Sometimes understatement says the most. The other day, I was reading an author who caught my attention with just a few words. He said, “If God is anything like a father, and… if I am anything like his child… then…” Since then, I’ve found no end to ways of adding to that one thought. May the most important if/then […]
What’s the difference between being childlike and childish? One gets higher marks than the other. We seem to speak warmly of childlike wonder, trust, and innocence while being less approving of those who are childishly impatient, demanding, and self-centered. According to the New Testament, God became a child who, upon becoming a man, overheard the […]
Jesus’ first recorded words are revealing— and maybe a clue to all that follows. When his mother asked her 12 year old why he had caused her and his father so much anxiety, he answered with his own question. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house” (or “Didn’t you know I […]
Over the last few months, I’ve returned occasionally to read a few more pages in The Ragamuffin Gospel. For some reason, I have not found it to be one of those books that I can’t put down… Written in 1990 by Brennan Manning, it reflects the findings of a Franciscan Priest who discovered in his own […]
I recently heard a 2 and ½ minute conversation on NPR’s StoryCorps between Walter, a 73 year old father and his 36 year old son, Christopher. Walter, an author with almost 100 books to his name, grew up in Harlem, the son of a janitor. He recalls how at 14 he had already developed a […]
In our last post we looked at some dialogue about a stranger who comes into a store and talks to the manager about being there to do family business. The words had meaning only if we supplied the story behind it. Of all the possible scenarios, two options were that the stranger was either the […]
From Moses to Jesus, the Bible tells the story of a Creator who eventually reveals himself in the Son who wants us to know his Father, and a Father who wants us to know his Son. The Son tells us that, at heart, he is just like his Father; that his Father is just like […]
Just hours before Jesus’ death, He promised His disciples, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:14 NKJV). Two thousand years later, those words continue to echo around the world. Millions of us will end our prayers today “in Jesus’ name.” But what about the promise? If we consider ourselves […]
“What does your Father do?” I don’t know whether little children are asked that question as much as in the past. What I remember, though, is that when it was asked of me or my young classmates, the childish response or awkward silence that followed could be either a proud moment or a painful one. […]
In my last post I ended saying, “From all that Jesus says about His Father, it’s clear that He wants us to love and trust His Father as He does.” A Father of Biblical Proportions Many of us, however, have not found the help we are looking for in an invisible Father. We are troubled […]
