love Archives - Page 2 of 5

Nothing Sacred

Today, I saw second Timothy chapter 3 with greater understanding. The whole chapter speaks into the contrast between those who “love pleasure” and those who “love God.” Those who love pleasure are said to Love only themselves and their money Be unloving and unforgiving Slander others Be unforgiving Be cruel Hate what is good Betray…

Darling Lorraine

“Darling Lorraine” is a story-song by Paul Simon that tells of the emotional journey of Lorraine and Frank. By saying “emotional journey,” I mean that Simon is relating the ups and downs, the ecstasies and the miseries in the emotions of their relationship. He could have tracked the logic of the marriage or the history…

Fortress Around Your Heart

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner is an English singer songwriter who has written hundreds of songs and has 16 Grammy awards. Most of us know him by the name, Sting. One of my favourite songs written by Sumner is this one, “Fortress Around Your Heart.” (Listen as you read these lyrics.) Fortress Around Your Heart Under…

Poor Sermon on a Pretty Day

“In general, I weathered even the worst sermons pretty well. They had the great virtue of causing my mind to wander. Some of the best things I have ever thought of I have thought of during bad sermons. Or I would look out the windows. In winter, when the windows were closed, the church seemed…

Loving Our Enemies

In his brilliant novel, Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry creates a particular scene to illustrate a point. Jayber Crow, who is narrating his own story, is the town barber and, as is the lot of a small-town barber, hears many conversations in his barber shop. Some of these conversations are entertaining, amusing, and educational. Others are…

Violet

You have got my heart on a string. I haven’t even met you and you You have got my heart on a string. You are brightening my senses Ignoring all my defenses You have got my heart on a string. You’ve a name that makes me think light, Posies and roses, sun-beams bright Wonderland, daisy…

Tolkien on Judging Others

J.R.R. Tolkien reminds us that we must not be hasty in judgment in this line from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is a good reminder to all of us. “Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then…

Scottish Independence Vote

Regardless of today’s outcome, I am very proud to have Scottish and English ancestors when I see how non-violent the campaign for independence has been. As Nahlah Ayed, a reporter for CBC says, . . . this isn’t Braveheart. “There hasn’t been so much as a bloody nose in the modern fight,” says Luke Skipper,…

Love and Reward

In Theology of the Body for Beginners: A Basic Introduction to Pope John Paul II’s Sexual Revolution, Christopher West says, “In the moment we reject our receptivity before God and grasp at our own ‘happiness’ we turn our backs on God’s love.”1 He is making a significant point about the nature of love and sexual…

Earth Day 2014

Life marches ever onward Thousands of years come and go Constant motion of the tides Beings that ebb and flow Yet, there’s a change this Earth Day Parents and all grandparents Children arrive one-by-one This blue-green fragile planet The jewel of many suns Light begins a new Earth Day Made from nothing but stardust She…