My Own Small Role

Blessing, Connection, Core Value 0

We too easily minimize the good that can be done by seemingly insignificant people in inconsequential places. Ours is a world where influence is measured by the number of likes or followers on social media. For every fantastic story that goes viral, there are countless others that are never told – stories about faithful people aware of their smallness in obscure or forgotten places who bless the world. History reminds us that those “small” stories matter, more than we may ever know.

I have my own small role to play, and so do you.

–Tracy Balzer, A Journey of Sea and Stone, p. 50-51

Photo: South Riding, Virginia, January 17, 2025

Start with Joy

Beauty, God, Joy 0

As Paul says, “He has not left himself without witness.” God’s voice is heard in the rain and in the harvest. God is close where there is good food and the laughter of friends. God has been with you this entire time, declares Paul, “filling your hearts with joy.” Start with joy if you’re looking for enchantment. Let gladness be your guide to the gateway of heaven.

— Richard Beck, Hunting Magic Eels, p. 90

Photo: South Riding, Virginia, January 11, 2025

That Kind of God

Uncategorized 0

Forgiveness has always been wider and deeper than the sacrificial system. God’s forgiveness was always available via extra-sacrificial means (e.g., Pss 32; 51; 103; Isa 38:17), so the prophets are confident that God will have mercy and forgive Israel and restore them just because that is the kind of God that God is and this is the kind of thing God can do (e.g., Isa 43:25; 44:22; 55:7; Jer 50:20; Mic 7:18-19; Hos 14:2-7; cf. Zeph 3:15).

— Andrew Remington Rillera, Lamb of the Free, p. 146

Photo: South Riding, Virginia, January 7, 2025

Is It Beautiful?

Beauty, Jesus, Truth 0

We need to constantly ask ourselves, “Is this beautiful? Is this thought beautiful? Is the attitude beautiful? Is this action beautiful? Does it reflect the beauty of Christ and the cruciform? If finger-pointing isn’t beautiful, then we should abandon it. If politically based protest isn’t beautiful, then maybe we can do without it. If the common man doesn’t recognize what we do in the name of Christ as beautiful, we should at least reexamine it. If a particular doctrine doesn’t come across as truly beautiful, then we should hold it suspect. Someone may raise the question, “Can beauty be trusted?” I believe it can, as long as we make the critical distinction between the shallow and faddish thing that our modern culture calls “image” and the absolute value that our ancestors have always understood as beauty. We can rightly evaluate our faith and practice in terms of beauty for this very reason: The Lord and his ways are beautiful. “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

— Brian Zahnd, Beauty Will Save the World, p. 31

Photo: South Riding, Virginia, January 20, 2024

Repair Work

Redemption 0

A person who does harm is not irrevocably a sinner. Being someone who caused harm is not a fixed identity — or at least it does not have to be. We have free will, and we can always choose to clean up whatever mess we have made, to the fullest extent that we can, and change for the better.

— Danya Ruttenberg, On Repentance and Repair, p. 50

Photo: Karlstalschlucht, Germany, June 17, 2024

Lifting up the lowly

Generosity, God, Jesus, Letting Go 0

If Jesus did not intend for us to take this command completely literally, then how are we to take it? I think he’s saying, You don’t need most of what you want or already have. Simplify. Stop being driven by the acquisition of more. It is a false god. Your life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions. You cannot serve both God and money, so choose God instead of money. To whom much is given, much more is expected. God expects you to be generous. Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over — the blessings of God come when you are generous toward others. And, perhaps most important, you are the means by which God lifts up the lowly and ensures the hungry go home full.

— Adam Hamilton, Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws, p. 86

Photo: Zweibrücken Rosengarten, June 18, 2024

God of Second Chances

God, Grace, Redemption 0

If God desires to continue the work of reconciliation up to the last second, how can we protest? A sermon I heard as a new Christian put forth one of my favorite images of God as a God of second chances, a God who never gives up on us, who pursues us like a hound of heaven, always offering opportunities for repentance and reconciliation. Why wouldn’t God offer that same invitation on that final day? Why would God’s work of salvation end just because someone’s body dies? The work of Jesus must still be effective after the end of time or even after time runs out.

— Sharon L. Baker, Razing Hell, p. 123

Photo: Iggelbach, Germany, June 20, 2024

It’s Okay to Have Needs.

Acceptance, Blessing, Life, Prayer 0

The feeder is empty again
and no one is claiming
that the birds are greedy
for taking what they pleased.

Look at how the fat, pink flowers
are weighing the end of each branch,
sucking nutrients into each velvet petal.
How selfish.

Nature hungers, takes, and needs.
God, why can’t I?

Blessed are we, learning to take
what we need.
Sleeping past our alarms.
Reaching for another helping.
Staying a little longer
when the evening is unwinding.

— Kate Bowler, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day! Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs, and In-Betweens, p. 19

Photo: Tree Swallow, South Riding, Virginia, May 21, 2024