Category Archives: Christianity

Do you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

I love whenever people start talking about the Christian faith as it relates to the body. Unlike so many religions that tend to ignore—or even disdain—our bodies, Christianity talks about resurrecting them. Our God was incarnated. We are the body of Christ. We eat the flesh and drink the blood. Specifically Catholic liturgy seeks to engage the body: sights and sounds and smells.

Too often we’re reminded of our bodies negatively: Don’t do this with your body and don’t do that. Gluttony. Lust. Vanity. As though our body is just these troublesome things that we have to lug around everywhere. While it is true that we should guard our bodies from sinful behavior, it’s also important to remember the other side of that coin: your body is a member of Christ. Glorify God with it.

In C. S. Lewis’s book The Screwtape Letters—which if you haven’t read, you certainly certainly should—the demon-narrator Screwtape counsels his nephew Wormwood on how to be an effective demon, and he says this:

At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls.

Today you will hopefully go to church. And as you bring yourself, physically, into this holy place, remember that you are here to glorify God.

Enter the church. Delight in what you hear and smell and taste and see, and let that delight be a prayer of thanksgiving. And for goodness sake, kneel down.

Source:
Glorify God in Your Body: A Meditation on 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20
by Kate Rhodes @ http://blessedisshe.net/glorify-god-body/

An Our Daily Bread meditation by Julie Ackerman Link

Early in his career, jazz player Herbie Hancock was invited to play in the quintet of Miles Davis, already a musical legend. In an interview, Hancock admitted being nervous but described it as a wonderful experience because Davis was so nurturing. During one performance, when Davis was near the high point of his solo, Hancock played the wrong chord. He was mortified, but Davis continued as if nothing had happened. “He played some notes that made my chord right,” Hancock said.

What an example of loving leadership! Davis didn’t scold Hancock or make him look foolish. He didn’t blame him for ruining the performance. He simply adjusted his plan and turned a potentially disastrous mistake into something beautiful.

What Davis did for Hancock, Jesus did for Peter. When Peter cut off the ear of one of the crowd who had come to arrest Jesus, Jesus reattached the ear (Luke 22:51), indicating that His kingdom was about healing, not hurting. Time after time Jesus used the disciples’ mistakes to show a better way.

What Jesus did for His disciples, He also does for us. And what He does for us, we can do for others. Instead of magnifying every mistake, we can turn them into beautiful acts of forgiveness, healing, and redemption.

Cynicism is a sweet temptation. What’s easier than griping about the state of the world?

But to look around and ask what I’ve been given to share, what small loaves of bread I can scrounge up to feed another hungry belly, what fine fish I can offer to make a meal?  (Mark 6:34-44)

That’s the Gospel work … finding good news where there seems to be none.

Source:
http://blessedisshe.net/lonely-late-loved-by-god/

When our lives are rocked by disappointment and loss, we may wonder if Jesus is still here with us. The Bible’s answer is a resounding Yes!  “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

When Ted Robertson was allowed to return and sift through the ash and rubble of his home, he searched the charred remains hoping to find a precious family heirloom made by his wife — a tiny ceramic figurine of Baby Jesus. As he searched the remnants of their home, he kept wondering, “Is the baby Jesus still here?”  In a corner of what used to be his garage, Ted discovered the burned remnants of their Nativity scene.  The Baby Jesus figurine was undamaged.

Source:

• Our Daily Bread meditation for December 28, 2014
• Getty Images @ http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ted-robertson-holds-a-small-baby-jesus-he-found-in-the-news-photo/170829411

Tribal officials and religious leaders hailed the sign as a declaration of belief and a standard against the social and economic ills that have plagued the tribe.

In 2013, the Crow legislature unanimously passed a resolution that proclaimed “Jesus as Lord” of the tribe and authorized support for construction of a sign bearing the message. One legislator abstained.

The Crow Constitution protects “full exercise of religion,” but, unlike the U.S. Constitution, does not contain a clause that prevents the government from the establishment of religion.

“As a sovereign nation, we’re not bound by separation of church and state,” said Stewart, who penned the resolution. “People are afraid to say, ‘Jesus,’ in the political arena, but we did it today, as a people.”

In his remarks, Tribal chairman Darrin Old Coyote thanked Crow religious leaders for their support and said the sign would bring blessings to the tribe.

“There’s a saying among the Crow people that words are sacred. When people drive by, this is what they’re saying,” Old Coyote said, gesturing upward. “While they’re going by, they’re blessing the Crow people.”

Old Coyote’s administration established a pastoral committee of local religious leaders. One member said that the tribe’s public profession of faith isn’t intended to make non-Christians, including those who observe traditional Native American spiritual practices, uncomfortable.

“Some people may not believe in the name of Jesus,” he said. “That’s fine, we don’t put that down. We’re taught by elders to respect all religions.”

Source:

• H/t Mindful Webworker
• http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crow-government-erects-sign-proclaiming-jesus-is-lord-on-reservation/article_c08ae906-5937-52e9-9dce-7789ce919ebf.html