critical analysis,
but is the source
of a catastrophic convulsion within the very life of God.”
Karen Drescher (in Fretheim)

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
and you were not willing.”
Matthew 23:37

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Do you sometimes think of God as looking upon you “as the substance of rational reflection and critical analysis?” Can you reject such thinking as unhelpful and misguided?
  • Do you ever think of God as one who has “carried you from the womb”, and who gasps and pants in pain like “a woman in travail” – travailing with a broken heart because his love for you and others is so meekly returned?
  • Are you able to think about God as wounded by your little love for him? Can you imagine him “mourning … grieving … weeping” over you the way a mother would over her suffering child?

Abba, I realize that even my love for you, since it is so often wavering and half-hearted, breaks your heart. Keep me from resisting as you gather me into the embrace of your loving arms.

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For More: The Suffering of God by Terence E. Fretheim

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The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Exquisitely Tender Jesus (Brennan Manning and Gregory Boyle) *

Posted on by under Being the Beloved, God's Grace, Loving Well, The Love of God

“This passage of exquisite tenderness [Mt. 9:36, below] offers a remarkable glimpse into the human soul of Jesus. It tells how He feels about human beings. It reveals His way of looking out on the world, His nonjudgmental attitude toward people who were looking for love in wrong places and seeking happiness in wrong pursuits.” Brennan Manning

“When he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them
because they were harassed and dejected,
like sheep without a shepherd.”
(Matthew 9:36)

“… whenever I allow anything but tenderness and compassion to dictate my response to life–be it self-righteous anger, moralizing, defensiveness, the pressing need to change others, carping criticism, frustration at others’ blindness, a sense of spiritual superiority, a gnawing hunger of vindication–I am alienated from my true self. My identity as Abba’s child becomes ambiguous, tentative, and confused.” Brennan Manning

“Good and upright is Yahweh,
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.”
Psalm 25:8

“… we’re so used to a God – a ‘one-false-move God’ and so we’re not really accustomed to the ‘no-matter-whatness’ of God – to the God who’s just plain old too busy loving us to be disappointed in us. That is, I think, the hardest thing to believe, but everybody in this space knows it’s the truest thing you can say about God.” Gregory Boyle

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • When you look upon a crowd – at the mall, a concert, the DMV, a school-board meeting, a block party, a football game, on a city street or in a church service – do you do so with “exquisite tenderness?” If not, what happens instead? Why does that happen?
  • Is your “response to life” often “self-righteous anger, moralizing, defensiveness, the pressing need to change others, carping criticism, frustration at others’ blindness, a sense of spiritual superiority, [and/or] a gnawing hunger of vindication?”
  • How can you train yourself to allow “tenderness and compassion to dictate your response to life?”

Abba, thank you for the example of your son. May his love for me, and my love for him, inform my response to life. Help me practice exquisite tenderness.

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For More: Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning

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The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Beyond Dualistic Thinking (Richard Rohr) *

Posted on by under Change Yourself First, Ego Issues, The Call to Change

“Jesus’ direct and clear teachings on issues such as nonviolence; a simple lifestyle; love of the poor and our enemies; forgiveness, inclusivity, and mercy; and not seeking status, power, perks, or possessions have all been overwhelmingly ignored throughout history by mainline Christian churches, even those who so proudly call themselves orthodox or biblical. This avoidance defies explanation until we understand how dualistic thinking protects and pads the ego and its fear of change. Notice that the things we Christians have largely ignored require actual change to ourselves. The things we emphasized instead were usually intellectual beliefs or moral superiority stances that asked almost nothing of us—but compliance from others: the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the atonement theory, and beliefs about reproduction and sex. After a while, you start to recognize the underlying bias that is at work. The ego diverts your attention from anything that would ask you to change, to righteous causes that invariably ask others to change. Such issues give you a sense of moral high ground without costing you anything ….Whole people see and create wholeness wherever they go. Split people split up everything and everybody else. By the second half of our lives, we are meant to see in wholes and no longer just in parts.” Richard Rohr

“A party of order or stability [conservatives], and a party of progress or reform [liberals] are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life.” John Stuart Mill

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust
in your brother’s eye
and pay no attention
to the plank in your own eye?”
Luke 6:41

Moving from the Head to the Heart

  • Does your Christianity emphasize “intellectual beliefs” or “righteous causes” that require “outsiders” to change but not you?
  • Do you see how your ego works to protect the you-who-needs-to-change from hearing any real call to change?
  • Is your mind trapped in “polarity thinking” that makes you change-averse? What does your answer say about you?
  • “Why DO you look at the speck … and not at the plank?” Luke 6:41

Abba, teach me to recognize the voice of my ego, and to free myself from its blinding, destructive grip. Teach me to drop my armor and welcome the work of your Spirit in me.

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For More: The Naked Now by Richard Rohr

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The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)