Tag: Holy Spirit

God invites us to have it be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” Most of us see these two realms as interpenetrating fields of force where heaven, the arena of God and the angels, touches upon and calls out to earth, the arena of humans, animals, plants, and planets.

We are not to be afraid. 

When we fear, we cling to who we are and what we have; we see ourselves as the threatened center of a hostile universe. Fear is the “original sin” of which the Church Fathers speak. Fear is the poison that was injected into human consciousness and human society from the beginning.

Do you accept others as they are or deep down, do you wish they would change? 

Are you seeking to grow spiritually? Healing and spiritual growth are the result of an education that is open to all of us each day. Opportunities to awaken our spirits continue throughout life. It is the journey of living a well-lived life. 

As Americans, we celebrate our freedom today.  Freedom gives us a sense of hope and helps us feel optimistic about our lives. But with freedom comes responsibility.

A tree is known by its fruits. In the fifth chapter of his Letter to the Galatians, Paul makes this very specific and tells us that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control,” implying that the Spirit’s presence in one’s life can be read from its radiance in these soul-expanding qualities. 

Our modern culture is like a 24/7 convenience store. We can get anything we want 24/7 and at the push of a button. We can end up thinking that everything about life should be easy, be it marriage, self-discipline or even our salvation. The illusion of ease shouldn’t fool us. Working toward our salvation is challenging work. 

What is it that makes our lives heavy and weighed down? Precisely the burden of our own egos, the weight of one’s own self. When I am puffing myself up with my own self-importance, I’m laboring under all that weight. Jesus asks us to become like a child, take the weight off your shoulders.  He says, “Put on the weight of my yoke of my obedience to the Father.”

We are called to be reconciled with one another. The role of forgiveness in repairing our broken relationships is like a rule of physics. When God lays the need for forgiveness on your heart and you realize that you need to forgive someone (or be forgiven by someone), go and do it. Go get reconciled.