Suffering is always associated with pain, and what a God-given blessing pain can be at times. Pain is always the “alert” signal that something is not as it should be in our bodies, relationships, spiritual journeys or emotions. For those whose nerve endings fail to
Lord, show me, I’m on my knees, even though my soul bleeds, I still believe, Feel like Job ain’t got a thing on me, won’t You tell me please — why God why God why God why God why? The above are lyrics I wrote
No one needs to describe it. We have faced it many times in dark nights, lonely crowds, and flashing memories. We’ve even gotten pretty good at it, or so we think, until the next bout hits like the flu and makes us wish we were
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4) The Gay Scapegoat is a convenient and safe target to persecute from both outside and within the Church! His or her very existence is condemned deep within the
When prisoners of war return home, many of them have indicated that the main thing that helped them to survive with the least amount of mental anguish was their attitude which, in most cases, involved a belief in a God who was in control of
Dear God, I have only half an hour to give to this, but let’s see what I can say in that time . . . This sucks. All my pain — it sucks. I want to tell you how mad I am and cry about
Read the rest of the series God and sex. One, I learned about through very intentional, formal instruction, the other, through hearsay and secret books and brief, embarrassed sections in health class. The connection between the two was implicit and vague but strong enough to
I was told recently by a parent figure that I was a lousy Christian. At first I was offended and thought that perhaps this person didn’t have the depth or wisdom to understand what I was saying. Then as I thought it over, I realized
My life is a listening, [God’s] is a speaking. My salvation is to hear and respond. For this, my life must be silent. Hence my silence is my salvation. (Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude) When I was in high school my class took the Armed
I’d like a more predictable God. What I mean by that is that I want a more controllable God. What I mean is, I wish magic worked. There are times when I have heard the noise of God, and I use that word somewhat facetiously,