“The quest for a contemplative life can actually be self-absorbed, focused on my quiet and me. If we love people and have the power to help, then we are going to be busy. Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart. In the midst of outer busyness we can develop an inner quiet. Because we are less hectic on the inside, we have a greater capacity to love … and thus to be busy, which in turn drives us even more into a life of prayer. By spending time with our Father in prayer, we integrate our lives with his, with what he is doing in us. Our lives...

“True spirituality is not a superhuman religiosity; it is simply true humanity released from bondage to sin and renewed by the Holy Spirit. This is given to us as we grasp by faith the full content of Christ’s redemptive work: freedom from the guilt and power of sin, and newness of life through the indwelling and outpouring of his Spirit.” - Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1979), 19-20. [HT: Of First Importance ] SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "True humanity + the Spirit", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/05/20/true-humanity-the-spirit/"...

In sports, rhythm and flow are as important as strategy. There are basketball games where there is little floor spacing, teammates are not communicating well, or worse, not anticipating one another’s moves, and the ball seems to bounce out of rhythm. And there are other times when it seems like one team is dancing around the court to the tune of a hidden song. Athletes call this being "in the zone." This invisible rhythm is made visible through the consistent and dynamic movements of the players. (For example, our beloved Blazers beat the defending champs, the Celtics , tonight.) So...

Every once in a while I leave my wallet at home (like I did in January for an overnight flight and trip). Have my ID but no cash or cards and venture out unwittingly into daily life. Done that two days straight. I am out of rhythm! Today is the middle day of three weeks in a Greek intensive course. Good times. Challenging material, and time consuming. Feel like giving up many times a day, as all things worth doing take hard work. My only quasi-complaint is that the dusk to past dawn schedule of life these three weeks makes being healthy a difficult chore. (Okay, I’m not complaining, just...

Sometimes we say our words must be a balance of love and truth . Think about that phrase. A balance? As if truth and love are to be weighed in comparison? Shall we have 50% love and 50% truth, or if we are really bold, then 80% truth but keep the loving flowing a little at 20%. The concept comes from Ephesians 4:15 : "speaking the truth in love." Our truth must be filtered in love, and our love must be filtered in truth. There is a happy tension in there for sure. People deserve 100% of both, for love and truth are not enemies but rather best of friends. God is Truth; He is Love; He...