When grace succumbs to guilt
June 7, 2010 | Filed Under Small Talk | Leave a Comment
Grace is the emergence of goodness when it is least expected.
I have had a few palpable encounters with grace in my life. Transitions from deep darkness to peaks of joy. I’ve seen others experience grace too. I’ve seen grace change lives. I’ve also seen grace denied.
In my experience (personal and observed) one of the most common tragedies in all the universe is for grace to succumb to guilt. Guilt has its place. It can help us improve ourselves. But it can also suffocate. Deaden. Destroy. Corrupt.
It is grace that let’s us see our lives as works in progress.
But guilt deludes us into the false impression that we are a finished product. That we are the sum of our failures. That our value lies in minimizing our mistakes. Guilt can very much be like the person who pulls out a measuring stick to determine the quality of a Van Gogh based on the proportions of it’s background props.
Guilt closes our heart to joy. Guilt numbs. Sterilizes. But grace renews. Breathes life into cold hearts.
Grace gives us the freedom to know ourselves without pretensions of perfection and to chase after all that is good and beautiful with full abandon. And ultimately grace enables us to experience peaks of joy. The greatest things this universe has to offer.
Tools that once held a sacred space in my head now are mere tools of the trade.
June 5, 2010 | Filed Under Small Talk | Leave a Comment
If you’re into great stories, you’ll love thils short 25 or so minute film called Heartless. It’s the back story of the Tin Man before the Wizard of Oz. The movie visuals are beautiful, and the story classic. Worth the watch….
But that’s not the reason I’m writing this. Rather, I was reading a blog post by the director Brandon McCormick which had a few brilliant quotes.
For example:
Grace makes beauty out of ugly things
June 5, 2010 | Filed Under Poetry | Leave a Comment
Will Women Turn Men Into Women?
April 30, 2010 | Filed Under Small Talk | Leave a Comment
Given that women make up the most powerful consumer demographic, it’s a bit scary to realize that there just might be a market for products designed to feminize men.
Have you ever considered the idea that humans might engineer themselves into a single sex? What a nightmare that would be. But I suppose that if all men are evil (the common refrain) then it makes perfect sense. Turn them into women.
I just hope they don’t develop a spray that makes men clean the bathroom.
Me and Josh (and Ms. Lilly Pup)
April 18, 2010 | Filed Under Pictures | Leave a Comment
My good friend Josh and I used to watch every Eagles game together … until kids and married life started taking their toll.
And Lilly was so small here as a pup. It’s crazy. She’s a big dog. Really.
Me Making A Website With Kitty
April 18, 2010 | Filed Under Pictures | Leave a Comment
The Young Philosopher
April 18, 2010 | Filed Under Pictures | 1 Comment
Chapel @ Princeton Theological Seminary
April 18, 2010 | Filed Under Pictures | Leave a Comment
This is the chapel I got married in.
Josh looks ripped
April 18, 2010 | Filed Under Pictures | Leave a Comment
What happened man?
Even at my wedding…
April 18, 2010 | Filed Under Pictures | Leave a Comment
… I was oozing with intellectual pretension … and trying to have an insightful conversation when i should have been chit chatting. I’ll never learn. That’s one thing I know for sure.
