Tag Archives: David G. Benner

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.

__________

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

_________________________________________________

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 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.

__________

For More: Surrender to Love by David G. Benner

_________________________________________________

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: 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.

__________

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

_________________________________________________

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: Suffering’s Unwelcomed Gift (David Benner and Richard Rohr)

Posted on by under 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

“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 the next time you suffer?
  • 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. Please strengthen me.

__________

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

_________________________________________________

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 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.

__________

For More: Surrender to Love by David G. Benner

_________________________________________________

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: 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

_________________________________________________

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)