Grandpa's Reflections

This seems like an oxymoron. How do silence and preaching go together? If it is true that the word of Scripture should lead us into the silence of God, then we must be careful to use that word not simply as an interesting or motivating word, but as a word that creates the boundaries within…

But isn’t the whole purpose of all ministry to reveal that God is not a God of fear but a God of love? And couldn’t this be accomplished by gently and carefully converting the empty silence into a full silence, the anxious silence into a peaceful silence, and the restless silence into a restful silence,…

Words can only create communion and thus new life when they embody the silence from which they emerge. As soon as we begin to take hold of each other by our words, and use words to defend ourselves or offend others, the word no longer speaks of silence. But when the word calls forth the…

Too much information. There are many people who love to share. Often, they share more than we want to know and it seems the objective of their sharing is to draw attention. We once had a couple come to our church and they said they had left their previous church because you weren’t valued unless…

The desert fathers saw themselves on a journey toward God in heaven. They made some assumptions that drove them to seek solitude and practice silence. The first is that discipline transforms us. I think this is true. I’m trying to develop the discipline of physical exercise to improve my balance and general physical health. It…

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. (Habakkuk 2:20 NIV) Silence is the way to make solitude a reality. – The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen (page 29) This isn’t about lack of noise. The silence Nouwen is speaking about is the absence of words,…

One of the things I was looking forward to in retirement was being able to read more.  The past few weeks I’ve been able to do that.  When I was much younger my wife and I both enjoyed reading books by Alistair MacLean and Dick Francis.  We loved the action and both authors were able…

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (John 13:34 ESV) I must be missing something. This command is repeated 13 times in the New Testament. God doesn’t leave us to wonder what this means, so He provides…

Anthony is one of the desert fathers that Nouwen uses as an example of compassionate ministry. Anthony lived in isolation for most of his adult life. Late in life he returned to community for brief periods: once to minister to those suffering persecution and another time to preach against a heresy taking root in the…

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from…