Prayer and the Kingdom of God....

These two from this morning were too good not to get on the blog. -- drs

'God', said Pascal, 'instituted prayer in order to lend to his creatures the dignity of causality.'
He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye.

The Business of Heaven -- November 17

If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close to breathing and crying out to born both within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don't know its name or realize that it's what we're starving to death for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it. 
Listening to Your Life -- November 17 pp.303-4

Serving Others

Time to get  back at it...

Faith takes us away from love for the present with its honors, fortunes, and pleasures. These things hinder true love and service. They are a burden...
Only the word of God makes us wholesome and blessed. The divine Word brings faith. Faith brings love. Love results in good deeds.   
---- Martin Bucer : Instruction in Christian Love
Near to the Heart of God: November 10