Good listening is a matter of becoming empty before people so as to sense when to speak, when not to, and how. There is a feeling that comes when our words are connecting with others. Mike Mason in Practising the Presence of People. It makes you think, doesn’t it…how many times we really listen to the … Continue reading »
Tagged with Mike Mason …
Encounter
Entering the presence of another human being is like entering a cathedral. The appropriate response is awe. With our eyes open to the wonder of another person, suddenly we are in the presence of something greater than ourselves. Even though we too are human, somehow the other is greater than we are, because the other … Continue reading »
Fridays are for joy
Fridays are for joy. They are for learning to live life in the slow lane. For exploring what it feels like to have a blank diary page once a week. For being able to spend time just sitting with God, not feeling like there is something else that I should be doing. For writing and … Continue reading »
The last sips of champagne
I’ve been continuing my readings in Mike Mason’s Champagne for the Soul lately. Here’s a great excerpt: joy depends on making the most of whatever light there is, even in darkness…If you’re having the sort of day that rates a two out of ten, why not make it the best two possible? I can testify from … Continue reading »
Living dangerously
Joy lives dangerously. If an experience is deeply satisfying, it usually holds an element of uncertainty. If satisfaction is to enlarge into joy, the uncertainty factor will be high. Risk, peril, unpredictability are the air that joy breathes. Remove these factors and joy suffocates. This is why God has designed for us a life that … Continue reading »
Determinedly taking possession
Joy is God’s gift, but we must also determinedly take possession of it. These two sides of the joy equation are equal in importance. Another excerpt from one of Mason’s meditations on joy in Champagne for the Soul. How I love Mason’s writing. It stays with me sometimes for days, echoing in my thinking as … Continue reading »
Roving, dangerous, hoodlum warrior of God
This is the spirit that’s needed to win through to a life of joy. Instead of feet that flee from difficulties, we need hands that freeze to our swords. Even champion is too weak a word for the true Christian, that roving, dangerous, hoodlum warrior of God. Mike Mason in Champagne for the Soul again! Do you … Continue reading »
The mystery of who I am
A life of joy rests upon the discovery of what I, and I alone, am meant to do and then doing it with all my heart. As I glimpse the mystery of who I am, my road may indeed seem narrow, and as I press further on, it may grow so narrow that the decision … Continue reading »
Impromptu experiment in joy
Reading Mike Mason’s account of his ninety day experiment in ‘rediscovering God’s gift of joy’ (the book’s subtitle) has meant that a lot of my posts lately have been tagged ‘joy’. I like that about my blog right now. Reflecting on joy, tasting it, entering into it, grappling with maintaining it when circumstances seem adverse…these … Continue reading »
The God of happiness
In our pursuit of happiness, it isn’t happiness alone we pursue but the God of happiness, the only one who can make us happy. If we want to be happy, we must listen to the Joy Giver and obey Him in all things…His voice is the voice of joy. Some quotations need no commentary – … Continue reading »
