“But if a person is patient and forgives, this is one of the greatest things.” – Quran 42:43 by Pastor Donnie BrooksMarcellus United Methodist Churchpastordonnieb@outlook.com I’m no expert on the Quran. Or on Islam. Or on … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: If a person is patient and forgives. . .
Not Your Grandma’s Book Club to meet November 14
Next get together of Not Your Grandma’s Book Club Saturday, Nov. 14, 11:30amPatch & Remington, 115 E. Main, Marcellus Book selection is The Ties that Bind: Rethinking Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah Join the conversation! … [Read more...] about Not Your Grandma’s Book Club to meet November 14
Contemplation Corner: Say ‘yes’ to your powerlessness
“Simply start by admitting that you cannot cure yourself. You have to say yes fully to your powerlessness in order to let God heal you. But it is not really a question of first and then. Your willingness to experience your powerlessness … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: Say ‘yes’ to your powerlessness
Contemplation Corner: The senseless have vain and false hopes. . .
“The senseless have vain and false hopes, and dreams give wings to fools. As one who catches at a shadow and pursues the wind, so is anyone who pays attention to dreams. What is seen in dreams is but a reflection, the likeness of a face … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: The senseless have vain and false hopes. . .
Contemplation Corner: Convert your worries into prayer
“Take your worries and convert them into prayer. Take your fear and connect it with God’s fear. Take your depression and see it in the presence of God’s dying on the cross. Bring it to the Presence who has suffered all and live it all. You … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: Convert your worries into prayer
Contemplation Corner: Jesus says, ‘Take up your cross.’
“Jesus says, ‘Take up your cross.’ He didn’t say, ‘Make up your cross,’ ‘Create your cross,’ or ‘Go after your cross.’ He said, ‘Take up your cross,’ and this means to have the courage to see your pain….Acknowledge it. Say, ‘This is where I … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: Jesus says, ‘Take up your cross.’
Contemplation Corner: “We are more busy than bad. . .”
“We are more busy than bad, more distracted than non-spiritual, and more interested in the movie theater, the sports stadium, and the shopping mall and the fantasy life they produce in us than we are in the church. Pathological busyness, … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “We are more busy than bad. . .”
Contemplation Corner: “The spiritual life. . .”
“The Spiritual life is a life in which we are more and more able to be led, to be guided to hard places, to places we would rather not go. For Jesus it was the cross. For Peter it was the cross. For Paul and all the disciples, it meant a … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “The spiritual life. . .”
Contemplation Corner: “The great secret of the spiritual life. . .”
“The great secret of the spiritual life is that you already know the little steps, even if you don’t know the big ones. You don’t need to know the big steps to take the little steps. You only have to take one step at a time…. If we look … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “The great secret of the spiritual life. . .”
Contemplation Corner: “life becomes simplified. . .”
“…life becomes simplified when dominated by faithfulness to a few concerns. Too many of us have too many irons in the fire. We get distracted by the intellectual claim to our interest in a thousand and one good things, and before we know it … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “life becomes simplified. . .”
Contemplation Corner: “Waiting patiently . . .”
“Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.” -Simone Weil by Pastor Donnie BrooksMarcellus United Methodist Churchpastordonnieb@outlook.com Waiting. I can’t think of anyone that I know, … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: “Waiting patiently . . .”
Contemplation Corner: The power of the story. . .
“The power of the story of Jesus’ suffering and death is that it is both an account of the greatest political tragedy in history, the death of the son of God, and a display of the most profound and intimate personal and interpersonal … [Read more...] about Contemplation Corner: The power of the story. . .