When you regarded me Your eyes imprinted your grace in me, In this, you loved me again, And thus my eyes merited To also love what you see in me… Let us go forth together to see ourselves in Your beauty. ~St. John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, 32, 33 Our book group is currently…
Category
Christianity
God Speaks to Catherine of Siena
God speaking: Those who speak words of peace all through their life will at their death receive what I have promised– an eternity of peace, of supreme, unending, tranquility and rest, an incomprehensible good, the value of which no one can measure. I alone can value and comprehend what joy awaits you. The good that…
Resurrection = Insurrection
The Story of Saint Valentine
He signed his last note, “From Your Valentine.” “In 270 A.D., marriage had been outlawed by the emperor of Rome, Claudius II. Claudius issued this decree because he thought that married men made bad soldiers since they were reluctant to be torn away from their families in the case of war. Claudius had also outlawed…
The Weak Force of God
“The weak force of God is embodied in the broken body of the cross, which has thereby been broken loose from being and broken out on the open plane of the powerlessness of God. The power of God is not pagan violence, brute power, or vulgar magic; it is the power of the powerlessness, the…
Logic of the Impossible
John Caputo talks about the “Logic of the Kingdom” as being a sort of “Logic of the Impossible” in his book, The Weakness of God. I Love this idea. Take forgiveness for example. Say for instance that you have a bank loan in which you finally make the last payment–you’re now free and clear. What…
Absolute Master
“…no matter what God’s power may be, the first aspect of God is never that of absolute Master, the Almighty. It is that of a God who puts himself on our human level and limits himself.” Jacques Ellul, Anarchy and Christianity. #quotestoolongfortwitter
Few Can Resist the Power
“No mistake or crime is more horrible to God than those committed by power. Why? Because what is official is impersonal, and being impersonal is the greatest insult that can be paid to a person.” ~Kierkegaard The more I live and the more time I have to observe the world around me, the more clearly…
Father Rohr on Dr. King
Jesus undercut the basis for all violent, exclusionary and punitive behavior. He became the forgiving victim, so we would stop creating victims ourselves. He became the falsely accused one, so we would be careful whom we accuse. Any worldly system actually prefers violent partners to nonviolent ones; it gives them a clear target and a…
Sap That Feeds The Tree of Heaven
If you have seen the film Avtar, you should remember a scene about halfway through the movie where the hero Jake Sully makes his first “clean kill” on his way to becoming a Na’Vi hunter. After killing the beast, Sully whispers a blessing to the dead animal which immediately reminded me of this this beautiful…