pros and cons

      Keeping busy has its pros and cons. It lets you zip right past feeling, so you can concentrate on being efficient. The problem is you might zip right past feeling loved, and that would be a high price to pay.  

“Be still . . . before your God. . . . Let your God love you.” Edwina Gateley

“Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have time to eat, He said to them, ‘Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and rest.’" Mark 6:31

changing for good

      We try to be a lot of things (like interesting and clever and successful). Maybe, if we just aimed for being a comfortable place for other people, we’d all be changing for good.

“When a person tells her story and is truly heard and understood, both she and the listener undergo actual changes in their brain circuitry.” Dr. Curt Thompson

“Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

easter us

      When you’re feeling like a jumble of contradictions, you can resign yourself to muddling along or you can ask to be made rock-solid. One takes a lot more courage than the other.

“[W]e are . . . half frazzled, half expectant, half turned toward You, half rather not. . . . Easter us. . . .” Walter Brueggemann

“[R]enew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

doors and windows

      Whenever you’re worrying about something, you have a choice. You can let your thoughts race around in circles in a small, dark room until you’re exhausted, or you can open the doors and windows.

“Get out of your head, Walter. It’s a bad neighborhood.” Two for the Money

“[L]isten and be attentive to Him with all your heart and soul. . . .” Deuteronomy 30:2

two solid minutes

      When things aren’t going your way and you’re feeling a little grumpy and sorry for yourself, it’s a good time take a gratitude break. Spend just two solid minutes saying as many thank-yous as you can think of, and see what happens to poor-me.   

“The great painter [Rossetti] boasted that he mixed all his colors with brains, and the great saint [St. Francis] may be said to mix all his thoughts with thanks.” G. K. Chesterton

“The Lord illumines my darkness.” 2 Samuel 22:29

a door of hope

      You’re never alone, even when you’re wandering around in a desert of hurts, but sometimes that doesn’t feel true until you’re looking in the rearview mirror.

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.” Soren Kierkegaard

The Lord allures [you] into the desert and speaks to [your] heart . . . and makes the valley of Achor (which means trouble) a door of hope. From Hosea 2:14-15

conveyers of grace

      When you’re playing chess, it’s all about cat-and-mouse and watching your back and coming out on top. Loving somebody is just the opposite.        

“We are called . . . to be conveyers of grace. . . .” Philip Yancey

“I will very gladly spend and be completely expended for you. . . .” Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:15

a work in progress

      The person you are right now might not be nearly as strong and brave and whole as the person you’ll be next year. That’s the beauty of being a work in progress.     

“Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon. . . . You will be called Peter, which means Rock.’” John 1:42

“God who . . . calls into being that which does not exist.” Romans 4:17

bad-mad-sad

      A friend taught me about bad-mad-sad. He said that, when somebody is bad, bad is just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath bad is mad, and underneath mad is sad. Understanding bad-mad-sad makes it a lot easier to say me-too.

“[C]lothe yourselves with compassion . . . bearing with one another and forgiving. . . .” Colossians 3:12-13

Father, give me the courage and kindness to look underneath.

people

      I stood in a line yesterday for a long time. I kept wishing the people in front of me weren’t there so I could get back to important things. 

“Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.  But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit. . . .” C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

“[Y]our brother . . . for whom Christ died.” Romans 14:15