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When we talk about habits, we describe the struggle as breaking free from the chains. Certainly it can feel as if a spiritual chain is binding us to our old ways..and preventing us from changing. If you have struggled to break a chain, do not be discouraged by the strength that the chain seems to have over you. Realize instead that because you feel it, then you are in fact pulling away and moving in the right direction! Picture an animal chained to a stake in the ground.. as

"Life is simple.. but we insist on making it complicated" Would you agree? Have you let your busy life take over your inner peace? Today is a Saturday, and for some reason I have taken up the bad habit of over-scheduling our free time on Saturdays. Maybe in advance of the weekend, I picture myself tackling a to-do list a mile long. Maybe I picture myself capable of doing a thousand more things than is humanly possible. I don't know what happens, but many times I am completely

"Anyone can wear one. But can you bear one?" Jesus told the disciples that to follow him, they must deny themselves and take up their cross. Some have taken this to mean that we must be as strong as Jesus and bear our cross like him. But Lent is a time of discovering the degree to which we are UNABLE to bear our cross. We are incapable of doing what Jesus did. But thankfully the sacrifice he made is complete, we don't have to die on a cross. When we accept with humility that

"Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved." A beautiful hymn.. but ever notice the description of fear? The writer attributes his awareness of a fearful heart as coming from God's illuminating love. In other words, we don't "face our fear" we are shown our fear by the illuminating love of God working in our heart. Once God shows us our fear, God relieves us and brings us to a place of inner peace.

Getting out of the wilderness would be a desperate situation if we didn't have tools to navigate it. If you were lost in the woods, you would certainly grab a compass, an old fashioned map or a cellphone to phone a friend. Oddly, when lost in a spiritual wilderness, we don't think of tools for survival. Maybe we fail to pick up our compass, underestimating the direction we could gain from reading the Word of God daily. Maybe we neglect to look at "a map" and fail to examine o

Picture yourself crossing a river or walking through the deep water of the ocean. Notice how your feet become unsteady? How the movement of the current, the murkiness of the water can make it hard to get a footing? Sometimes in life, our spiritual walk can feel this way too. The water of circumstances rises to a depth that is difficult. Maybe it is a personal trial, a struggle or harm caused to ourself or someone we love...What ever it is.. we are suddenly unsteady. We can't

Lent begins with dust and ashes. Tonight at 7pm we will hold a service of Ashes and ponder the mystery of death and life. The forty days ahead is a time of intentionally exploring the wilderness. Like Jesus, we are led by the Spirit down a path. A path that leads into the wilderness AND out of the wilderness. A spiritual journey that disorients us.. in order to re-orient us. Think of that for a moment: Wherever you experience life as unsettled, incomplete, broken do not be

READY FOR LENT? It starts tomorrow - be sure to attend one of the Services of Ashes in your area. I will host one at noon at Lower Marlboro Chapel in Owings MD. And one at 7pm at Mt Harmony UM Church in Owings In the popular scripture read on Ash Weds, we remember that "God delights in a sincere heart." In other words, the Lord sees your desire to walk in faith and is so happy as you take a single step. Consider today the delight it gives God to see you are on this Lenten Jo