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At Play in the Fields of the Lord
I ran across this great passage in the summer newsletter from St. Andrews Abbey. The essay was written by Brother Ben Harrison of the Missionaries of Charity. Though I agree whole-heartedly that we must do our part, there is much more at (in?) play than we humans can understand or control. An unlimited number of variables seems to be in operation. God is working flamboyantly and with gusto, as he always has, building, demolishing, planting, and uprooting. Often we prefer not to blame God for the violent and cataclysmic shifts and shudders of geologic or human history, but both Old and New Testaments show him working both his wonders and…
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God as Gift-Giver: Operating Your Spiritual Gifts
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:4) Natural talents are gifts that are born with us. They include such things as artistic, musical and mathematical talents, or talents for public speaking, dancing, construction, or athletics. Skills such as these will always come more naturally to those who are talented, though they are possible for people who lack inborn talent in a certain area to develop some basic skills in that area. Spiritual gifts are sets of supernatural skills that God gives Christians for the sake of witnessing in the world, and strengthening each other and the church as the Body of Christ. Natural talents…
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Building Character: Fruits of the Spirit
Week 2 of a 3-week series. Starts with “All Things Under His Feet.” As we heard last week from Mark Galli who wrote Jesus Mean and Wild: “This aspect of holiness has two dimensions: the shaping of our character to be set apart in godliness and the shaping of our calling so that our lives will be set apart for God’s purposes. In short, to be holy is to dedicate all that we are and all that we do to God.” Today we’ll be talking about how God shapes our character, and we’ll be reading verses about the fruit of the spirit and harvesting eternal life and righteousness. Next week…