‘If you’re feeling doubts about God’, if evil seems so much bigger than the good, it might help to shine light on the question of evil and the reality it claims to have. Listen to this contribution by Chet Manchester on the All-power and ever presence of God, good here
Get inspired to unclutter your mental thought cupboard, holding on to only those thoughts that are grounded in God, good – the only real thoughts that do give joy.
Click here to listen to this Daily Lift by Mary Beattie
“It might seem perfectly logical to say that health resides in one’s physical body— that it’s a kind of personal possession. I caught a clearer glimpse of these concepts when I was watching a sunset recently.”
Listen to Chet Manchester’s Daily Lift to hear his insights that came to him about a different kind of health here
When I graduated from college, I felt like everything I had known was completely uprooted. The daily structure of school was over. I moved to a new city and started a new job, and many meaningful relationships in my life changed.
During this time, I often went running on the beach. I loved the opportunity to appreciate my beautiful coastal surroundings, clear my thoughts, and think about God. But one day while running, instead of feeling inspired, I was hopelessly missing the past. I pitied myself for having to go through such a big change, and wished intensely that everything could’ve just stayed the same.
When I reached the end of the beach, I turned to start running back and saw the prints of my sneakers in the soft sand. That’s cool, I thought. What if, as I run back, I put each step in my previous footprint? It seemed like a fun little game.
To my surprise, I found that doing this was incredibly hard. Running while trying to place each step exactly where it had been on my initial run—well, I could barely do it! I ran awkwardly, my movement uneven and my freedom limited.
That’s when I realized: This was exactly what was happening in my life. Instead of embracing a new path, I was trying to “run” each day in the “footsteps” of the past.
At this moment, a passage from the Gospel of Matthew popped into my thoughts. It’s the one where Jesus says, “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved” (9:17).
No wonder everything felt challenging and uncomfortable! I was desperately trying to “put new wine into old bottles.” Instead, I had to be willing to make new footprints—create a fresh path and welcome unfamiliar experiences.
Yet, with each step forward, I’ve remembered how important it is to face newness unafraid and with joyful expectation—and that we can do this because of what we know about the continuity of God’s goodness.
Elizabeth Beall, CS, is sharing how she found herself being mothered by strangers in a foreign country when struggling with illness and the grief of losing her mother. She discovered an ever-lasting parenting and a universal motherhood.
A Daily Lift – 3 minutes of inspiration by Nate Frederick
.
In the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed in the hours before his crucifixion he demonstrated a higher kind of love for mankind, a love that carried him through his impending ordeal, and allowed him to forgive and bless. In this 3 minute talk Nate shows us how this kind of love is available to us all.
.
Photo – 2012: 2000 year old olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane
