Worship And Wonder
In Mutuality and Thanksgiving I said, “Thanksgiving is not a season. It’s an orientation of our minds and hearts that naturally flows into a lifestyle of generosity, of mutual giving and receiving.” But the process of giving and receiving is not only a two-way affair. As science-of-generosity researchers have noted, people who know others involved…
Read MoreMany of us may be familiar with the terms “Vespers” and “Compline,” used for special evening worship services. But these are actually just two of seven prayer times, or “offices,” that help us remember the events in Jesus’ life and ministry in worshipful observance throughout any given twenty-four-hour period. This daily rhythm is called canonical…
Read MoreI was in my twenties, out of college and in seminary, before I learned about the seasons of the “Christian Year.” Like many Protestants, I experienced Sunday as the Bible’s “first day of the week,” the worship anchor for each week of the year. But it was easy to see each Sunday as a one-shot…
Read MoreListed in order of related chapters in Growing Generous Souls:Becoming Grace-Filled Stewards Betsy Schwarzentraub 1 “Turning Around” Isaiah 30:15 Matthew 5:13-15 Can we turn around from compulsive doing toward being the people God created us to be? Reflecting the rhythm of creation by balancing work and rest. See Growing Generous Souls…
Read MoreIn Chapter Three of Growing Generous Souls, I say that “spiritual disciplines” are things we do to help us be intentionally present to God’s presence in our lives. They provide a framework for our days and encourage us to center on God while being involved in the world. In Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, 1 author Adele…
Read MoreLong light, waiting earth Golden rays sift through branches Oaks lift trembling praise. ============= Sunset washes woods Goldenrod to deep umber, Brushing creatures’ souls. ============= One by one dying, Golden autumn falling leaves Nourish coming spring. ============= Canada Geese wheeling toward earth in the cold, steely sky, their great wings outstretched to catch unseen currents.…
Read MorePrayerfulness is what counts in life, not individual prayers, says Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast. In Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer, he says prayer is an attitude of the heart that can transform everything we do. We can’t be saying prayers all the time, of course, but we ought to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17),…
Read More“Being is not rewarded in our society today. Doing is what counts,” says author Adele Ahlberg Calhoun.1 Just about all of us experience this pressure daily: the hurry; the worry; and the need to be productive, however it’s defined. So how can we enter into the triune life (as Calhoun puts it), enter into the…
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