I Have Been Seized By The Power

Silent Solitude Makes True Speech Possible And Personal. If I Am Not In Touch With My Own Belovedness, Then I Cannot Touch The Sacredness Of Others. If I Am Estranged From Myself, I Am Likewise A Stranger To Others.

Only Reckless Confidence In A Source Greater Than Ourselves Can Empower Us To Forgive The Woulds Inflicted By Others.

The Conversation Of Most Middle-class Americans, We Are Told, Revolves Around Consumption: What To Buy, What Was Just Bought, Where To Eat, The Price Of The Neighbor's House, What's On Sale This Week, Our Clothes Or Someone Else's, The Best Car On The Market This Year, Where To Spend A Vacation. Apparently We Can't Stop Eating, Shopping, Or Consuming. Success Is Measured Not In Terms Of Love, Wisdom, And Maturity But By The Size Of One's Pile Of Possessions.

Grace Abounds In Contemporary Movies, Books, Novels, Films And Music. If God Is Not In The Whirlwind, He May Be In A Woody Allen Film, Or A Bruce Springsteen Concert. Most People Understand Imagery And Symbol Better Than Doctrine And Dogma. Images Touch Hearts And Awaken Imaginations. One Theologian Suggested That Springsteen's 'tunnel Of Love' Album, In Which He Symbolically Sings Of Sin, Death, Despair And Redemption, Is More Important For Catholics Than The Pope's Last Visit When He Spoke Of Morality Only In Doctrinal Propositions.

For Those Who Feel Their Lives Are A Grave Disappointment To God, It Requires Enormous Trust And Reckless, Raging Confidence To Accept That The Love Of Jesus Christ Knows No Shadow Of Alteration Or Change. When Jesus Said, "come To Me, All You Who Labor And Are Heavy Burdened," He Assumed We Would Grow Weary, Discouraged, And Disheartened Along The Way. These Words Are A Touching Testimony To The Genuine Humanness Of Jesus. He Had No Romantic Notion Of The Cost Of Discipleship. He Knew That Following Him Was As Unsentimental As Duty, As Demanding As Love.