Category Archives: Loving Well

Daily Riches: “Practicing the Presence” (Peter Scazzero and Thomas Merton)

Posted on by under Contemplation, Contemplative Prayer, Emotions and Spirituality, Loving Well, The Divine Gaze

“As emotionally mature Christian adults, we recognize that loving well is the essence of true spirituality. This requires that we experience connection with God, with ourselves, and with other people. God invites us to practice his presence in our daily lives. At the same time, he invites us “to practice the presence of people,” within an awareness of his presence, in our daily relationships. The two are rarely brought together. Jesus’ profound, contemplative prayer life with his Father resulted in a contemplative presence with people. Love is ‘to reveal the beauty of another person to themselves,’ wrote Jean Vanier. Jesus did that with each person he met. We see this in his interaction with the woman with a twelve year bleeding problem in Mark 5. This ability to really listen and pay attention to people was at the very heart of his mission. It could not help but move him to compassion. In the same way, out of our contemplative time with God, we too, are invited to be prayerfully present to people, revealing their beauty to themselves. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day, the ‘church leaders’ of that time, never made that connection.” Peter Scazzero

“Our contemplative practice is a ‘laboratory’ in which we learn to die to our passing emotions and thoughts and to receive the always-permanent Divine gaze. The rest of our life becomes the field in which we live out this participation in Love, bouncing back the gaze of grace to the Other and then having plenty left over for all others besides.” Richard Rohr

“But the goal of our instruction is love….” 1 Timothy 1:5

Moving From Head to Heart

  • When you think of the “essence of true spirituality”, to you think first of “loving well?”
  • Does being “present” to God make you more effective at being “present” to others?  and vice versa? Does either increase your compassion?
  • Is your love for others what is “left over” from your “participation in Love” with God?
  • Have you tried a contemplative approach to your faith? If not, what is stopping you?

Abba, teach me to receive and return your loving gaze as a starting point in being a person who loves.

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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 he seeks after you. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it. Thanks!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: I See Men Like Trees Walking (Henri Nouwen, Ram Dass, Thomas Merton and Jean Vanier)

Posted on by under Change Yourself First, Humility, Loving Well

“When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight ….And you look at the tree and you allow it. …You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.” Ram Dass20131018_164446

“We spend an enormous amount of energy making up our minds about other people. Not a day goes by without somebody doing or saying something that evokes in us the need to form an opinion about him or her. We hear a lot, see a lot, and know a lot. The feeling that we have to sort it all out in our minds and make judgments about it can be quite oppressive. The desert fathers said that judging others is a heavy burden, while being judged by others is a light one. Once we can let go of our need to judge others, we will experience an immense inner freedom. Once we are free from judging, we will be also free for mercy.” Henri Nouwen

“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image.” Thomas Merton

“To love someone is … to reveal to them their beauty and value, to say, ‘You’re beautiful. You’re important.'” Jean Vanier

“Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’
when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?” – Jesus

Moving From Head to Heart

  • God’s job is to judge, and ours is to love. Can you leave the judging to God? could that free you to love? free you “for mercy?”
  • Can you start by letting others be “perfectly themselves?” If not, why not?
  • How effective are you at revealing to others that they’re “beautiful … important?”

Abba, help me love well by appreciating instead of evaluating.

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Thanks for reading! –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

 

Daily Riches – Loving Well (Anthony de Mello) *

Posted on by under Loving Well

What does it mean to love?

It means to see a person, a situation, a thing as it really is,
not as you imagine it to be. And to give it the response it deserves.
You can hardly be said to love what you do not even see.
And what prevents us from seeing?
Our conditioning. Our concepts, our categories, our prejudices, our projections,
the labels that we have drawn from our cultures and our past experiences.”
Anthony de Mello

[Jesus said] “… you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’  ‘Teacher,’ the man replied, ‘I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.’ Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him.” Mark 10:17-21a

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  •  Think about it. Why do you think Jesus felt “genuine love for the man?” (v. 21) Was it only because of who Jesus was, or was it also something about the man?
  • What keeps you from seeing people “as they really are?” Is it one of the factors de Mello mentions, or something else? Can you name it?
  • What do you suppose would change if you made a point to take the trouble to see each person as they really are?

Abba, I know I judge people unfairly and superficially all the time. Help me to see and love others as Jesus did, with understanding and grace.

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For More: The Way to Love by Anthony de Mello

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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 provide you with something of uncommon value each day 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: Measuring a Day’s Success (Dallas Willard, Brennan Manning and John Ortberg)

Posted on by under Loving Well, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation

“The aim and substance of spiritual life is not fasting, prayer, hymn singing, frugal living, and so forth. Rather, it is the effective and full enjoyment of active love of God and humankind in all the daily rounds of normal existence where we are placed. …People who think that they are spiritually superior because they make practice of a discipline such as fasting or silence or frugality are entirely missing the point. The need for extensive practice of a given discipline is an indication of our weakness, not our strength.” Dallas Willard

“The Rabbi [Jesus] implores, ‘Don’t you understand that discipleship is not about being right or being perfect or being efficient? It’s all about the way you live with each other.’ In every encounter we either give life or we drain it. There is no neutral exchange. We enhance human dignity, or we diminish it. The success or failure of a given day is measured by the quality of our interest and compassion toward those around us. We define ourselves by our response to human need. The question is not how we feel about our neighbor but what we have done for him or her. We reveal our heart in the way we listen to a child, speak to the person who delivers mail, bear an injury, and share our resources with the indignant.” Brennan Manning

“…love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  •  Are you aware of weaknesses in your life and your need for “help to do what you cannot do now by willpower alone?” (John Ortberg’s definition of spiritual disciplines) Are you practicing some disciplines for that reason?
  • Do you measure the success of your day by “compassion [demonstrated] toward those around you” rather than by faithfulness in the disciplines?
  • Rejecting the practice of spiritual disciplines could be evidence of pride, and serious practice of them could be a source of pride. In the next days, take some time to consider this before the Lord.

Abba, help me to do what I cannot do by willpower alone as I embrace life-giving rhythms and practices.

 __________

For More: The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard

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

Daily Riches: Your Spirituality is Showing (John Ortberg, Charles Swindoll and James Hervey)

Posted on by under Loving Well, The Call to Change

“Hank could not effectively love his wife or his children or people outside his family. He was easily irritated. He had little use for the poor, and a casual contempt for those who accents or skin pigment differed from his own. …He critiqued and judged and complained, and his soul got a little smaller each year. Hank was not changing. He was once a cranky young guy, and he grew up to be a cranky old man. But ever more troubling than his lack of change was the fact that nobody was surprised by it. …It was not an anomaly that caused head-scratching bewilderment. No church consultants were called in. No emergency meetings were held…. We did not expect that Hank would progressively become the way Jesus would be if he were in Hank’s place. We didn’t assume that each year would find him a more compassionate, joyful, gracious, winsome personality. …So we were not shocked when it didn’t happen.” John Ortberg

“True holiness consists in the love of God and love of man…. The duties of love to God and our fellow-creatures are to be regarded as the substance of the moral law. …the very central point, in which all the means of grace and all the ordinances of religion terminate.” James Hervey

“What does the Lord do to …assist me in seeing how selfish I am? Very simple: He gives me four busy kids who step on shoes, wrinkle clothes, spill milk, lick car windows, and drop sticky candy on the carpet…. Being unselfish in attitude strikes at the very core of our being. It means we are willing to forgo our own comfort, our own preferences, our own schedule, our own desires for another’s benefit.” Charles Swindoll

“… the goal of the command is love.” 1 Timothy 1:5

Moving From The Head to The Heart

  • Can you trust that God’s “means of grace” are at work when your stuff is wrecked or your schedule interrupted – either by your kids, or others?
  • Are you becoming more loving as the years go by? Do you think God wants anything more from you than that?
  • What practices are helping you to love well?

Abba, help me to love, not only in word but in deed.

 __________

For More: The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg

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My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day. Thanks for reading! – Bill

 

Daily Riches: Hearts Big Enough to Love (Pema Chödrön and Richard Rohr)

Posted on by under Awareness, Ego Issues, Loving Well

“Could our minds and our hearts be big enough just to hang out in that space where we’re not entirely certain about who’s right and who’s wrong? Could we have no agenda when we walk into a room with another person, not know what to say, not make that person wrong or right? Could we see, hear, feel other people as they really are? It is powerful to practice this way, because we’ll find ourselves continually rushing around to try to feel secure again—to make ourselves or them either right or wrong. But true communication can happen only in that open space.” Pema Chödrön

“The dualistic mind is essentially binary. It is either/or thinking. It knows by comparison, by opposition, by differentiation. It uses descriptive words like good/evil, pretty/ugly, intelligent/stupid, not realizing there may be 55 or 155 degrees between the two ends of each spectrum. It works well for the sake of simplification and conversation, but not for the sake of truth or even honest experience. Actually, you need your dualistic mind to function in everyday life: to do your job as a teacher, a doctor, or an engineer. It is great stuff as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go far enough. The dualistic mind cannot process things like infinity, mystery, God, grace, suffering, death, or love. When it comes to unconditional love, the dualistic mind can’t even begin to understand it.” Richard Rohr

 “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another”
1 Peter 5:5

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Are you aware of dualistic thinking in your world? in yourself? Where do you see it? What does it look like?
  • Is your heart (your love) “big enough just to hang out in that space where you’re not entirely certain about who’s right and who’s wrong?”
  • A heart big enough to love requires humility. What practice can you adopt to grow in humility, particularly when it comes to dualistic thinking?

Abba, grant me a big heart that cares more about people than being right.

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For More: Dualistic Thinking... 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 less than 400 words. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Vulnerability and Love (Jean Vanier, Pamela Cushing and Ernest Becker)

Posted on by under Awareness, Loving Well, The Poor and Disenfranchised

“The gem of inspiration at the heart of L’Arche [a model community for people with developmental disabilities] is that mutual relationships with those who are vulnerable open us up to the discovery of our common humanity. In this way, [Jean Vanier] names human imperfection as a gift, and an opportunity. Imperfection and weakness can draw people closer together, for instance in solidarity around someone who has been hurt and needs help.

Vulnerability can move others to give more of themselves, or to open up and reveal their own shortcomings. Strength and mastery can be impressive, yet they tend to divide people in competition and the regular disappointment of not measuring up. “I am struck by how sharing our weakness and difficulties is more nourishing to others than sharing our qualities and successes. …The weak teach the strong to accept and integrate the weakness and brokenness of their own lives.” Pamela Cushing quoting Jean Vanier

“Sharing life with marginalized people galvanized Vanier’s understanding that to serve others well requires us to move beyond charity and tolerance. He recognized the hubris that grows when a helper imagines himself as somehow superior or separate from those he serves. He learned how much better help feels to the person in need when animated by a sense of solidarity and common humanity than help driven merely by a sense of duty.” Cushing

 “In everything I did, I showed you
that by this kind of hard work
we must help the weak,
 remembering the words
the Lord Jesus himself said:
 ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
the Apostle Paul in Acts 20:35

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Imagine, “human weakness and imperfection” as a gift – an opportunity. Can you welcome your own weaknesses and imperfections as gifts or opportunities?
  • Can you see how loving solidarity with, and care for, the poor can help you avoid the pitfall of hubris? to remind you that you are just a “homo sapien, standard vintage?” (Ernest Becker)
  • Out of your shared weakness, you can “nourish” others. Will you do that?

Abba, help me move beyond charity and tolerance in my love for Others who seem more needy than me.

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For More:  Community and Growth by Jean Vanier

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In “Daily Riches” my goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: “Detachment” and Loving Well (Donald McCullough)

Posted on by under Change Yourself First, Detachment and Attachment, Loving Well, Self-care

“Love flourishes only in freedom. Relationships based on the illusions born of insecurities inevitably will become coercive, and nothing destroys love faster then coercion. How could it be otherwise? Love is a gift, one that cannot be given under compulsion or taken by force. Love cannot happen if others are treated as mere extensions of ourselves as slaves of our needs and desires. Only through detachment–the separation of ourselves from others and others from ourselves–can we find the freedom that makes room for the mutual attentiveness and mutual honoring and mutual delight and mutual serving that are the foursquare foundation of authentic love.” Donald McCullough

“I have loved you
even as the Father has loved me.
Remain in my love.
… Love each other in the same way
I have loved you.”
John 15:9,12

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Does such “detachment” from others seem like a good and proper thing, or a selfish, misguided thing? Are you able to give someone freedom to solve their own problem – or not? to fail – or not? What does your answer say about you?
  • Have you even had someone try to control you or manipulate you “for your own good?” Did you feel loved?
  • Is your love ever coercive or manipulative – really about some need of yours? If so, can you put your finger on what that need of yours might be?
  • God loves you greatly, but allows you to make lots of mistakes, and often, to suffer the consequences. He respects your freedom, and waits for you to choose to love him. All this could be otherwise. Do you think it’s good the way it is? Why or why not?

Abba, help me to love others, not because of some need of my own, but for their good. Help me to love enough to release control of those I love, even when sometimes it means watching them struggle and fail. Even when I think I have the answer. Even when I think they can’t do without me.

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For More: The Consolations of Imperfection by Donald McCullough

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My goal in sharing these ‘daily riches” is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words of less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it. I appreciate your interest! –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

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: 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?

__________

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: 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.

__________

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: 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

  • Is love the transforming power in your understanding and practice of spirituality? Do you measure your spirituality by your love?
  • Hate sin more, or love God more. Which approach do you usually hear? do you usually take?
  • What do you do on a daily or weekly basis to grow in your love for God? Is it working?

Abba, change everything by your love.

__________

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: Exquisitely Tender Jesus (Brennan Manning)

Posted on by under Being the Beloved, Loving Well

“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

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 less than 400 words. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Reading the Human Story Behind the Frightened Face – Loving Well (Brennan Manning)

Posted on by under Loving Listening, Loving Well

“Compassion for others is not a simple virtue because it avoids snap judgments of right or wrong, good or bad, hero or villain: It seeks truth in all it’s complexity. Genuine compassion means that in empathizing with the failed plans and uncertain loves of the other person we send out the vibration, ‘Yes, ragamuffin, I understand. I’ve been there, too.’ … Judgment depends on what we see, how deeply we look at the other, how honestly we face ourselves, how willing we are to read the human story beneath the frightened face.” Brennan Manning

“Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath
so that the law of Moses may not be broken,
why are you angry with me
for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?
Stop judging by mere appearances,
but instead judge correctly.”
(Jesus in John 7:23-25)

From the Head to the Heart

  • How you would explain the idea that truth is “complex?”
  • When surrounded by others, have you ever attempted
    to “read the human story beneath the frightened face?”
  • What is one new practice you could embrace
    to train yourself to “stop judging by mere appearances?”

Abba, help me to really love. No snap judgments. No stigmatizing people I don’t know or understand. No critical, condemning, self-righteous spirit. Help me to stop judging by mere appearances, and learn to read the human story beneath each frightened face.

__________

For More: The Ragamuffin Gospel 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 less than 400 words. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Sabbath and the Trance of Overwork (Wayne Muller and Thomas Merton)

Posted on by under Being and Doing, Busyness, Hurry Sickness, Loving Well, Sabbath Rhythms, Self-care

“Sabbath is not dependent upon our readiness to stop. We do not stop when we are finished. We do not stop when we complete our phone calls, finish our project, get through this stack of messages, or get out this report that is due tomorrow. We stop because it is time to stop…. Sabbath dissolves the artificial urgency of our days, because it liberates us from the need to be finished. … In the trance of overwork, we take everything for granted. We consume things, people, and information. We do not have time to savor this life, nor to care deeply and gently for ourselves, our loved ones, or our world; rather with increasingly dizzying haste, we use them all up, and throw them away.” Wayne Muller

“Set me free from the laziness that goes about disguised as activity
when activity is not demanded of me.” Thomas Merton

And [Jesus] said to them,
 “Come away by yourselves
to a secluded place
and rest a while.”
Mark 6:31

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Is the “trance of overwork” preventing you from having “time to savor this life?” Is your urgency necessary or “artificial?”
  • Is your life characterized by a “dizzying haste?” Do you have the time to care “deeply and gently” for yourself and your loved ones?
  • Is your “time to stop” only when you’re “finished?” If so, what does that say about you?

Abba, teach me to stop and rest – to learn to care deeply and gently for myself – and then out of that place, to care deeply and gently for others and our world.

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For More: Sabbath by Wayne Muller

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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 less than 400 words. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)