suffering

"There is a tendency now in revisionist history

to explain the past in terms of movements and trends of the contemporary time. 

This is inevitably reductionist. 

The suffering of the people is forgotten; 

they become faceless, mere ciphers of a trend or dynamic of history. 

To sanitize history is to blaspheme against memory.

 Equally, to become obsessed with the past is to paralyze the future."

-John O'Donohue

breath of fresh air

time with family..

just being goofy.

lovely.

properly devoted.

If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, 

you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally.

-Oswald Chambers

visions of a fall:

"All men dream:

but not equally.

Those who dream by night

in the dusty recesses of their minds

wake in the day

to find that it was vanity:

but the dreamers of the day

are dangerous men,

for they may act their dream with open eyes,

to make it possible."

-T.E. Lawrence

thankfully there's always possibility found

new opportunties learning things that you thought unattainable.

to keep the taste-buds guessing:

-a delicious healthy apple pancake recipe.

-sweet spicy sweet potato cakes, recipe

-mooseballs...

-homey shepherd's pie, without potatoes, recipe

to philly:

Untitled

so...we're moving to philly, pa.

or well, a suburb of there.

should be quite soon now.

it's exciting and scary,

as all things of course.

this beautiful man,

I've read two of his books, and they've meant more to me than sermon upon sermon ever could.

He's brilliant and lovely and seeing him in this state brought me to tears.

And amazingly he's even more beautiful,

all you have to do is read a few comments from this video to realize the impact he's made.

I've posted some of the comments just because it shows the legacy of such an inspiring man:

• This man took a spiritual dagger to the bottom of a very heavy suitcase I refused to set down; he healed the Father image, and lightened my burden one Saturday afternoon several years ago. I remember finally setting that old suitcase down; there's no point in carrying around anything that light and empty-except, of course, a heart set free of hurt, resentments, and plaguing doubt. Jesus, at some point in our eternity, place me in front of this man again, so I can properly say "thank you."

  capitalistteacher 11 months ago 8 
• Brennan Manning - your challenge that I become a Pioneer rather than a settler has guided much of my life and Spiritual growth. Thank you!

  steeplejack48 3 weeks ago

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All Comments (21)

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• Brennan Manning... a true disciple of our loving Abba. His insights have changed the way I look at my Lord and God. Because of 2 books: The Ragamuffin Gospel and Abba's Child, I see God in a much brighter light.

  badpappy1 1 month ago
• Mine too. I am re-reading it for the 3rd time!!

  badpappy1 in reply to Tammy Maltby (Show the comment) 1 month ago
• Great man :)

  bradcwg 1 month ago
• Ragamuffin Gospel changed my life....and the life of my family...it has been profound

  Tammy Maltby 2 months ago
• What an awesome story!

  blakeaaronramsey 3 months ago
• Brennan Manning, there will never be another you. God bless you and keep you. I am glad to have spent time with you. Dan Grieb

  grieb4410 5 months ago
• Just finished "All Is Grace"...ALL INDEED...thanks Brennan for sharing Your heart....All of It:) Yes...FURIOUS LONGING...the suitcase continues to be lowered, ever so slowly, Freedom.

  reliablebow 5 months ago
• Jesus said: Verily, verily, I say unto you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

  He died was buried and rose again and saves by grace through FAITH ALONE. God bless.

  Gracesaves7772 6 months ago
• A 'washed up' priest speaks the healing words that God is good and for us and loves us. Like a song lyric light can only flow through the cracked

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

hummingbird.

leaving:

I don't know how to phrase all of this without sounding flighty or ridiculous,

 but I will no longer be staying in Hawaii.

Circumstances came up that I could no longer ignore and now I find myself at home again!

I'm glad to be back, but still disappointed at how things turned out.

I guess that's what happens when you have expectations.

Some way or another things won't turn out how you thought,

but that doesn't mean that it wasn't good or useful.

And it doesn't mean that although something brought you pain,

that it was "wrong" or a "bad choice."

All that to say,

yes, I'm disappointed,

but I'm moving on

and that's perfectly fine with me. 

films.

100 greatest films in the last 100 years, and I've seen 13.

That's sad.

Better work on that this year:

100 years movies.

{ via. }

stay

10,000 reasons.

prayer.

"The truly contemplative heart has a passion and wildness that can celebrate the 

magic of God. Yet it knows that this is but a passing visitation and it has learned 

to distinguish emotion and presence. The contemplative heart also learns to 

love emptiness and absence because it believes that the beauty of God can only 

be glimpsed through the most severe lens of truth. 

When you are in the presence of a contemplative person, you can sense this. An 

atmosphere of stillness and a sense of clarity remind you who you are and recall 

your heart to the gentle wonder of the divine. There is subtle and refined beauty 

bequeathed by a life of prayer."

- John O'Donohue

Y'know...prayer is much more difficult than it seems at first glance.

And a life of prayer,

well,

that's just ridiculous.

It takes so much more discipline than just floating about

with love in your heart

and good intentions to all you meet.

Discipline

Planning

Schedule

Leaving the thought of time behind.

beach & brilliance.

(click to make bigger.)

seriously, the prettiest beach (and really place) I've ever been...

"It is, though, certain that both theological work 

and real pastoral fellowship can only grow in a life 

which is governed by gathering round the Word

 morning and evening and by fixed times of prayer."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

^This man is brilliant.
Reading this book about him...and it's just ridiculous.

to be that brave
and to stand up to such a tyrant.
..and to be so prophetic in happenings
that everyone doubts you.

i just can't imagine.

ἄνθος

Greek, for flower.

For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. 

It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.

James 1:11

I love flowers...

but sometimes they're exceptionally sad.

Especially plumerias,

they're fragrant and lovely

but by the end of the day (when plucked)

they're darkened,

less fragrant,

and not really lovely at all.

cherish the moment,

the bloom was still worth it.

it's hard......music mix.

it's hard. from kbeihl on 8tracks.

moon river.

best version.

or so I think.

give thanks.

"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

                                                                                                                                                         1 Thess 5:13

really?

all?

pshhhh.

positive/negative..give thanks.

that's so intense,

and so..anti-world.

why wait until your hard situation is over to give thanks?

shouldn't you do it before,

feel good the whole time,

and then be affirmed in your thankfulness when it's over?

if only it was easy..

greetings.

calling Your daughter home

its so easy to forget that death is part of life 

and in some cases its rather joyful 

i bet God actually gets excited to call 

His children home. 

we fret about it... 

but He's glad about it

It may not be how /when we'd like,

but as happens with a lot of things in life, 

we don't always have a choice .

hope you're having a good time, aunt Linda...

you beautiful woman, you. :)

family.

legacy.

waterfall.

a few panoramas from our hike to the waterfall yesterday.

just a short bus ride away,

maybe even bike

if I can find one :)

the staffers.

(click on each picture to read easier)

new digs.

my bed,

I'm fully un-packed and established :)

and a few tidbits around the place.

i'

view from our first school beach day this saturday :)

cloudy...but trust me,

the sun was there.

feeling a bit like a lobster 

as my brothers so lovingly call me.