God Blogs

Pain is an essential mystery. That means, we cannot get to the bottom of the why, but only of the who, the what, the where and the when of pain. Add to that the how of pain, the dynamics of suffering. It appears that pain and suffering are built into creation. And at the same […]

The soul of religion is compassion. God is often said to be compassionate and merciful, gracious and abounding in steadfast love. Without compassion, love does not mean very much in practice. All the great world religions espouse compassion for others as essential for the practice of their respective faiths. In Hebrew, “compassion” comes from the […]

One of the most important concepts of the Christian understanding of God is grace. God is said to be gracious, full of grace. Also, fortunately for us, God is also said to be full of mercy. Perhaps the best brief definition of both mercy and grace is this: “Mercy is when you don’t get what […]

I recently got an email from a distraught friend, regarding a common issue for many people, including me. This person wrote: “I am a Christian; I really do believe in God. My problem is that I still have a lot of fear in my life. I fear for my own and my loved ones’ safety […]

Your image or understanding of God largely determines how you will approach God. And how you approach God, along with your expectations going in, significantly affect what happens or does not happen during and after an attempted prayer connection. The question is: how best to approach God? The answer is as simple as it is […]

We come to the final and ultimate stage of prayer in this life: contemplation. You are ready for contemplative prayer when your heart seeks to commune with God directly, when nothing and no one but God alone will satisfy you. Psalm 73:24-26 well expresses this life-changing realization: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And […]