When you are sick, you have an excuse. When you are not well, people tend to make exceptions for you. When you are hurt, you aren’t held to the same standards as you normally would be.
All tagged pain
Seeing God by Practicing Reverence
As I incorporated reverence into my practice, I began to recognize the presence of God. Yes, there was overwhelming need and sadness in this critical care hospital but in the midst of it all, if I stopped to be still and practice reverence, I witnessed how God was at work in this place.
Joy in the Mourning
The Trinity put on flesh through Jesus’s birth, and when you show up as Jesus On You, that moment becomes an uncontaminated image, purely the companionship of Jesus.
Pastoral Portraits
We do not lead with advice, guidance, or correction. Instead, we pay careful attention to the emotional and spiritual location of the person to whom we minister.
Sometimes It's Hard to Forgive
There are people… well, that I have a hard time forgiving. In fact, sometimes forgiving others is the hardest part of my Christian life.
Top 10 for Getting Through It
I set out to write a top 10 for getting over it but quickly realized that such a list might inadvertently trivialize deep wounds.
Refiner of Hearts
Scripture tells us repeatedly that God wants to take possession of our stubborn, evil hearts, but it’s difficult when we are kicking and screaming.
Grasping the Newness
We can retain the spirit of newness as we face off against burdens and pains, choosing a fresh perspective of hope and promise.
Reflection Roundup: Hospitality
Radical hospitality calls us to ask ourselves what amount of our own preference might we be willing to sacrifice to create space for the perceived need of another.
Did God Give Me COVID?
For the great dis-ease among us and in us may not be the pestilence itself, but the way we react to, ignore, and weaponize the suffering of others.
Reflection Roundup: Coming Up for Air
My first favorite memory verse was around age 14, and it happened to be Exod. 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” Hmm, wonder if there’s something to that.
Three Christian Truths About Death
As spiritual leaders … we are expected to have words that matter as we speak into the lives of those in pain.
Reflection Roundup: Sacramental Hospitality
As the created world hosts humanity, we have much to learn from the soil, from the seeds. Stretching toward the light, cultivated hearts propagate God’s mission.
Reflection Roundup: A New Offering From the Siburt Institute
This week’s offering represents a concerted effort to facilitate agility in taking on others’ perspectives as the current crises continue.
“The Plague” by Albert Camus
As you are forming your own response to the situation we find ourselves in, there is no other book that presents the challenge in a more formidable way. (Fiction)
Learning to Walk
In the wake of major life disappointments, the waves of doubt can threaten to disorient even mature believers.
He Stills Storms Still: A Meditation (Part 3)
Could it be that the real question is not, “Who is this that even the wind and sea obey him?” but rather, “Who is this who sleeps through storms?”
Forgive and Remember
When someone who has been hurt in a way that will forever mark their path, telling them to forgive and forget is cruel and unwise.
What to Do When There Is Nothing You Can Do
May we never lose sight of those who are right before us—the ones who need someone to see their pain, cry with them, and simply be with them.
Walking Away from God (1 Kings 17)
There was no food, no money, and no more time. She had enough supplies for one last meal with her son before she would to take their fate into her own hands.