Luke 18:9-14 I am in the habit of beginning my prayers with thanksgiving, you might have noticed this if you have prayed with me. Offering thanks to God for whatever is at the top of my mind in the moment. I have noticed this about myself, wondered about it a little, but haven’t seriously thought that it was a problem of any kind. I mean, what could be wrong with saying thank you? Nothing at all, I thought, until I really dug into this little parable. The Pharisee at prayer begins with thanks. “I thank you, God, that I am not like other people…the thieves, the rogues, the adulterers, or this tax collector right here beside me. Thank you, God, for making me better.” There it is. Our thankfulness can actually be kind of smug, as we count all the ways our lives are great…enviable. We risk the humble-brag – […]
Continue readingMonth: October 2022
Measuring Faith
Luke 17:5-10 There’s a story about a woman who goes into a coffee shop for a little afternoon break. She goes to the counter and gets her coffee and a package of cookies, then looks for a place to sit. The shop is crowded, so she is forced to take a chair at a small table already occupied by a man reading a newspaper. She’s not looking for company, but she sits down with her coffee and package of cookies, gives him a quick smile and nod, then buries herself in her book. She notices out of the corner of her eye that the man reaches out and takes a cookie from the package on the table. Rude, she thinks, but tries to ignore it. She reaches out and takes a cookie for herself. Pretty soon she sees his hand sliding across the table and taking another cookie out of […]
Continue readingRE:think Happiness
1 Timothy 6:6-19 Here is the question: What is something that makes you happy? Don’t overthink it. There are no wrong answers, this is not a test. What comes into your mind when you think of something that makes you happy? It might not be the thing that brings you the most happiness of all, but it is something. Did you think of something? I hope you did; I hope you thought of many things that make you happy. Everyone should have happiness. Who ever said, “There is too much happiness in the world?” No one. Ever. Except maybe Scrooge. And the good thing is happiness is, at least to an extent, under our control. If watching a “Die Hard” movie makes you happy, great. If it doesn’t make you happy, don’t watch it. If sitting on the beach getting all sandy and sweaty doesn’t make you happy, then don’t […]
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