The parable of the unforgiving servant is unsettling because it holds up a mirror. Even after receiving unimaginable mercy, the servant turns to his fellow servant and demands, “Pay back what you owe.” His heart has not absorbed the gift he received. He refuses, as Scripture says, “mercy to another like himself.”
Continue reading “The Mercy We Give Reveals the Mercy We Know”
There are seasons when we drift, quietly, subtly, into a way of seeing that is no longer shaped by Christ. We begin to interpret the world through our human eyes rather than through the mercy‑shaped gaze of Jesus. And when that happens, separation doesn’t always look dramatic. Often, it looks ordinary.
It looks like comparison. It looks like hurry. It looks like envy. It looks like forgetting who we belong to.
Psalm 100 reminds us of the truth we lose sight of: “It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” When we forget this, our vision narrows. We see scarcity instead of abundance. We see what others have rather than what God gives. We see ourselves as separate, self‑made, self‑sustaining.
Jesus names this drift in the parable of the workers in the vineyard. When the landowner pays each worker the same wage, regardless of how long they labored, the question rises:
“Are you envious because I am generous?”
(Mt 20:15)
Separation from Christ often begins right there in the quiet resentment that God’s generosity toward another somehow diminishes us. We forget that God’s giving is not measured, not rationed, not earned. It is measureless generosity.
And when we see only with human eyes, we miss the truth that should lead us to praise:
All of us, great and small, belong to the same flock. All of us are led to the same pastures of peace. All of us are held by the same Shepherd who laid down his life for us.
Paul says it plainly: “Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” (Eph 4:7)
Not according to our merit. Not according to our labor. Not according to our comparison with others.
Grace is given according to Christ’s measure his abundance, his generosity, his self‑giving love. When we see with his eyes, envy dissolves. Praise rises. Gratitude awakens. And separation gives way to communion.
So today, let us ask for the grace to see differently:
Let us ask for the grace of generosity, a generosity that mirrors Christ’s own, a generosity that dissolves separation, a generosity that restores us to communion with God and one another.
There is a tender question God seems to ask each of us, quietly, beneath the noise of our days: How often do you come to Me for the graces I long to give you? Not the graces you feel worthy of, not the ones you think you’ve earned but the ones He pours out simply because He loves.
Continue reading “Amazing Grace”
Amos gives us a breathtaking image of God:
“I have built heaven, my upper chamber… I summon the waters of the sea and pour them out upon the surface of the earth.” This is the God whose very name carries creative force, whose voice commands oceans, whose presence arches over the earth like a vast and living vault.
Throughout the Gospels, people are struck by the authority of Jesus as He confronts and quiets unclean spirits, forces that distort, wound, and oppress. His power is never harsh or theatrical; it is steady, holy, and rooted in the very heart of God. And this same authority continues to move within our lives today, revealing that nothing dark or destructive within us is beyond His reach.
Continue reading “Authority That Lifts”
There is a line in Psalm 104 that shimmers with wonder: “Clouds hide him; he walks upon the vault of the heavens.”
Continue reading “The Mystery With Us”
Luke 1:38 gives us one of the most astonishing sentences in all of Scripture. Mary’s quiet, courageous response to the angel: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”
Continue reading “A Beacon for Trust”
Psalm 125 offers a simple, steady promise: those who put their trust in you, Lord, cannot be shaken. It’s a bold statement, almost too bold for the way most of us move through our days. And yet this week, as my back went out and forced me to slow down, I found myself living inside that promise in a new way.
Continue reading “An Unshakable Trust”
Jesus’ parable of the wooden beam is one of his most piercing invitations. “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” The image is almost humorous and exaggerated, impossible, and yet painfully accurate. We are often far more aware of the small faults of others than the large, shaping patterns within ourselves. Not because we are malicious, but because seeing clearly is costly. It asks something of us.
Continue reading “Choosing to See”
Sometimes God speaks in the most ordinary places like in the checkout line at the grocery store. I was standing there, caught up by the busyness of shopping on a holiday weekend when a magazine cover caught my eye. The simple words rose from the glossy page like a quiet summons: an invitation to linger longer.
Continue reading “An Invitation to Linger”
