At the start of this season of penitence we remind ourselves of our smallness and impermanence. Over and against the ego's instinct to puff itself up in the face of these simple realities of existence — like a house cat arching its back and raising its fur at the sight of its reflection in a mirror — we instead lean into our smallness and impermanence and remember that we are crafted and sustained by the love of an infinitely creative God.
The twentieth-century physicist Niels Bohr wrote: “The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true.” I was thinking about this important principle the other day while pondering the relationship between God, faith, and safety. In one sense, there is no one or nothing as safe as … Continue reading Into the Cold
When challenged by a legal expert about what was most important about the Law, Jesus famously answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind ... and love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 22.37-39). It’s a wonderfully simple response. But this simplicity is deceptive.
We owe something to each other. Other people don’t exist for our convenience and they aren’t means to an end. Neither do we exist for the convenience of others. Rather, our relationships involve dynamics of give and take and mutual responsibility to and for one another.
Matthew Root 