Living Deeply

Jesus and Justice (John Perkins)

You cannot have Jesus without doing justice.  Jesus and the work of justice are inextricably linked.

Read the Scriptures, Think About Where God Placed You, And Live There Faithfully (Father Anthony - Desert Father)

"Someone asked Abba Anthony, saying, "What must we keep in order to be pleasing to God?" And the elder answered, saying, "Keep what I tell you. Whoever you may be, always keep God before your eyes. And whatever you do, do it from the witness of the Holy Scriptures. And in whatever place you live, do not leave quickly. Keep these three things, and you will be saved."

Between You and God, Anyway (Mother Teresa)

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Go To God To Be Transformed and Changed (Anthony Bloom)

We see that we cannot partake deeply of the life of God unless we change profoundly.  It is therefore essential that we should go to God in order that he should transform and change us, and that is why, to begin with, we should ask for conversion.  Conversion in Latin means a turn, a change in the direction of things.  The Greek work metanoia means a change of mind.

Conversion means that instead of spending our lives in looking in all directions, we should follow one direction only.  It is a turning away from a great many things which we value solely because they were pleasant of expedient for us.  The first impact of conversion is to modify our sense of values:  God being at the center of all, everything acquires a new position and a new depth.  All that is God’s, all that belongs to him, is positive and real.  Everything that is outside him has no value or meaning.

But it is not a change of mind alone that we can call conversion.  We can change our minds and go no farther; what must follow is an act of will and unless our will comes into motion and is redirected Godwards, there is no conversion; at most there is only an incipient, still dormant, and inactive change in us. 

The Radical Path (Henri Nouwen)

 Your life is not going to be easy, and it should not be easy. It ought to be hard. It ought to be radical; it ought to be restless; it ought to lead you to places you'd rather not go.

Doing the Will of God

Once, the ancients say, a seeker asked a group of disciples: "Does your god work miracles?" And they replied, "It depends on what you call a miracle. Some people say that a miracle is when God does the will of people. We say that a miracle is when people do the will of God."