Tag Archives: forgiveness

Mercy Triumphs over Judgment*

I like B. J. Smith. I like him a lot. And that makes it much easier for me to desire mercy. And those who sow mercy will reap mercy. Whether they like B. J. or not… Continue reading

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Negative Opportunity

You will have at least one chance today,

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Instruction

We learn forgiveness
flows in every direction
or not at all.
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Reflections on the Prairie

Kansas suddenly seems vast and enormous as you drive from one ridge toward another. Rolling prairie stretches out for miles in every direction. In many places you can look in every direction and see no houses, barns or much of anything else except the lines of scrub oak and cottonwood along the ditches and creeks. The sky wraps around you, boundless, as a swollen moon rises in the dusk, above endless acres of grazing range.

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A Winter Prayer

Be as slow as the passing of time

on a long, gray day

to take offense

at any sleight,
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Autumn Blessing II

Walk gently
in the midst of this day’s madness,
contribute nothing
to the sadness that is already in the world.
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Marriage Counseling at Haven Hill

They come to us

in the pain of betrayal and guilt,

hurt and anger,

wondering what hope there is

that a thing this broken

can be made whole again
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Beyond Doctrine

It’s hard to get used to something you always avoid and actually returning good for evil is something most of us avoid. Continue reading

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Emancipation Proclamation

I remember thinking in my much younger years that the Carpenter’s teaching on forgiveness was just one more example of how he required more of us than was humanly reasonable. Forgiving someone seventy times? In a day? Yeah, right.

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August Morning

Such dews as this

seem to come only in the heat of summer,
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