from "Re-Entry"

"We're all like this at times. We list the things we have accomplished for God as though they were our credentials; as though our identity were dependent upon people recognising what we have done. But the only credential that is important in the kingdom of God is that our names are written in heaven. We are sons and daughters of God. Whether we were missionaries or not has nothing to do with how God views us. He may be pleased with our diligent service, but that doesn't elevate us to the status of a privileged child. He is an impartial God and loves all His children equally. 

Learn to derive your identity from the fact that you are a child of God, not from the fact that you are a missionary." 

Peter Jordan, Re-Entry, "Final Approach". 

hope

"Hope not because you think you can be good, but because God loves us irrespective of our merits and whatever is good in us comes from God's love, not from our own doing."
- Thomas Merton, Contemplative

10:53pm

Maybe, really,
                 truly, the
            way it will be
(, or is supposed
to be),
         will be
that
I am ever
           only
a few steps ahead,
          always, also
still learning.

Learning and
        teaching,
learning
    and guiding,
learning and learning.

Fasting (and feasting)

"Fast from judging others; 
Feast on Christ dwelling in them.
Fast from apparent darkness; 
Feast on the reality of Light.
Fast from discontent;
Feast on gratitude.
Fast from complaining; 
Feast on appreciation.
Fast from words that pollute; 
Feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from gossip.
Feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from anger; 
Feast on patience.
Fast from bitterness; 
Feast on forgiveness.
Fast from problems that overwhelm; 
Feast on prayer that sustains.
Fast from worry;
Feast on faith.
Fast from anxiety; 
Feast on hope.
Fast from self concern;
Feast on compassion.
Fast from yourself; 
Feast on a silent heart."
- William Arthur Ward

Ezra praises the LORD

27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, 

28 and who extended to me His steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

(my italics)