A passage from one of my favorite fiction books, The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare, is a dialogue between Jesus and the main character, Daniel. It reads: “Can’t you see, Daniel, it is hate that is the enemy? Not men. Hate does not die with killing. It only springs up a hundredfold. The only thing stronger than hate is love.” The boy lowered his head, scowling at the floor. This was not what he had come to find. (p. 224) Hate is a strong w

The writer of Hebrews claimed that Jesus endured the cross for the JOY set before him (Hebrews 12:2). This one change in perspective can stimulate our gratitude and enhance our self-esteem. What are you enduring for the sake of joy? Marriage can be challenging, but we persevere for the sake of joy. Parenting young children can be exhausting, but we press on for the sake of joy. Taking care of the infirmed can be difficult, but we persist for the sake of joy. Sometimes whe

As long as you harbor a belief that there is a reason not to be happy, you give yourself an excuse to suffer. What if you made it your new year’s resolution to be unconditionally happy? What thought would you have to change or discard? I ask this question because it is only a thought that stands in between you and your happiness. Most often this thought is, “Things should be different.” That thought makes happiness dependent on circumstances, such as other people’s behav

What is your dream for this new year? More happiness, less stress? A fitter body, a thicker wallet? A more comfortable living space, fulfilling relationships? Increased creativity, deeper peace? Time to enjoy all of these fresh things? Before we can cultivate the new, we have to release the old. As Jesus said, we cannot pour new wine into old wine skins. What are the outdated wine skins in our lives that need to be discarded? Most of the time, these antiquated items a

All social reform is based on need. Moses, Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, and Nelson Mandela, for example, are remembered in history because they took a stand against oppression, each in his or her own way. There was an urgency to address the inequities and blindness being perpetuated in the societies that they called home. So, too, it was with Jesus. He was born into a region that was occupied by a foreign power t

Most of us feel like we need to arrive at the party with something. Often what we are bringing is a full cup of self. Self-cherishing is a carrying of self. We lug that cup of self because we believe that we must have something to present so that we can earn our way--an even exchange. And so we work to fill our cups in order that we may have something to offer. All of our mistakes, poor choices, selfish deeds, and embarressments are at the bottom of the cup covered by ou