Universal Family

Jesus was a master in the art of living. In the practical arts, he was skilled in carpentry. In the fine arts, his parables put his unforgettable touch on storytelling. The fun arts include play, sports, and humor. Examples are given from the teachings of Jesus and from other pioneers in artistic living, including Beethoven and his Ninth Symphony.

Jesus spoke of coming that we may have life and have it more abundantly--but what does this mean? After a very brief sketch, I emphasize the beauties of nature and how God provides for living things. Find an entire quick chapter on Jesus' joy in the blog post. Then to add some spice and introduce thoroughness, I turn to John Muir, a follower of Jesus who expressed his joy in nature with an inspiri...

This two-fold reflection portrays the risk that Jesus took by coming to John's baptism and the differences between the way of life, evil, and sin.  

One goal of prayer is to find the will of God. Sometimes an impressive input comes into mind after prayer, and the person may struggle to discern whether it has come from God or from the human mind. The blogpost has ample context from chapter 7 of A Taste of Joy and Liberty: A Philosopher Encounters the Gospel of Jesus.  Truth, beauty, and goodness are qualities of God and values that we can live....

In this episode, I awaken the question by first agreeing with some criticisms of perfection as a goal and then turning to what Jesus said, "Be you perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." I unfold a couple of transformative implications of his present-tense imperative. Next I refer the reader to the blogpost at UniversalFamily.org and add a desert: an explanation of the photo of Jesus th...

On a pilgrimage to Israel, I discovered how seeing scenes of Jesus' ministry helped me remember, ponder, interpret, and commune. I brought back a placemat with 15 little scenes showing Jesus around the Sea of Galilee and on the water. After a dozen years, a couple days ago I saw these scenes in a transforming way. A couple days ago, this morning I looked at it anew; it was transforming to imagine...

Jesus had an excellent, down-to-earth, realistic grasp of facts, including what we today would call scientific knowledge. He was a keen observer--fearless in facing facts, logical in his reasoning, and deeply insightful about causes and effects. Two examples show why we often fail to recognize Jesus' scientific realism. He expressed his insights in ordinary language that everyone could understand....

In speaking of the treasure hidden in a field, Jesus referred, I believe, to the kingdom of God within you. This video describes the experience of God's spirit within first by quotes from Jesus' Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures. Next, we go on to the idea that we do well to become friends with this gift of the presence of God. Finally comes the outpouring of a list of many of the blessings that await...

I used to see my neighbor across the street in a fascinating duet that he and his two-year-old daughter had evolved. He would stand in the middle of the yard, and she would run around and play close to him and sometimes come to him and put up her arms to be picked up. The first story illustrates how we need the faith of a little child to receive the kingdom of God. Then I reflect on the gift of a...

I tell of working for months on a workshop on loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I pose the question of how the most central truth of our relationships with God and human kind relate with the greatest commandment (to love). Finally, I make a correction in my new book, A Taste of Joy and Liberty: A Philosopher Encounters the Gospel of Jesusl

I've been on a quest to live--and write about--loving God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Yesterday I sent to my editor friend a revised section on strength. She discovered weaknesses in it. It didn't take long for me to realize (this is a pattern) that she had uncovered a fresh, hungry need for my growth. After sleeping on the problem, I woke up with a breakthrough. Of course it take...

The faith of a little child not only enables us to join the kingdom family of God. It also continues to guide us as we progress. Jesus's teachings and interactions on this theme are each marked by a wonderful simplicity. And these teachings in their variety touch on several concepts that are part of the whole truth of faith.

A 21-year-old computer whiz liked the concept of the wonderfulness within but not the concept of the spirit of God within. He finds God through Edmund Husserl's phenomenological philosophy of religious experience. 

After acknowledging the failure of an experiment in the last class meeting (falling across the finish line), I summarize a five-week class, "The Journey from Easter to Pentecost." Then I distinguish garden-variety spiritual experience from the taste-and-see variety.

In this class, I check people's driver's licence to make sure that everyone is over 75. Jesus called Lazarus to LIFE: "Lazarus, come forth!" He's calling you to share his original message, "[Your name], come forth!"  

Here's a six-step process for cooperating with divine transformation in recycling that which is unbeautiful in us.

"Happy mourning" sounds like a paradox. Let's probe: mourning for past, present, future, for self and others, extreme affliction and daily sensitivity and responsiveness to human need.

Jesus is the model for leaders who make provision for their mission to continue after their death.

When Jesus entered into Jerusalem for the last time, he both communicated that he was on a mission of peace and was also militant in some of his words and deeds. How is one to make sense of this combination?

In response to a prayer request from a Ukrainian friend, I reflect on Jesus' willingness to lay down his life, his command that his followers be willing to do the same--and how we can ascend to that height. I include a couple of personal stories.

After skirmishes with some religious leaders, Jesus pre-empted an attack that was brewing in Capernaum.  From the crisis that broke open there come lessons for leaders and team-members today. 

John 6 tells the pivotal story of how the skirmishes between Jesus and his enemies became a full-blown crisis. 

As the movement that Jesus led became strong, some religious leaders became defensive and hostile. Before their opposition reached the level of a crisis, there were some early skirmishes. Here we look at three of them to observe more of Jesus' qualities as a leader.

Jesus' character was strong, well-balanced, and centered in God. How did this center shape the kind of balance that he developed?

God chose Abraham, called Moses and some of the prophets, and sent Jesus. This suggests that it might be interesting to ask in some human situations how God may already have made--or be making--provision for leadership? In what ways can we see that God does not monopolize power and is not domineering?