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the comfort that comes with mourning is not a palliative—it doesn’t take away pain; instead, it offers the grace not to refuse the sorrow. Comfort reminds us we are not alone, even if it doesn’t take away the loss.
To meditate is to chew something over in your mind until it runs wet and sweet into your heart.
Meditation is a form of reflection that allows us to intersect the script of our lives with texts that bring new meaning and perspective. New connections can’t be seen without a willingness to be intrigued and confused.
Prayer is a conversation with mystery.
God may be unchanging, but with me the Trinity offers ongoing novelty.
Praise orients us to behold and then bids us to bow before someone, something far greater than ourselves. It is not a compliment; it is a summons.
We can no more receive another’s praise than deny it, so we settle by awkwardly saying, “You’re welcome.” But what we want to say is, “Thank you, thank you, for allowing me to be such a delight in your life.” But
Praise is meant to be given and received with eyes open, irrespective of the discomfort attending the process.
praise given and received from God or from others cuts counter to the power of contempt. One cannot receive praise, even in awkward discomfort or unbelief, without bumping against the noise of contempt.
Prayer is an invitation to ask God how he delights in us.
At first it may be too stunning to hear God’s joy in us or the fullness of his heart for us when we make room to let him speak.
He delights to tell us how utterly and inconceivably wild he is about us.
The truest fruit of repentance is always hope, even in the face of overwhelming and unrelenting dour circumstances. Hope is not mere optimism; rather, it is moving forward in anticipation of redemption in spite of the improbability of rescue.
all music is essentially a form of speech that communicates what words alone can seldom translate.
Grace is meaningful only to the degree we are found to be desperately in need by the searing righteousness of God.
Grace is God’s invitation to the possibility of a new garden of glory based on his son’s righteous obedience on our behalf.
To dream alone is fantasy if it doesn’t move the heart to act.
We will never know Sabbath delight unless God delivers us from drowning in the noise and grime of our soiled days.
Mike Mason: “I sometimes wonder what it is like for nudists; whether they ever really get used to it. As for me, I still haven’t gotten used to seeing my own wife naked. It’s almost as if her body is shining with a bright light, too bright to look at for very long. I cannot take my eyes off her—and yet I must. To gaze too long or too curiously is, even with her, a breach of propriety, almost a crime.” Mike Mason, The Mystery of Marriage (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1996), 139.
