My Yes means Nos. To be this, I cannot be that. To be me, I cannot be you. And as my unique offering becomes ever clearer, the battle becomes ever stronger. Unhealed parts of me yell loudly about obligation. Other Christians wonder how I can keep saying the Nos they don’t want me to say. … Continue reading
Marriages that are dependent on good feelings fall apart, or at best are in for a stormy time of it. But marriages that consistently look back to their vows, to those wild promises made before God, and that trust Him to make sense out of them, find a continual source of strength and renewal. Mike … Continue reading
I haven’t blogged on Mike Mason for some time. In fact, I’m not really blogging on him today as I think this quotation from the best book I’ve ever read on marriage stands for itself. There is an important difference, however, between those who hang on and those who run away, between the marriages that last and … Continue reading
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
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. 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
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
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
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
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 Art of Steering 