Whenever I speak out of frustration: I end up partnering with someone else's demonic opposition I fail to partner with God's answer of provision for the person or issue I'm speaking about I act as though I believe the person I am speaking against does not hear from God I neglect my ability to contribute personal meaning to the conversation through the lessons and growth that I am learning and experiencing I stunt the personal growth I could have...
I struggled greatly trying to title this post. I came across this shot completely accidentally. I was attempting to take a picture of the wire mesh at an askew angle for fun when I noticed the gleam of light from the sun's last rays. It's like a light that strikes your peripheral vision. Have you ever had that happen to you and had it catch you unawares? Something about the idea of a sudden, unexpected ray of light speaks to me of the way God...
To me, there's something mysterious about the period of day we know as twilight. It doesn't matter whether it's the morning twilight or the evening twilight, because both represent hope to me. Something about having the sun below the horizon yet still radiating its light across the sky gives me assurance that there is still hope. It could be an analogy for how though I cannot see the sun, I can see evidences of its existence—kind of like...
We've all heard it, the age old question: why does God allow evil and suffering in the world? Nothing makes this question more relevant than the present experience of pain. There is brokenness in this world, some call it sin—the point is that things are not as they should be. At least, that is the opinion of the Text, the Tanakh, the Bible, Holy Scripture. The Jews, similarly convinced of the brokenness of the world, gave us the idea of...
We can call God our Father because it is how Jesus taught us to pray. We also know that God is love. Therefore, the Father's heart is a heart of love. How beautiful it is to see the Father's heart lived out in the people around us. How encouraging to see this memorial in the middle of Sacramento:
I was scrolling through my twitter feed recently, and slowly found myself overwhelmed by all of the noise. So many people are talking constantly and sharing whatever 140 characters their mind deems most important at the time. Even though most of my feed is encouraging advice or uplifting, spiritual sentiments, everything people were saying felt like an overwhelming burden. I began to wonder: with all of the people speaking on twitter, is...
Have you ever been provoked to jealousy? When I first think of the word "jealousy" I think of something that needs to be quenched, done away with, or removed from me. It connotes a lack of harmony and inner turmoil. On the surface, it's something I just want to get past, but like any emotion—toxic or otherwise—it points to something deeper. For this reason, jealousy is a gift in the spiritual realm. There are heroes of the faith and...
Today, I reflect on passions. You know, the things in us that spark desire, the fuel of life. There is a misconception in many people's minds that passion is a non-essential. At the same time, there are many people who have stated much more eloquently than I am capable of that passion is completely essential to whatever you do. What is not clearly explained, however, is that passion does not look the same for everyone. The minute you begin to...
On one of my many pilgrimages from my apartment to the library, I came across this sight: This branch was dead. The first word that came to my mind was "withered." I think it reflected my current feelings of my spiritual life. I felt like I was withering. In the past, when I felt like I was withering, it was usually because of noise. People around me are always searching for some sort of external stimulation: television, music, talking,...
It all began with a fortune, you know, from a fortune cookie: These things are usually meant to be pretty generic, but it's always amusing (and sometimes I think God-ordained) when they line up with actual events about to happen in your life. In this case, I knew that what I had planned for my weekend was going to be different than normal. What was it you ask? This: I accompanied a poem reading on violin for an art expo at a local church. There...
