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Text of the page (random words):
efulness we can say therefore that ministry is first and foremost the sharing of this useless prayer with others it is from the still point of prayer that we can reach out to others and let the sustaining power of god s presence be known indeed it is there that become living reminders of jesus christ page 51 53 published in 1977 he writes almost prophetically about what his experience will be in l arche daybreak where he lived the rest of his life among mentally and physically disabled adults this sense of uselessness is something that comes up as a false notion we might have about ourselves and even prayer can seem so useless in that it appears so invisible nevertheless the mystery of prayer is that god initiates it and is ever listening share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading posted in prayers tagged henri nouwen prayer useless in god s presence uselessness wasting time with god 3 comments counting the cost in marriage posted on june 4 2024 by r h rusty foerger counting the cost you count the cost in marriage and you keep on counting you count and you count on and on you count off all the expenses all the losses all the gains it never adds up the books never balance somehow you come out ahead but it cost you everything you give 100 you give it all you give it up you get more than you gave and it cost all you have and you stop counting the cost in marriage i suspect there is a silent scream by those still counting still feeling aggrieved as if you can never come out ahead and of course you can t or at least you shouldn t come out ahead of your love if you re still trying to balance the books of relationship you should know that your partner may very well feel the same delusion of giving more than you accounting love is for losers there is no successful 50 50 proposition in marriage it s 100 100 all the way full on all the way in burn the boats on the shore you re married and if you re wise you learn to stop making a balance sheet of forgotten gifts to you and remembered giving from you accounting love is for losers may you find yourself at peace with an unbalanced spreadsheet of love may you realize you both are coming out ahead on the occasion of 41 years of marriage share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading posted in poems proverbs tagged accounting love is for losers count the cost in marriage marriage stop counting the cost in marriage wedding anniversary leave a comment and he rested on the sabbath posted on march 29 2024 by r h rusty foerger this good friday i want to contemplate holy saturday the sabbath can be experienced from friday sundown to saturday sundown for as rabbi abraham heschel points out the sabbath is an architecture of time in the bible project s post on the sabbath they point out a few things i had not contemplated before jesus began his earthly ministry on the sabbath in luke 4 14 19 by reading the prophecy of isaiah 61 1 2 and jesus ended his earthly ministry as it were after his crucifixion of good friday when his body rested on the sabbath what christians call holy saturday to read more see alan e lewis masterful book on holy saturday between cross and resurrection a theology of holy saturday therefore let us join jesus in his sabbath rest as hebrews 4 9 11 encourages let us to enter into the sabbath rest of christ who declares he is the lord of the sabbath let us find our rest in him who teaches us the unforced rhythms of life are you tired worn out burned out on religion come to me get away with me and you ll recover your life i ll show you how to take a real rest walk with me and work with me watch how i do it learn the unforced rhythms of grace i won t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you keep company with me and you ll learn to live freely and lightly matthew 11 29 30 the message share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading posted in proverbs tagged holy saturday sabbath sabbath rest 3 comments a prayer for a fuller understanding of your resurrection posted on february 9 2024 by r h rusty foerger standing under an ancient fresco of the crucifixion in a cappadocian church cave in turkey the apostle paul s declaration has always challenged and baffled me i want to know christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings becoming like him in his death philippians 3 10 the first part i understand wanting to know christ and the power of his resurrection but only lately after much contemplation am i beginning to comprehend the equal desire to enter the koinonia of sharing christ s suffering in order to become like him in his death the desire to become one with the one who made us for himself has become a greater desire that is inspired from his compelling love of grace not my impulse to earn the undeservable in this light i would like to share a prayer by greek orthodox priest and theologian kostas sarantidis lord guide us to a fuller understanding of your resurrection may the light of your resurrection illumine the path that leads only to you and not to ourselves or to any master that presume to claim for themselves our love for you lord help us to love you better make us witnesses of your humility and glory as we enter the season of lent may we be gain a fuller understanding of christ s resurrection and all that this means for following him in other words may we love him better share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading posted in prayers proverbs tagged help us to love you better humility and glory lent philippians 3 10 resurrection 2 comments when you become wise posted on september 22 2023 by r h rusty foerger a person can grow old without really growing wise derek kidner charitably writes while all go to god s school few learn wisdom there while we live in the days of the perpetually infantilizated in a culture of hyper individualism nowlan is able to elegantly and simply articulate the process of maturity he captures the wisdom of forgiveness that the day we can finally forgive ourselves is the day we become wise if you have learned to forgive yourself you may contemplate the unique curriculum through which god has led you to be freed from the oppressive yoke of self judgement and self loathing to be free to receive the forgiveness for which christ lived and died and resurrected and thus the forgiveness for which you were designed but for many forgiveness is rather an unreachable treasure lost in a labyrinth it need not be so unattainable for though the cost of forgiveness is unbearably high we will inevitably find it always comes as a gift each one learns by way a unique curriculum of wisdom but kidner captures the common thread in the complete quote while all go to god s school few learn wisdom there for the knowledge which he aims to instil is the knowledge of himself this is the ultimate prize may you attain the ultimate prize of knowing god and may you learn to receive forgiveness be able to forgive yourself and others and help others do the same alden nowlan january 25 1933 june 27 1983 was a canadian poet and playwright born into rural poverty in stanley nova scotia along a stretch of dirt road that he would later refer to as desolation creek his father freeman nowlan worked sporadically as a manual labourer his mother grace reese was only 14 years of age when nowlan was born and she soon left the family leaving alden and her younger daughter harriet to the care of their paternal grandmother the family discouraged education as a waste of time and nowlan left school after only four grades at the age of 14 he went to work in the village sawmill at the age of 16 he discovered the new library in windsor often on weekends he would travel eighteen miles to the library to get books which broadened his already keen reading i wrote as i read in secret nowlan remembered source wikipedia recently came upon mitch teemley s post from whence i obtained this image of c s lewis saying something similar and profound about self forgiveness share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading posted in proverbs tagged alden nowlan derek kidner forgive and keep on forgiving forgiveness forgiveness and maturity seeking forgiveness wisdom leave a comment something to be said about gratitude posted on september 8 2023 by r h rusty foerger there s much to be said about a friend who dies especially someone about whom it feels like they died ahead of their time today was such a day for my friend nancy one of her favourite hymns was great is thy faithfulness for those who travelled the circuitous journey with nancy this last year since she suffered a brain abscess on top of her other cancers one might be tempted to ask is god faithful or did he let her down did he forsake his daughter when she needed him most i want to answer emphatically god is faithful god did not forsake nancy in this last year of nancy s life when she could no longer care for herself or others when she could no longer string together those impressive articulate thoughts when she could no longer express her gratitude god surrounded his daughter with his people many of you as family and friends who cared for her at the expense of your own health and sense of gratitude and you took care of nancy as if you were taking care of jesus himself for it was jesus who said what you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did it for me matt 25 40 you took care of nancy in a time when so many of nancy s age or ailment simply die alone not so with nancy she had a noticeable tribe of friends and caregivers and if nancy were here to speak for herself i am convinced she d say thank you you see nancy had a practiced habit or shall be be more honest and say nancy had an obsession with gratitude it started in 2011 after she read ann voskamp s book 1000 gifts a book about gratitude nancy was the sort of person who didn t just read for information she read and applied and she got others together to read and practice the art and discipline of giving thanks there is a verse found in the apostle paul s letter to the thessalonian church that has always presented a challenge be joyful always pray continually give thanks in all circumstances for this is god s will for you in christ jesus i thess 5 16 18 for those who live the spiritual life and who have honestly and admittedly suffered we know we cannot give thanks for all things but in the mystery of being in christ we can give thanks in all circumstances nancy lived this out her first entry in her gratitude journal volume 1 was in september 2011 thankful for hard circumstances that force me to run to you she didn t date most of her entries she numbered them so her last entry of that journal was 4730 roughly three blessings a day over the span of that journal her last note of thanks was this thankful for a difficult yet beautiful day dec 16 2016 you can appreciate that nancy would not miss a day not even on august 4 2015 one of the few entries she dated the very day her husband died she wrote thankful for my beloved harold who died today can i praise you in the storm a few years later 2017 nancy would write the night that harold went to heaven i settled into bed realizing that i had a choice i knew i had to make either i continue my practice of kneeling beside my bed and looking back over my day and seeing and recording the god gifts within that day or i give in to the misery of the hardest blow i ve ever received and leave that practice behind my addled brain was saying how can you give thanks on this day when you kissed the cool lips of your beloved husband for the very last time the day when you knew you would never again see the face you could hardly drag your eyes from so dear so familiar so improved by time and age a battle ensued and the tiny voice of the spirit that i ve come to recognize whispered this will be the vehicle for my presence as you go through what lies ahead bring me your weakness your brokenness i will catch every tear i will listen to every anguished question i will heal your fractured heart and give you peace the only part you have to do is to remember that thanksgiving always comes before the miracle the very definition of peace today what nancy wrote years ago sounds so prophetic she knew the secret of a life of gratitude she knew to give thanks because the god nancy worshipped then and whom she worships now in joyful abandon is the source and the destination of all gratitude despite the circumstances i imagine if she were able she d tell you that she d tell you about the joy of knowing god in christ and how he has woven all the strands of her beautiful and hard life into an amazing tapestry that reveals the beauty of the one who made her for himself i have no illusion that many of you are grieving and suffering now and that for me to hint that you can be thankful might sound outrageously pious and insensitive but the wise who have gone before us recognize the gift that is gratitude annie dillard wrote i think that the dying pray at the end not please but thank you as a guest thanks his host at that door she knew some secret about a life of gratitude at the moment of mourning that our exits shall be exposed for their wonder and shall elicit praise in june 2021 a popular tv talent show america s got talent featured a singer who went by the name of nightbirde she was there to sing a song she wrote called it s okay which she described as the story about the last year of my life she knew she was dying with terminal cancer but before she sang she said this to the judges and audience it s important that everyone knows i m so much more than the bad things that happen to me you can t wait until life isn t hard anymore before you decide to be happy or as nancy might have put it you can t wait until life isn t hard anymore before you decide to be thankful in one of her blog posts titled god is on the bathroom floor if you can t see him look lower nightbirde wrote i see mercy in the dusty sunlight that outlines the trees in my mother s crooked hands in the blanket my friend left for me in the harmony of the wind chimes it s not the mercy that i asked for but it is mercy nonetheless and i learn a new prayer thank you it s a prayer i don t mean yet but will repeat until i do call me cursed call me lost call me scorned but that s not all call me chosen blessed sought after call me the one who god whispers his secrets to i am the one whose belly is filled with loaves of mercy that were hidden for me god is on t...