Universal Family

In "Loving Jesus More," Phil Ryken tells the story of a little girl who told her minister that she didn't love Jesus. He asked her to repeat as often as possible, "Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me." I invite you to follow the path that she took or to creatively adapt it to your own spiritual path.    

When an athlete or a team is doing poorly, it is common to say that they are struggling. But struggle is part of life on all levels. Here's how to do it beautifully.

This is a dialogue with Evan, the evangelist; Syd, the scientist; Sophia, the philosopher; mature Miguel; Nate, the nature-lover; Alicia, the artist; and Abe, the activist. 

Self-respect, or the lack of it, can be based on superficial things. But true self-respect can be hard for us who evolved from animals. But when we engage ideals that are divine, spiritual, and eternal, it brings a new kind of respect. And the golden rule leads us to have a profound respect for every person we meet.

This is a passionate proclamation of discovery. It comes in the form of comments on two teachings, one about the supreme desire for righteousness and the other about how in liaison with God, nothing is impossible. 

This list of rules deserves to go viral. Please help creatively. The text is in the blogpost on my website.  Fishing for souls means attracting people to join the universal family of God. 

Politicians and partners can do it. "Be merciful as you Father is merciful." The more we discover the mercy of God, the more we want to extend that by forgiving others. Thank you for forgiving me.

Those who would spread a message of light: Be lucid about our current plunge and preserve the torch of truth for the planetary teachable moment.  

Ethiopian philosopher Zera Yacob (1599-1692) was forced at age 27 to flee for his life from the king. He lived in a cave for two years until the death of the king; but during that time he began to piece together his philosophy. Here are excerpts and a bit of commentary. I find his thoughts very timely, and superior to what his Enlightenment contemporaries in Europe achieved. 

The commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength has enough complexity to it to call for love in its simplicity.

A hackathon is a problem-solving event involving teams that compete in a fast-paced, high-tech "marathon." This episode describes four manifestations of divinity in the process as I experienced it. 

Civilization is a wagon train, and Jesus is the master wheelwright. A wheelwright is a person who builds and repairs wooden wheels. This episode explains the analogy. 

How do we nourish ourselves on the bread of life?  This is a string of word pictures with a thread of meaning running through. 

After Jesus healed ten men with leprosy, they went forth joyously, but one man turned back, and came to Jesus to give thanks and worship.  This episode tells how we can break through the momentum of lazy appreciation and activate worship.

A reflection framed by prayer distinguishes the justice of God; the justice that we look forward to in our planetary destiny when the kingdom of God will have come in its fullness; justice that is already established here and there; and justice that is evolving.

A reflection on the contrasting media images of response to the murder of George Floyd. An invitation to keep pondering. 

70 diverse high school students are gathered for a three-day weekend at Camp Anytown (lots of details in the blogpost). After three days of organized interaction, they have confronted and exploded their prejudices and emerge as loving, mutually supportive, inspired leaders for positive social change. The last portion of the video presents comments/questions/criticisms that suggest paths of growth...

The two kinds of anxiety: physical discomfort or worse; and performance anxiety.  What cures would you prescribe?

A divine commandment expresses faith in what you can do and be, orients your life, alerts you to the fact that the rewards of following are better than the consequences of rejecting, and promises support every step of the way.

Does your life seem over medicalized?

An amoeba, a book on public speaking, and a question that has long awaited being raised. 

Lao Tzu: A noble man steeps himself in the Way, because he wishes to find himself in it. When he finds himself in it, he is at ease in it. When he is at ease in it, he can draw deeply upon it. When he draws deeply upon it, he finds its source wherever he turns. These phrases resonate with themes of Christian spirituality.  

If we believe some spiritual truth that we know is supremely important, but we're not getting the transformation, we're still on the level of ideas.  Here are some paths that lead from the idea-level of belief to the liberation level of faith.

The human personality system: body, mind, soul, spirit.  When they are integrated and unified, the benefits are health, sanity, and happiness. Sanity means mental efficiency--so that we can use knowledge and wisdom to treat others as we want others to treat us; overcome the tendency to be invaded by fear and anxiety; cooperate responsibly with public health professionals and government authorities...

Divine truth is like the light on a miner's helmet, illuminating the ever-changing scene, step by step. This is truth like a who. Those who know Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life will understand this, but the experience is not limited to Christians. The truths of science, philosophy, and spiritual experience are all contained in divine truth, and we can use these various levels of truth as...