Through The Wilderness: Following Jesus in the 21st Century ~ Marlena Graves

Sharpening perceptions of reality and providing spiritual guidance for those in the crux of wilderness experiences. Substantial spiritual nourishment for those who know or sense that Christ is anything but shallow. Encouraging readers to radically (which to Christ is normal) serve God and others. The author is teaching herself and others to read the world through the lens of the gospel and to become active participants in the local and worldwide body of Christ.

Showing posts with label Compassion. Show all posts

Dec 6, 2010

Cold creeping in . . .

There is a cold advisory tonight for the region I live in:

...VERY COLD WIND CHILL...
UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH WINDS OF 10 TO 20
MILES AN HOUR WILL RESULT IN LOW WIND CHILL READINGS THROUGH THE
NIGHT AND INTO THE MORNING. THE COLDEST WIND CHILL WILL RANGE FROM
AROUND ZERO TO 8 BELOW ZERO. PEOPLE VENTURING OUTDOORS SHOULD TAKE
APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONS AGAINST THE COLD.

And I think of all the homeless people or those that don't have the wherewithal to heat their homes. Sometimes the warmest place for children is in school. The warmest place for an adult may be a convenience store, a grocery store, library, or restaurant. A snow day is so hard for some children because they go home to cold dwellings and no food.

Lets pray for them and for those in such need no matter where we live. And perhaps the Lord would now have us do something in one way or another. Are we doing what we can? We must now and throughout our lives.

Sometimes we think we have little to be thankful for when really we have so much.

May the God of peace and love protect you and be your refuge.
Blessings!

Dec 2, 2010

Compassion: Being in the World Who God Is

Father Greg Boyle writes, "If we long to be in the world who God is, then, somehow, our compassion has to find its way to vastness." He goes on to quote Wendell Berry, "You have to be able to imagine lives that are not yours." And then he continues, "Compassion isn't just about feeling the pain of others; it's about bringing them in toward yourself. If we love what God loves, then, in compassion, margins get erased. 'Being compassionate as God is compassionate,' means the dismantling of barriers that exclude. In Scripture, Jesus is in a house so packed that no one can come through the door anymore. So the people open the roof and lower this paralytic down through it, so Jesus can heal him. The focus of the story is, understandably, the healing of the paralytic. But there is something more significant than that happening here. They're ripping the roof off the place, and those outside are being let in."

~ Father Greg Boyle in the book Tattoos on the Heart pp. 66,74,75

Read Old Books. They Expand Our Souls.

One excellent way to see how much our culture's passing weather patterns have influenced us is to read old books. If you recieve all your information from contemporary writers, Christian or secular, you will never perceive whole concepts that people in other generations could see. (For example, earlier generations of Christians perceived a power in sexual purity that eludes us completely; we can only fall back on "don'ts"). Every Christian should always have at his bedside at least one book that is at least fifty years old--the older the better.

Frederica Matthews-Greene