Tag: Jesus

Categories
Current Events

Nothing New

I cannot make good choices unless I develop a mature and prudent conscience that gives me an accurate account of my motives, my intentions, and my moral acts.

The immature conscience is one that bases its judgments partly, or even entirely, on the way other people seem to be disposed toward its decisions. The good is what is admired or accepted by the people it lives with. The evil is what irritates or upsets them.

The immature conscience is not its own master. It is merely the delegate of the conscience of another person, or of a group, or of a party, or of a social class, or of a nation, or of a race. Therefore, it does not make real moral decisions of its own, it simply parrots the decisions of others. It does not make judgments of its own, it merely “conforms” to the party line.

It makes true love impossible. For if I am to love truly and freely, I must be able to give something that is truly my own to another. If my heart does not first belong to me, how can I give it to another? It is not mine to give!

Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island, “Conscience, Freedom, and Prayer”

There is nothing new under the sun.

What we bemoan now we bemoaned seventy years ago
Seven hundred years ago

What we give away now, we gave away then

The freedom Jesus promised
To burn at the stake
To defy a tank
To hang on the cross

For the truth

Grace and peace to you…
dw

Categories
hope Poetry

Song of Hope – Finale

I believe in God the Father

maker of heaven and earth

And in Jesus Christ, his only

his only son, our Lord;

Conceived by the awesome power

of the Holy Spirit

And born in a lowly stable

of the virgin Mary;

Suffered under Pontius Pilate

was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended to the dead,

on the third day rose again.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at God’s right hand.

He will come to judge all nations,

his kingdom will have no end.

Jesus came

Jesus died

Jesus rose up from the grave

Jesus reigns in heav’n above

Angels bow before Him.

Bridge and final Chorus of Song of Hope by dw

The remaining bit of Song of Hope – if you missed the first three verses and choruses, they are in my previous posts.

If you want to hear the song, here it is:

Song of Hope – 1999 recording – Copyright dw

Grace and peace to you…

dw

Categories
prayer Prayers

Undoing Evil

Dear God in heaven

In your great mercy

Turn the evil we do

Against the evil we do

So we

And our enemies

May be undone

From evil

And thereby free

To undo it.

This kind does not come out without prayer and fasting.

Jesus

Grace and peace to you…

dw

Categories
Current Events Music

Words in Black and White

Any words I might offer

Would detract from these

Stuck in my soul

Oozing the cure for not caring enough

Wrapping the wounds

In tight bands of open-eyed hope and mercy

With no further ado, here are the words, words I gathered from James Cone in his book The Cross and the Lynching Tree; words I hope will wound and heal in your soul as they have in mine. Grace and peace to you…

Quotes from The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone. Music by dw.
Categories
Bible reading

Does it translate?

“The Bible makes no sense to me.”

I think this is a common experience of all who read the Bible or who have tried and eventually put it down. If this is you, you are in good company.

Remember, the only reason to read the Bible is to know Jesus better. He is as committed to making a connection as you are. More committed. So as you reach for him, he is reaching for you.

Both of you want it to translate.

Pick a translation that reads naturally to you. Don’t struggle with an old one. If a voice in your head (or in your ear) says you should read the King James Version – heaven help us – just don’t. Period. Unless early modern English is your native language. Which it isn’t. So, none of that.

One recent translation you may want to try is called The Message by Eugene Peterson.

You might want to pray briefly and simply before you read. Something like “Jesus, I want to know you more. Help me hear what you have to say.”

Pause your reading when it feels natural. Don’t feel the need to read some prescribed amount every day. (Although there is nothing wrong with that, either.) It will translate better if you don’t feel pushed or rushed.

When you read a passage you don’t understand or that troubles you, that’s okay. Jesus has a lot to teach every one of us.

Hang in there with your thoughts and feelings. Trust that Jesus hears you, right where you are.

Maybe risk a little conversation, formulating what words you can. Listen for a response – thoughts or feelings that are new.

See, you are praying!

Grace and peace to you…

dw