Like Jesus, we can be thoughtful about what images we let (and don't let) form our personal images of God. In our current moment of global war crimes, mass economic exploitation, and collective deconstruction of versions of faith that no longer work for people, we need mothering images of God more than ever before. (Mosaic: Jesus as Mother Hen -- Dominus Flevit Church in Jerusalem)
Read MoreThe idea of "eternal conscious torment" disgusts, and even traumatizes, many. Unfortunately, it feels like it is synonymous with Christianity, even though it is (gasp!) not in the Bible! Hayley and Vince point us toward alternative Christian beliefs about eternity and morality.
Read MoreWhat is it behind the most inspiring stories we know of people embracing suffering? Vince wonders if it's a certain kind of perspective that's hard for modern Western people to learn. But it still can be! (Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash)
Read MoreWe Modern people like to maintain the image of our minds being a locked-down, private space, but, when we let our guards down, we often feel a call away from closed self-sufficiency. Maybe our minds are more mysterious than we assume, and we'd welcome a flashlight and some outside input. This week, Vince teaches us about Listening Prayer. (Photo by Tawseem Hakak on Unsplash)
Read MoreModern life is like being under a waterfall: so many experiences and demands and thoughts and feelings tumbling down on us, leaving us in constant reactivity mode. "Getting behind the waterfall" is a contemplative prayer practice meant to get us out of reactivity mode.
Read MoreBeginning with the famous "Invisible Gorilla" study by Daniel Simons, Vince suggests a prayer practice for experiencing transcendence in the midst of our exhausting, pressure-heavy lives, which can feel simultaneously instinctual AND extremely hard (or strange) against the backdrop of Modern Life.
Read MoreEveryone can perceive God, but different people will perceive more naturally in different ways. Vince brings to us a resource that can relieve pressure about how prayer has to look, and inject some creativity and new ideas into our personal prayer lives.
Read MoreWhile Psalm 139 is most known for its incredibly affirming beginning ("I am fearfully and wonderfully made"), it also has a dark, troubling turn ("I hate with perfect hatred"). What holds it all together? The final verses that reveal "the God of the Gut Check"...
Read MoreWhile there are many unhelpful pictures of power and control, we can find in Jesus a power that is rooted in compassion and trust. On this Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend, we look at the Psalms’ portrayal of God as a source of help and liberation. (Art: "Christ Breaks the Rifle" by Kelly Latimore)
Read MoreContinuing our series inspired by the Psalms, Hayley & Vince share experiences of music and song connecting them with God. (Photo by Aaron Burden via Unsplash)
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