thinking honestly about life and faith
It's taken me a long time to get to goodness. Is that somehow significant? Maybe I just never wanted to be good! But this is not an individual thing. The Spirit grows goodness, in individuals and communities. There is a … Read More »
Recently I had a holiday at Uluru, the iconic sacred site in central Australia which used to be known as Ayer's Rock.It is a fabulous place, and we enjoyed a number of opportunities not only to see the Rock in … Read More »
In this post I will comment on some other people's ideas about kindness and the sense in which kindness is part of the harvest of God's presence and life with us.Let me emphasize what I said earlier, too: I do … Read More »
What does it mean to say the Spirit creates or produces kindness?I would like to suggest a few things I think I have learned about kindness. But I hasten to say this is not a claim to sort of moral … Read More »
From a simple net search for quotations, I found a number of insightful statements about patience. I would like to consider a few of these, in terms of how they relate to the patience the Spirit gives.
This post has been a long time coming! It has been a lesson in patience. What does it mean to say that patience is a fruit of the Spirit? This requires more than reflection on what patience is. It also … Read More »
‘Blessed are the peace makers’ is one of the ‘beatitudes’, set at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 5.Peace making is a difficult thing to do, and I want to suggest is an activity … Read More »
The idea of ‘peace’ has so many different possible meanings. Popularly, it has two broad meanings: the absence of war, and a more personal and everyday sense of tranquility, or just the absence of hassle. Biblically, ‘peace’ is the translation … Read More »
Joy has been delayed again! I have a collection of thoughts, ideas and comments to share on this topic. It has been great to recognize and own some of these things. Others are more things I agree with, in my … Read More »
It has really been rewarding, reflecting on the fruits of the Spirit, in a concentrated way. I’ve found it valuable to consider not just my intellectual understanding of these things, but to appreciate personal growth, insights gained over the years, … Read More »