Tag: Perspective

Inspiration

Choosing to See

Smitten With Goodness

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.

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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

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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Inspiration

Courageous Love in an Ordinary Life

Smitten With Goodness

The Church celebrates Saint John the Baptist today, the wild, desert‑dwelling forerunner of Christ whose life was anything but conventional. He dressed strangely, lived simply, spoke boldly, and carried a fierce devotion to the One who was coming. Yet beneath all his prophetic fire, John was known most for his great love, a love courageous enough to give his whole life away.

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