Category: Inspiration

Inspiration

Stretch Out Your Hand

Smitten With Goodness

On a quiet sabbath morning, Jesus steps into the synagogue and teaches. ( Luke 6:6-11) A man with a withered hand stands nearby, not asking for anything, not drawing attention to himself. Yet Jesus sees him. He also sees the scribes and Pharisees watching, not with hope but with suspicion, waiting for a reason to accuse. Still, Jesus does not let their hostility hold him back. He brings the man forward, right into the center of the room, and asks the question that reveals everything:

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Inspiration

A Pathway to Presence

Smitten With Goodness

Labor Day invites us to pause and honor the dignity of work, not only the work done with our hands, but the work done with our hearts. Few voices speak more clearly into this moment than Brother Lawrence, the 17th‑century Carmelite whose little book, The Practice of the Presence of God, continues to reshape how we understand spirituality.

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Inspiration

The Doorway of Humility

Smitten With Goodness

We move through our days surrounded by gifts we barely notice, small mercies, quiet provisions, gentle nudges of grace. Yet what usually captures our attention are the irritations: the traffic, the fatigue, the interruptions, the things that don’t go our way. These inconveniences rise to the surface quickly. They color our mood. They drain our energy. They shape the orientation of our heart far more than we realize.

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Inspiration

Standing Together

Smitten With Goodness

There is a quiet truth about being human that we rarely name: each of us is bound by something. Some burdens are heavy and outward like poverty, oppression, the weight of systems that limit and wound. Others live deep inside such as prejudice we didn’t choose, fear we can’t quite shake, addictions we may not even recognize as shaping our days.

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Inspiration

The Good Gardener

Smitten With Goodness

There is something deeply comforting in the idea of God as the Good Gardner. There is an ancient prayer, a quiet reminder of who God is and how God moves within us. We name Him as God of might and giver of every good gift, but the heart of the prayer reveals something even more tender: God is the One who plants goodness in us and then protects what He has planted.

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Inspiration

Grace at Work

Smitten With Goodness

Aging has a way of surprising us. Even though we know that our bodies were not made for mortality but for immortality, the slow faltering of bone and joint, memory and mobility, still catches us off guard. We wake one morning to a new ache, a new limitation, a new reminder that we are living far from the Garden we were meant to inhabit. And yet, even here, grace is quietly at work.

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