Category: Voice of the Day

“Many find Jesus’ teaching on enemy love and forgiveness a stumbling block to faith. Because we find it too difficult to practice, we dismiss it as unrealistic and utopian. We should think again, and we should pray that it is not unrealistic, because this congruence of Jesus—the consistency between his teaching on forgiveness and his action on the cross—is really our only hope. It is all that stands between us and the consequences of our monumental frailty. Thank God today that Jesus died as he lived, because with those words, “Father, forgive…” he forgives us all, and he forgives us still.”

– Peter Storey
Listening at Golgotha: Jesus’ Words from the Cross

“We all readily agree that God forgives sin, that Jesus brought salvation from sin, but we have a very hard time seeing ourselves as those who need forgiveness and salvation. We watch the evening news or read the newspaper and decide that we really are not so bad after all; the things we may have done—may have done!—are not anything compared to what other people are doing…. We will never have an accurate picture of ourselves and our fallen human condition until we understand that there is no sin we are incapable of committing…. [But] God has come to bring the people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. We are forgiven as soon as we grasp the fact that we need forgiveness.”

– Mary Anna Vidakovich
Sing to the Lord

“Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what’s going on here.”

– Annie Dillard
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

“Repent and believe in the gospel, Jesus says. Turn around and believe that the good news that we are loved is gooder than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and toward it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world the gladdest thing of all.”

~Frederick Buechner

from Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons

It is the starting point for everything isn’t? That we are deeply and immeasurably loved unconditionally by the Father in Heaven is the genesis of every missional thought and action. Otherwise, we would find ourselves stuck back in the middle of a salvation that needs to prove it’s worth by works. And this would not be good. The challenge is to live in such a way that recognizes this great love often and responds to it with a life of praise, justice, mercy, and compassion.

Technorati Tags: Christianity, Gospel, Voice of the Day

"Whoever is on a journey towards God goes from one beginning to another beginning. Will you be among those who dare to tell themselves: "Begin again! Leave discouragement behind! Let your soul live!"

~Brother Roger of Taize

Some fitting words from the late Brother Roger on new beginnings…

"O inexpressible mystery and unheard paradox: the Invisible is seen, the Intangible is touched , the eternal Word becomes accessible to our speech, the Timeless steps into time, the Son of God becomes the Son of Man!"

~Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Oh, the incarnation and it’s beauty.  That God became flesh and moved into our neighbourhood to redeem all of creation invites me to recklessly cast my lot into His plan and be about something far greater than merely my personal salvation.  The joy that comes from participating in the healing of all creation is where it’s at!

Where would we be today if certain women, men, young people, and also children had not arisen at moments when the human family seemed destined for the worst? They did not say: "Let things take their course!" Beyond the confrontations between persons, peoples, and spiritual families, they prepared a way of trusting. Their lives bear witness to the fact that human beings have not been created for hopelessness.

– Brother Roger of Taize
from "Peace of Heart in All Things: Meditations for Each Day of the Year."

"True Christians do not know vengeance. They are the children of peace. Their hearts overflow with peace. Their mouths speak peace, and they walk in the way of peace"

~Menno Simons

This quote is an needed corrective to much of the triumphalistic Christianity that permeates Christian thought today.  The play for pacifism is needed more than ever in a world where tensions, prejudices and vilification are on the rise…