Title: Klara and the Sun: A novel Author: Kazuo Ishiguro Publisher: Knopf Publishing Date: March 2, 2021 Pages: 320 (Hardcover) ISBN: 978-0593318171 What sets Kazuo Ishiguro’s literature apart from many other novelists—apart from the Nobel Prize that Ishiguro won in 2017—is the deep undercurrent of love and separation which moves through the narratives, in a way which refuses to …
We’ve waited the long weeks of Advent, trying to focus expectant hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ with even a modicum of the glory and reverence it deserves. We know we fall short every year, but maybe this year—Christmas in the middle of a global pandemic—is the most difficult yet.
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten” ends with a shout and a whisper and a promise. First the undeniable joy of hymns and chants and high thanksgiving, a fellowship of worship that invites us all into this moment—no, this eternity—of jubilee. It’s a no holds barred, throw the doors wide, raucous celebration of the Father’s love perfected in the sacrifice of his son and fulfilled in the sanctification of his bride.
Arthur C. Brooks doesn’t just stick a toe into the current divisive political climate, he dives in headfirst with his book, Love Your Enemies.
This Advent season, iAt reflects on each week’s theme (Hope, Peace, Joy, & Love) and how the promise of the incarnation transforms how we view what’s happening in our culture today. We finish off today with Love.
Marriage is not easy, and that might be the understatement of the century. It is hard work and heartache, late nights and crippling doubts.
Unity, says the Lord, is good and pleasant. But often, unity does not come without a shared vision, a shared understanding. How then, can we shift our understanding—of God, of God’s kingdom, of our role within God’s kingdom work—so that we become more unified with Jesus and our neighbor?
This journey is not meant to be walked alone, but together—in covenant community
“Poetry appeals to, and enlarges, our human capacity to know something deeply and, in that way, to love it.”
“Finding time for poetry in the middle of our sometimes-frenzied lives can help us live more deliberately.”
We watch, sinners all, with bittersweet love for God and with that mixture of profound gratitude, shocking embarrassment, and deep sadness. We see the determination in both faces, and they are the faces that make us whole.
Let this Holy Week reminds us of sacrificial love of Christ that surrounds us the rest of the year too.
The Biblical mantra reminds us over and over again what it means to be in covenantal relationship with God. It is not a privilege to be flaunted, but a sacred obligation to be for each other.
What if our worshipping communities made Psalm 119 their anthem? What if talking about the gift of God’s Law made our hearts leap in a good way?
Most of us are not nearly in that kind of place, but following the God of Psalm 112 who is revealed fully in Jesus—loving what the Lord loves and hating what the Savior hates—has enough potential, of burden, joy, disappointment, pleasant surprise, doubt, and faith, to need the occasional tune worth humming. Let one find you.
Love, then, is lavishing yourself upon someone who is unworthy and unattractive.
I can only begin to understand the depth of the joy that Zechariah foretold of the incarnate Word entering our world “to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Prayer is an incubator that provides the spiritual conditions to grow religious passion. Furthermore, prayer reminds us that the Divine presence is near even when our circumstances suggest God is far away.
To be human is to be the middle pole in the God-human-creation relationship. And God has asked us, not merely to reflect God’s love back to God, but to be the part of creation through which God’s love can be refracted into all the different parts of creation.
Every year on February 14th, across the United States and other countries around the world, cards, chocolates, and flowers are exchanged as an expression of love and admiration, all in the name of St. Valentine. Here’s a few facts and humorous links to brighten up this day of love.