Meditations

A great spiritual issue, right after “Where is God?”, is “Where is the kingdom of God?” This exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees addresses that question: “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be […]

The Apostle Paul offers us a remarkable step-by-step process for how to gain “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” These inspired words present a pathway to the protective peace of Jesus Christ: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. […]

Mechthild of Magdeburg (1210-1280), in Northern Germany, was a complicated and profound spiritual writer and nun. And she was something of a free-spirit, whose prayers speak to a modern audience. She sure speaks to me, especially when she connects prayer with dancing. Why not prayer as dancing with God? We get so stiff and formal […]

Joy arrives at the same time you actually get something you have been seeking. It could be finally seeing and embracing a beloved friend or family member, after a time of missing them. As Charles Dickens said: “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” Joy could come when receiving some […]

Sometimes a hymn can speak to you, almost as if from heaven. Such a hymn is “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.” It has haunted, yet calmed me over the years. I even wrote music for it. It is inspired and worthy to gently meditate: Oh Love, that wilt not let me go, […]

You are God’s gift to yourself. That may sound strange, but it is nonetheless the truth. As I wrote to myself back in my twenties, shortly after my first encounter with the Holy Spirit, “God gave me, me, long before I asked.” By that I meant there was more to me than I had imagined; […]