Tag: truth

hope

Next to Last

By faith we understand, if we are to understand it at all, that the madness and lostness we see all around us and within us are not the last truth about the world but only the next to the last truth.
Frederick Buechner, Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons, “Faith”

To have faith is to remember and wait, and to wait in hope is to have what we hope for already begin to come true in us through our hoping.
Frederick Buechner, Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons, “A Room Called Remember”

May the last truth shine through to whatever truth you are experiencing now.

May the hope you are waiting for be true in your life now.

Grace and peace to you…

Tags a room called remember, faith, Frederick Buechner, hope, Secrets in the Dark, truth

Poetry

The Plain Truth

If you, like me, were taught
-maybe not in words-
your worth depends on what you do

And if your gut, like mine, tells you
-not in words-
you believe this to be true

Then, in spite of what we tell ourselves in words
we, both you and I, have a situation:

Our worth, yours and mine, is a doctrine
we try to prove with our words and our deeds

Instead of the plain truth we live out each day
in the safety of each other’s arms.
dw

Grace and peace to you this day…

Tags doubt, safety, self worth, truth

hope Poetry

A Time

Post author By dw
Post date July 5, 2021
3 Comments on A Time

There is a time
the whole creation’s been waiting for;
When all the evil
in this sore, sore world
will be laid bare and die.
And when that time does come
we’ll lift a shout of joy
For then our home is just around the bend
and by His mercy He will take us there.

There’s a place
There’s a time
There’s a land where truth still reigns
There’s a God in heav’n above
Angels bow before Him.
Verse 2 and Chorus 2 of Song of Hope by dw

I promised to share the next verse with you – here it is; one more to come!

Grace and peace to you…

Tags evil, home, hope, joy, mercy, song of hope, truth

Scripture

Light and Darkness

Person standing before window in dark room looking at bright light.

“This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness.
They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God.
Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure.
But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”
John 3:19-21, Peterson, Eugene H.. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language . The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

I’m enjoying reading The Message, Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible, because it gives me fresh insight and perspective on passages that are very familiar. This is an example.

I wrote on this passage a couple of years back, using a more familiar translation. I updated the original post this week with what I hope is a more engaging response. I’d be honored to have you take a look.

Read Original Post

Grace and peace to you…

Tags addiction, darkness, denial, evil, God, light, reality, truth

Current Events Other Writings

Half the civilized world

Passage from No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton about telling lies

How is it that our comfortable society has lost its sense of the value of truthfulness? Life has become so easy that we think we can get along without telling the truth…
But the whole world has learned to deride veracity or to ignore it. Half the civilized world makes a living by telling lies. Advertising, propaganda, and all the other forms of publicity that have taken place of truth have taught men to take it for granted that they can tell other people whatever they like provided that it sounds plausible and evokes some kind of shallow emotional response.
No Man is an Island, Thomas Merton, “Sincerity”

Merton published this in 1955. Yes, 1955. Television in its infancy. No internet.

The attack on Truth that is relentless now has been relentless since the very beginning, the Deceiver saying in the Garden of Eden, “Did God really say…?”

Deceit pits us against each other, makes us see each other as deceivers, as enemies. It causes us to pronounce judgement on each other. Our compassion is throttled by fear for our own well being, that we are somehow being tricked or scammed.

But we all have a common Enemy, the one whom scripture calls “the father of lies.” Why he hates us, I don’t understand; but he does.

I can’t help but think that if we could remember we all have this common Enemy; if we could all embrace the wondrous news that we also have a common Friend and Ally, who came to bear witness to Truth and who gave himself up to rescue us and secure us forever in his Kingdom of Truth…oh, if we could remember and embrace these things, what a difference it would make!

Come, Spirit of God, Spirit of Jesus, Come!