Author Bill Johnson
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – RUMI
The Work of Christmas Begins (Howard Thurman) When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and the princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flocks, The… Continue Reading →
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The Parable of the Birds (Told by Paul Harvey) The man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with… Continue Reading →
Blessing for the Longest Night (by Jan Richardson) All throughout these months as the shadows have lengthened, this blessing has been gathering itself, making ready, preparing for this night. It has practiced walking in the dark, traveling with its eyes… Continue Reading →
The Prodigal Son in the Key of F Feeling footloose and frisky, a featherbrained fellow forced his father to fork over his farthings. Fast he flew to foreign fields and frittered his family’s fortune, feasting fabulously with floozies and faithless… Continue Reading →
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Life is a church. I don’t know exactly what it is about this song, but it captures my heart and soul. Give it a listen and let me know if it touches your heart. Maybe it’s because I’ve always loved… Continue Reading →
Love After Love (by Derek Wolcott) The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other’s welcome, and say, sit here. Eat. You… Continue Reading →
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Additional viewing option: Youtube
These words by the theologian Paul Tillich describe grace so beautifully. And when I read them I feel joyful, relieved, happy, liberated, connected and loved. Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we… Continue Reading →
Welcome Morning (by Anne Sexton) There is joy in all: in the hair I brush each morning, in the Cannon towel, newly washed, that I rub my body with each morning, in the chapel of eggs I cook each morning,… Continue Reading →
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IS IT FROZEN YET? Is it frozen yet? The pond? Is it frozen? A question I would obsessively ask my uncle and cousins every November. And if I ever watched the news I watched it for the weather. And if… Continue Reading →
“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” – MEISTER ECKHART
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“If I had my life to live over again,” is an article written by humorist and newspaper columnist Erma Bombeck after she found out she had a fatal disease. My mom enjoyed her writing and I’ve also enjoyed this column… Continue Reading →
Otherwise (by Jane Kenyon) I got out of bed on two strong legs. It might have been otherwise. I ate cereal, sweet milk, ripe, flawless peach. It might have been otherwise. I took the dog uphill to the birch wood…. Continue Reading →
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“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – OSCAR WILDE
A Brief for the Defense (by Jack Gilbert) Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies are not starving someplace, they are starving somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils. But we enjoy our lives because that’s what God wants. Otherwise the… Continue Reading →
You’ve probably heard it before, but it’s a classic, and there’s a lot of truth to it isn’t there? A variation I’ve heard, “Going to McDonald’s doesn’t make you a hamburger either.”
Our Town by Thornton Wilder (The scene in Act Three where Emily comes back to her life and relives the morning of her 12th birthday. The specifics of the scene are moving. For example how her parents call for their… Continue Reading →
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The Life of a Day (by Tom Hennen) Like people or dogs, each day is unique and has its own personality quirks, which can easily be seen if you look closely. But there are so few days as compared to… Continue Reading →
"When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the Savior's condensed statement of the substance of both law and Gospel, 'Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and thy neighbor as thyself' that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul." Abraham Lincoln
Maybe somehow and in someway this applies to this election season as well about what is most deeply needed?
Keep Them Close (All Saints Day 2016) Keep them close, The ones who have gone, Who have gone on and died on you. You know the ones. You know their names. Of course you do – the ones you have… Continue Reading →
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Choosing to Dance with Mary “When I was in the sixth grade I was an all-American. I was smart, athletic, witty, handsome–especially with my Vaselined hair wave sweeping back from my forehead. And I was incredibly nice. Things went downhill fast… Continue Reading →
“When I have a terrible need of – shall I say the word – religion. Then I go out and paint the stars.” – VINCENT VAN GOGH
Fully Alive (by Dawna Markova) I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less… Continue Reading →
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Autumn (by Rainer Maria Rilke) The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up, as if orchards were dying high in space. Each leaf falls as if it were motioning “no.” And tonight the heavy earth is falling away… Continue Reading →
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Uncle Seamus: In The Wisdom of Tenderness, Brennan Manning tells the story of Edward Farrell, a man who traveled from his hometown of Detroit to visit Ireland, where he would celebrate his uncle’s 80th birthday. Early on the morning of… Continue Reading →
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The Parable of the Flood A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately…. Continue Reading →
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – TEILHARD DE CHARDIN We all suffer from spiritual amnesia at times – forgetting who we are. This is a quote that helps… Continue Reading →
The Guest House (by Rumi) This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes As an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a… Continue Reading →
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