I am an optimist. I tend to pretty easily see the good, or the potential good in nearly every situation and circumstance. I am generally also very trusting of others—their motives, agendas (or lack thereof), and actions—which seems to stem from my general outlook on life. Was I born this way? I don’t know. Sometimes…
Tag: Bible
Handling Disappointment
There are more than a handful of individuals living here, under this roof. That’s a lot of opinions, a lot of wants and needs, and a lot of expectations. And, it’s also a lot of disappointments. Lately, those have come sharply into focus for the two youngest inhabitants of this home. At ages three and…
Empathy
Earlier this week I told the story here of how one thought led to another, leading me to the interesting conclusion that we are so self-focused that even when we are actually thinking of others we are thinking of self. Incredible, and brilliantly designed by our Creator, I might add. Another thought that has been…
Others
It’s really funny how much we think of ourselves. Even when we’re trying to think of others. This morning I was thinking of Jesus’ words, “Treat other people the way you want to be treated,” and how often I have misrepresented those, even to myself—even though I don’t mean to misrepresent them. I think that…
More of You and of Me Less
There’s a song. It’s a song that I wrote. The words actually seem a bit out of order: “More of you and of me less…” (Sometimes when you write songs, the words fit better when they’re “out of order”.) But the words are still true. (If you have time, or can listen while you read—or…
Rest
Rest is currently the word reverberating through various sectors of my life. That usually means I should listen. I am reading through the Old Testament—slowly but surely—and currently find myself musing through the prophesies (and historical context content) of Isaiah, son of Amoz. There are many utterances and proclamations of doom and destruction for all…
Trust
A while back, I was having a conversation with a friend about the centrality of trust to Jesus’ teaching in the gospels, and Scripture as a whole. It seems to be a foundational principal of Kingdom thinking. We were discussing the various tenets of faith, and trust, and belief, and as we hashed it out…
Approval
What if… you never received approval from anyone? Would you still be OK? Could you still be… you, without some form of approval; healthy, or unhealthy? I’m really not sure what answer—if any—would be the “right” answer to those questions. I’m not even sure I have any answer. The fact that we members of the…
Pure, (Truly) Awesome Creativity
We use the word “awesome” far too often in our culture. That sounds like something you’ve heard your grandpa say, or your great-grandpa. (Or his grandpa…) We assign it to anything and everything: sporting events or just a moment in said event, a movie, a meal, and pretty much anything that may happen in the…
[From The Archive] Distorted View of God?
I re-discovered this post recently via a few related links from something else I had been writing. I really can’t recall how I got there, but as it might have done for you, the title grabbed my attention. I wondered, Now what was I thinking here… Turns out it was one of my more favorite…