Mother Teresa

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
Mother Teresa

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.
Mother Teresa

Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.
Mother Teresa

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
Mother Teresa

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.
Mother Teresa

Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.
Mother Teresa

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
Mother Teresa

God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.
Mother Teresa

Good works are links that form a chain of love.
Mother Teresa

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.
Mother Teresa

I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.
Mother Teresa

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.
Mother Teresa

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.
Mother Teresa

I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.
Mother Teresa

I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?
Mother Teresa

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
Mother Teresa

If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.
Mother Teresa

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
Mother Teresa

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
Mother Teresa

If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.
Mother Teresa

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.
Mother Teresa

Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
Mother Teresa

It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.
Mother Teresa

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.
Mother Teresa

It is impossible to walk rapidly and be unhappy.
Mother Teresa

It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.
Mother Teresa

Jesus said love one another. He didn't say love the whole world.
Mother Teresa

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.
Mother Teresa

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
Mother Teresa

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.
Mother Teresa

Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given.
Mother Teresa

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.
Mother Teresa

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.
Mother Teresa

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.
Mother Teresa

Loneliness is the most terrible poverty.
Mother Teresa

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action.
Mother Teresa

Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home.
Mother Teresa

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.
Mother Teresa

Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus.
Mother Teresa

One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.
Mother Teresa

Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.
Mother Teresa

Peace begins with a smile.
Mother Teresa

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
Mother Teresa

Belonging

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Last One

Remember when you were a little kid and they would line you up alongside the rusted chain link fence. Each captain would pick someone to be on their team. Each time you were hoping that you wouldn't be the last kid picked. Remember that little knot in your stomach as your friend would scan the scraggly line, hoping inside "please pick me, please pick me." There something about being the last kid picked. Perhaps its shame. Perhaps its humiliation. Perhaps its the feeling that no one really wants me on their team, or that no one really wants me at all.No one likes being the last kid chosen to play on team.

David was the last one. No one really thought he would be the material to be a king. Even though David had his share of problems ( more of that to come later), God still chose the last one as his first choice.


The last ones. That is who God chooses to lead his kingdom- that is who he chose then, and that is who he chooses now.

Everyman

I am...
the sinner and the saint
the cynic and the believer
the wanderer and the committed
the courageous and the fearfull
the strong and the weak
the wise and the fool
the lover and the hater
the rich and the poor
the philanthropist and the hoarder
the envious and the content
the pagan and the priest
the rejected and the redeemed
the loner and the comrade
the vice and the virtue
the prodigal and the righteous
the warrior and the peacemaker
the leader and the follower
the athlete and the heckler
the judge, the jury, and the plaintiff
the condemned and the aquitted
the old and the young
the protector and the enemy
the guilty and the innocent
the friend and the foe
the despiser and embracer
the prejudice and the defender
the murderer and the healer
the hero and the villain

I am Everyman.

Inheritance

Everyman receives an inheritance from his father, regardless of his physical, emotional, or financial presence. Sometimes it is a great inheritance, one that leaves us feeling well endowed emotionally and relationally. Most of us though, never really take the time to assess our inheritance and in so doing, we fail to recognize the inheritance God- our heavenly father wants to give us- at least that is true for me.
My earthly father gave me:
rejection;
isolation;
absence;
a low self-esteem;
feelings of worthlessness;
insecurity;
pain;
sorrow;
friendlessness;
pride;
and FEAR!
My heavenly father though wants to give me another inheritance. He wants me to give to exchange the two.
He wants to give me:
acceptance;
community;
his presence;
value;
redemption;
assurance;
wisdom;
joy;
authentic relationships;
humility not to be confused with shame;
LOVE!

Great Article about Men & Faith!

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/april/27.48.html

Porn Star Parents

I am learning more about the stories in the bible. My wife and I picked up a book entitled "Harlot by the roadside." It revisits all the old testament stories that have been gleaned, glossed over, and made more like disney then a tell all-no holds barred expose. Yet the bible is full of men and women who couldn't measure upt to Leave it to Beaver scenarios with a quick fix and an adorable smile. Christ's ancestors were prostitutes, cheaters, con artists, liars, murderers,sex addicts, drunks, wimps, brutes, control freaks,manipulators, and the like. These were the ancestors to the Man-God who would revolutionize the world. Just as it should be.
Their story is our story. Their savior and redeemer is our savior and redeemer.

Everyone Poops

This are some profound books that I have read- and amoungst the ones I have listed on this blog, I should add "Everyone Poops."

Such a small and pedestrian act really has profound implications. The president has to wipe his own ass. Church elders, movie actors and actresses- all of them poop! Even the Pope poops. So did Jesus. Jesus pooped.

Somthing so smelly, so gassly, and obnoxious came from the man we call Christ. He was afterall human- right?

Everyone poops and everyone acts like we don't. We keep it hidden unless we are under some sort of medical emergency or a poop exhibitionist who doesn't like to flush in public restrooms. I am going off on a little tangent.

Think about it. Every single person has a messy life that we like to conceal and flush down the proverbial toilet.
Isn't this is alot like what sin is? We eat something or indulge in a particular sin. We consume it. It is inside of us. We think we are the sin. We have identified with the sin. Oh God I am a piece of oreo cheesecake. We think we are the decadent dessert. we feel special but only for a time. It provides a momentary sense of worth and fullness. We have at least stopped the hunger pains. It passes through us. We smell the vile stench. We think we are the crap sitting beneath our bottom. We think we are the crap. We say to ourselves "I am worth less- please save me." All the while Jesus is saying- You are more than a piece of cheesecake and you are certainly more than a pile of crap."
He tells us to flush. Our slate or ass is wiped clean. But we chain ourselves to a false throne. We say it cannot be that easy. We believe we are the bile. He says arise and go sin no more. We say- can't impossible. He says we can. We think he is full of it. We fail to see isn't.

This is me, is that you?

We all learn to play hide and seek as children. Thing is, we continue to play it as adults. If we are lucky we will be found.
Sometimes we don't want to be found. Sometimes we just want to keep on hiding. We believe the last man hiding wins. So we stay underneath the mattress or behind a doorway waiting to win and just as much waiting to be found.
Sad thing though, if we are never found we will go on thinking that we have won the game meanwhile all our "found" friends are enjoying one another's company. They have moved on to another game. Still a winner?
We learn to play hide and seek. The hiding is the easy part. It is the being found that is the hard part. Sometimes when we are found we are ridiculed. Sometimes we are found and we feel ashamed. We want to go back to our hiding place. Alone.
I would like to think the Christian way of playing hide and seek is more like the game of sardines. Someone hides- and everyone else has to find that person and hide with them. The last man to find the group- loses but in a way he wins. He is proactively searching for everyone- for the community- and he receives his reward. Rather than hiding alone- he hides with everyone else.
I would like to think this is the Christian version of hiding, But it isn't always.
Most of us are left hiding in our isolation only desperately wanting to be found.

Identity

here is a famous quote:
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Here is the paradox:
Your thoughts are not who you are,
your words don't reveal your true worth,
your actions don't reveal your identity,
your habits don't detract or add to your value,
your character is always loved including all virtues and vices,
and your destiny is to give up your Life.

quiet today

My soul is quiet today, like a summer day without wind, without momentum. Perhaps tomorrow will cause the stillness cease.

My soul is quiet today, like the midnight hours of a sleepless night. Perhaps tomorrow the sun will rise that will cause the darkness to fade.

My soul is quiet today, like the peace after a fresh snowfall. Perhaps tomorrow the deer will come out and break the virgin snow.

My soul is quiet today, and I will merely listen in these hours, until I hear that small voice from the depths that says "I love you, you are mine and I am your today and forever tomorrow."

Will you catch me?

Almost every baby loves to be picked and tossed up in the air. The laugh, they giggle, and their littel faces light up when dad comes overs, swooshes down and throws them up in the air. The look at Dad'd face as if to say- again daddy, again. There is no fear of falling. There is no hatred of not being in control. There is no fear of pain. In fact it is sure pleasure. Kids actually like the feeling of falling...of falling into their father's arms. Each time they fall, they aren't hurt by hitting the ground below them, unless they have a monster for a father or a father who has poor eye hand coordination. Yes, each time a child falls in this way- he equates it with trust, with love, and with affection.