The proof of spiritual maturity is not how pure you are but awareness of your impurity. That very awareness opens the door to grace.

Prayer unfolds in the stillness of the soul.

We tend to think, 'Life should be fair because God is fair.' But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality of life- by expecting constant good health for example- then I set myself up for crashing disappointment.

Love deems this world worth rescuing.

As I read the Bible, it seems clear that God satisfies his "eternal appetite" by loving individual human beings. I imagine He views each halting step forward in my spiritual "walk" with the eagerness of a parent watching a child take the very first step.

We admit that we will never reach our ideal in this life, a distinctive the church claims that most other human institutions try to deny.

Unless we love natural goods - sex, alcohol, food, money, success, power - in the way God intended, we become their slaves, as any addict can attest.