Podcasts about Beloved

COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?)U2"Am I the best or the worst or the worst of the best?" she sangIce cream smile wide as a mile back then"Say a nice prayer, be a good girl, finger on my lips"When she returned her lipstick had learned how not to kissI can't fix her, can only love herCan't keep her pocket fullI can't keep her face in smilesSomeone's stolen what was beautifulI can't sing her home to me in rhymesBut I will bless the Lord at all timesBless the Lord at all timesI will bless the Lord at all timesI will blessI will bless the Lord at all timesI will bless the LordI will bless the Lord at all timesEvery night we hope and pray for a new day to riseEvery morning when the sun shows up it's still a surpriseAny child is every child in any mother's eyesI will bless the LordI will bless the Lord at all timesI will bless the Lord at all timesI will bless the LordI will bless the Lord at all timesThat child you hear has been crying for years in the wildernessA child without armour had no hatred to harbour, only lovelinessThe driver of the ambulance unpacks his shirt pressed and neatTo honour the hurt and the hungry he will later greetThere's not so much road left here and no road signsDrones hover without any consciousness over war crimesI will bless the Lord at all times?The tide is rising, all ships are sinkingNew poets must despise all old ways of thinkingWhoever made language must've been drinkingTwenty-six characters own all the ink and printingI got so many words in my head but I can't find the linesI will bless the Lord at all timesChanges, these changesWill rain on this paradeChanges, these changesI am not afraidNo one there to write it downBut when the prophet came aroundSaid "I've a stranger with meIn the fight none can compareBut food and shelter we shareBeloved community"Every night we hope and pray for a new day to riseEvery morning when the sun shows up, it's still a surpriseAny child is every child in any mother's eyesI will bless the LordI will bless the Lord at all timesI will bless the Lord at all timesI will bless the LordI will bless the Lord at all timesChanges, these changesWill rain on this paradeChanges, these changesI am not afraidThe pages that enrage usShe tears them from the book"Save us, save us" sings the girl of Guadalupe

There is something almost relentless about the teaching of the Fathers on watchfulness. They will not allow us to imagine that there comes a point in the spiritual life when vigilance is no longer necessary. Age does not free us from it. Knowledge does not free us from it. Years of prayer do not free us from it. Even great spiritual gifts do not free us from it. “As long as you are in the body, do not leave your heart unguarded.” Until the last breath. At first this can sound severe. The image given by Abba Isaiah is striking: he is like a sparrow tied by the foot. It may fly upward and imagine itself free, but the cord remains. A single tug can bring it back to the earth. Likewise, the Fathers tell us that the enemy waits at the crossroads, lays traps along the path, makes use of small thoughts and seemingly insignificant compromises, and patiently seeks an opening into the heart. Yet if we read these sayings merely as a catalogue of demonic strategies, we have misunderstood their purpose. The Evergetinos is not trying to make us fascinated with evil. Nor are the Fathers trying to produce souls that are perpetually looking over their shoulders, anxiously examining every movement of the heart. They are teaching us watchfulness because they desire something infinitely greater for us. They want us to discover how precious the heart is to God. Indeed, hidden within these rather frightening descriptions is one of the most beautiful statements in the entire passage. The enemy himself is forced to confess concerning the monks: “You and your fellow-servants have a good Master, Who speaks to you gently and watches over you as His own children.” A good Master. One who speaks gently. One who watches over us as His own children. This is the heart of the teaching. We guard the heart because God guards the heart. Our vigilance is meant to become a participation in His vigilance over us. The commandments, prayer, repentance, the remembrance of God, the cutting off of thoughts—all of these are expressions of a divine solicitude that surrounds the human person. God desires to protect within us that which He has created for Himself. He desires that nothing should enter the heart that diminishes its freedom, darkens its vision, wounds its capacity for love, or turns its desire away from Him. The Fathers therefore teach us to recognize temptations, but recognition is not the end. We do not study the passions in order to become experts in the passions. We learn their movements so that we might become free to love. This distinction is everything. One can become extraordinarily knowledgeable about the spiritual life and still remain outside of its mystery. Abba Isaiah goes so far as to say that a man might possess knowledge, perform miracles, endure hardships, and yet still find himself vulnerable. None of these things constitutes the final security of the soul. Only love does. And so the passage unexpectedly opens into the words of the Apostle: “Love never faileth… but beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” Here the teaching reaches its true center. The Fathers are not leading us toward an ever more sophisticated fear of temptation. They are leading us toward perfect love. Watchfulness exists for love. Asceticism exists for love. The guarding of the heart exists for love. Repentance exists for love. Even the fear of God, rightly understood, is gradually drawing the soul toward that love in which fear itself is transformed. This is why the smallest thoughts matter. Not because God is fastidious or because the Christian life consists in anxiously avoiding infractions. The smallest things matter because love notices what interferes with communion. When one loves another deeply, one becomes sensitive to anything that introduces distance. So too with God. The vigilant heart begins to recognize thoughts of resentment, vainglory, judgment, self-pity, lust, anger, curiosity, or self-will not simply as violations of a rule but as movements that draw the heart away from the One whom it loves. The Fathers repeatedly tell us that great falls ordinarily begin very quietly. A thought is entertained. Then revisited. Then befriended. What first appeared insignificant gradually acquires familiarity, and familiarity acquires power. “The Devil disdains small sins; yet without them, he cannot lead man into greater sins.” But precisely the opposite is also true. Small acts of fidelity gather strength. A thought rejected for Christ. A moment of irritation surrendered. A judgment withheld. A temptation met immediately with the Jesus Prayer. A movement of vainglory quietly ignored. A moment of fear answered by trust. A suffering borne without abandoning God. These things too form habits of the heart. Grace upon grace. Fidelity upon fidelity. Love answering Love. This is why the teaching about vigilance should never leave us preoccupied with the enemy. Abba Makarios does not continue his journey thinking about the devil. He gives thanks to God and goes on his way rejoicing. That detail is extraordinarily important. The fruit of true watchfulness is not anxiety. It is thanksgiving. It is the growing realization that we are being kept. The Elder who asked to see the demons surrounding men discovered something similar. He saw them “like bees,” gnashing their teeth. Yet among them stood the Angel of the Lord rebuking them. The revelation was not given so that the Elder might become terrified by the number of demons. It revealed something far greater: the mercy of God was already there. Before we perceive the danger, God sees it. Before we understand the temptation, God knows it. Before we cry out, He has already drawn near. This is why the proper response to our weakness is not self-reliance but the prayer Abba Isaiah places continually upon our lips: Help me. Have mercy upon me. Perhaps this is one of the deepest lessons the desert has to teach us. Watchfulness eventually reveals not how strong we are but how utterly dependent we are upon God. The vigilant man discovers more and more clearly that he cannot preserve himself. And strangely, this discovery becomes peace. St. Isaac the Syrian understood this profoundly. The knowledge of one's weakness is itself a doorway into the knowledge of divine mercy. When a man begins to understand how fragile he is, he ceases trusting in himself and casts himself upon God. Then prayer becomes less an accomplishment and more a cry of the heart. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Not because God is reluctant to give mercy. Because mercy is already rushing toward us. This also changes the meaning of constancy. We remain vigilant until death not because God stands waiting for us to make one final mistake. We remain vigilant because love desires to remain with the Beloved until the end. The question becomes less, How do I avoid falling? And more: How do I remain with Him? This is the deeper meaning of guarding the heart. To remain. To abide. To keep the inner door turned toward Christ. To allow nothing to become more compelling than His presence. There will always be thoughts. There will always be temptations. There will always be some cord around the foot of the sparrow as long as we remain in this present life. The Fathers are remarkably sober about this. There is no moment when we may say, “Now I am beyond danger.” But neither is there a moment when we are beyond mercy. And perhaps that is what gives watchfulness its tenderness. We do not stand guard alone. The One who tells us to watch is Himself watching over us. The One who tells us to guard the heart has already claimed that heart as His dwelling. The One who warns us against the snares of the enemy does so because He desires our freedom infinitely more than we do. He does not expose the traps in order to frighten His children. He exposes them because He loves His children. And gradually the spiritual life becomes less and less a struggle to defend ourselves and more an abandonment to this love. We discover that the safest place for the heart is not in its own vigilance, strength, knowledge, or experience. It is in Him. So until the last breath we watch. Until the last breath we repent. Until the last breath we cry out. Until the last breath we refuse the thought that would carry us away. But beneath all of this there is something deeper and quieter: we allow ourselves to be drawn. Drawn by mercy. Drawn by beauty. Drawn by the gentleness of the good Master. Drawn by the One who has watched over us as His children from the beginning. And perhaps, in the end, perfect watchfulness is simply this: to love Him so deeply that the heart no longer wishes to go anywhere else. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:24:33 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 59, first paragraph on page, above #9 00:27:52 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 59, #10 00:31:33 James Hickman: The tug doesn't seem to be with the most tremendous force either, for the feeling or illusion of freedom or thinking in pride that we have overcome our vices, we get a tiny jerk on the rope and get caught off guard, falling hard. I see in my own life, I think a certain sin is behind me and then seemingly out of nowhere a tiny tug sends me hurling down, crashing and burning. 00:32:26 Forrest: Reacted to "The tug doesn't seem to be with the most tremendous force either, for the feeling or illusion of freedom or thinking in pride that we have overcome our vices, we get a tiny jerk on the rope and get caught off guard, falling hard. I see in my own life, I think a certain sin is behind me and then seemingly out of nowhere a tiny tug sends me hurling down, crashing and burning." with

There are passages in St. Isaac that can sound almost impossible to modern ears. His words on vigil are among them. “Do not imagine,” he tells us, “that among all the works of monastics there is any practice greater than night vigil.” We hear such words and immediately think of sleep deprivation, bodily exhaustion, long hours of psalmody, standing in darkness while the rest of the world sleeps. We wonder whether such a practice belongs to another age, another kind of human being, perhaps even another understanding of the spiritual life. But this is precisely where we can misunderstand Isaac. Vigil becomes incomprehensible when it is separated from desire. If we begin with asceticism, vigil appears severe. If we begin with love, it begins to make sense. The lover understands the night. There are moments when we do not want an evening to end because we are with someone we love. There are conversations in which we cease looking at the clock. A mother remains awake beside a sick child without calculating the sacrifice. Someone awaiting the return of the beloved listens for every sound in the night. Love changes our experience of time. And so it is with the saints. They did not remain awake because they despised sleep. They remained awake because they had discovered Someone for whom it was worth losing sleep. This is the secret of vigil. “That I May Be With You” The Fathers understood the spiritual life far less as the fulfillment of religious obligations than as the awakening of desire. Beneath fasting, silence, solitude, tears, prostrations, psalmody, and vigil lies a single movement of the heart: I want God. Not merely His gifts. Not consolation. Not religious experiences. Not even virtue considered as a possession. God Himself. This is why St. Isaac describes the mind of the one who keeps vigil as becoming light and buoyant, taking flight “as it were on wings.” The ascetic is not merely staying awake. Something within him is being released. During the day the mind is scattered among a thousand things. We speak. We answer. We plan. We remember. We anticipate. We defend ourselves. We attend to necessities. Even when these things are good, the heart becomes divided among them. Then comes the night. The voices diminish. The demands cease. The world grows quiet. And the soul discovers again the One whom it has been seeking beneath everything else. This is why vigil was so precious to the Desert Fathers and remains so in the teaching of the great modern elders. It creates a space in which the heart can become undivided. The night says: There is nowhere else I need to go. There is nothing I need to accomplish. There is no one before whom I need to justify myself. There is only God. And I am here. The Recovery of Wonder Yet there is something even deeper in Isaac's teaching. Vigil is not merely about attention. It is about wonder. Isaac tells us that the one who perseveres in vigil begins to “gaze upon” heavenly realities. His language is deliberately extravagant: the soul comes to possess “the eyes of Cherubim.” What does this mean? It means that purification changes how we see. The tragedy of fallen existence is not simply that we commit sins. It is that we gradually cease to be astonished by God. We become accustomed to everything. Accustomed to the Gospel. Accustomed to the Eucharist. Accustomed to the name of Jesus. Accustomed to the Cross. Accustomed even to the astonishing claim that the Creator of heaven and earth desires communion with us. And when wonder disappears, desire soon weakens with it. The Fathers knew that the heart must be awakened again. This is one reason vigil has such power. In the silence of the night, familiar words can suddenly become new. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God…” We may have spoken those words ten thousand times. Yet in the stillness something can happen. Jesus. The Name becomes luminous. God is here. God sees me. God desires me. God has called me into existence that I might share His life. And suddenly prayer is no longer something we are performing. It is encounter. Wonder gives birth to desire, and desire gives birth to greater attention. Then the soul begins to understand why the saints stayed awake. The Vigil of the Lover This is why we must be careful not to turn Isaac's teaching into another spiritual program. Stay awake longer. Say more psalms. Sleep less. Accumulate hours. Isaac himself warns against precisely this distortion. A person may endure “prolonged psalmody,” weariness of the tongue, and “night-long standing,” and yet receive little fruit because the mind is elsewhere. The body is standing before God while the heart is wandering through the world. Isaac asks, with characteristic directness: Why sow so much seed if we continually prevent it from bearing fruit? Vigil without attention becomes habit. Vigil without desire becomes endurance. Vigil without love becomes religious achievement. And religious achievement can quietly feed the very ego that asceticism is meant to dismantle. The true vigil begins somewhere deeper. Stay with Me. This is the invitation hidden within the night. Christ in Gethsemane asked His disciples, “Could you not watch with me one hour?” Perhaps every vigil is, in some mysterious way, our answer to that question. Yes, Lord. I will stay. Not because I am strong. Not because I am an ascetic. Not because I want to imagine myself among the saints. I stay because You are here. Why Vigil Requires the Day This also explains something that Isaac emphasizes strongly and that can easily be overlooked. The vigil cannot be separated from the way we live during the day. If we spend the day deliberately filling the mind with noise, agitation, curiosity, argument, distraction, and endless encounters, we should not be surprised if those same things accompany us into prayer at night. Isaac therefore insists that the monk who desires the fruit of vigil must guard himself from unnecessary disturbance during the day. This is not contempt for the world. It is custody of the heart. The Fathers understood something about human consciousness that our age desperately needs to rediscover: what we give ourselves to leaves traces within us. Everything enters the heart. Images. Conversations. Arguments. News. Resentments. Fantasies. Fears. The opinions of others. The desire to be seen. The need to respond. The mind carries these things into silence. Thus vigil actually begins long before nightfall. It begins with how we guard the heart throughout the day. The School of Freedom This is one reason the disappearance of vigil from much contemporary Christian life is significant. We have not merely lost an ascetical practice. We have lost one of the great schools of desire, attention, and freedom. The modern world teaches us to flee silence. It places a device in our hand capable of filling every empty moment. It trains the eyes to seek novelty and the mind to expect constant stimulation. The Fathers move in precisely the opposite direction. Be still. Remain. Watch. Wait. Listen. Do not flee the emptiness. Because eventually you may discover that it was never empty. Someone was waiting for you there. The purpose of vigil is not to prove that we can conquer the body. It is to become free enough to recognize the presence of the Beloved. “I Sleep, but My Heart Is Awake” The goal, then, is ultimately something greater than remaining physically awake. The goal is wakefulness of heart. “I sleep, but my heart is awake,” says the Bride in the Song of Songs. There is the mystery. The deepest vigil eventually becomes a state of the soul. A person begins to live before God. The Jesus Prayer continues beneath thought. The remembrance of God becomes increasingly continuous. The heart waits for Him. Looks toward Him. Listens for Him. Desires Him. This is the angelic quality Isaac sees in vigil. The angels do not merely “stay awake.” They exist in ceaseless attention to God. Their life is beholding. And Isaac dares to say that through vigil the human person begins to participate in this same movement. The eyes of the heart open. Wonder returns. Desire intensifies. Prayer deepens. The mind grows light. And gradually the soul discovers that the ascetical life is not fundamentally a life of deprivation. It is a life of fascination. The Night Is Not Empty Perhaps this is what we most need to recover from Isaac. We will never understand the asceticism of the Fathers if we begin with what they gave up. We must begin with what they saw. They saw a Beauty before which the beauties of the world grew pale. They tasted a sweetness that made lesser consolations seem small. They discovered a Love so immense that solitude became communion, silence became fullness, fasting became hunger for God, and vigil became the refusal to leave the presence of the Beloved. This is why the teaching on vigil belongs so naturally beside the language of desire and wonder. The ascetic does not remain awake merely because a rule commands it. He has glimpsed something. And because he has glimpsed it, he wants to see more. Wonder awakens desire. Desire gathers the scattered heart. The gathered heart becomes attentive. Attention becomes prayer. And prayer becomes communion. Then something remarkable happens. What once appeared burdensome becomes precious. The night that once seemed long becomes too short. Silence that once frightened us becomes the place we long to enter. And the prayer that once seemed an obligation becomes something from which we are reluctant to depart. The saints kept vigil because they discovered that the night was not empty. The Beloved was there. And once the heart knows this, the deepest question is no longer: Why would anyone remain awake to pray? It becomes: How could love not want to remain? --- Text of chat during the group: 00:18:08 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 222, Homily 20 00:23:28 David Swiderski: The last time we discussed this and sleeping 8 hours straight and for most of time people at least in Europe slept "2" times I went back to my Grandfather's diary and it appears the wood stoves in Northern Wisconsin only lasted 4hrs and you would need to get up and feed the fire so they naturally did vigils and took advantage of the break in sleep. In Spain and Latina America they have a nap in some areas due to the heat (2 hour lunch) and are up till 1 or 2 am. It seems modern western society is a new adaptation of what was a practice for hundreds of years. 00:25:10 Ryan Ngeve: Father what is one to do if these practices and deprivations make us more agitated/irritated and downcast, especially towards  others, as they tend to do? 00:39:01 Gwen's iPhone: my cat does! 00:39:24 James Hickman: Is it safe to call vigils a means to the end, which is nearness to the Lord, such that a super practical means to find closeness with the Lord is this watching for him when there are fewer distractions (not that we are safe from distractions in the night, but that the many combating us in the day are perhaps different in kind or number than those distractions of the night)? 00:42:15 Rod Castillo: I pray my daily rosary at 2 am.  It's the only time the house is quiet enough to allow me to devote myself completely to it. 00:43:46 James Hickman: Reacted to "I pray my daily rosary at 2 am.  It's the only time the house is quiet enough to allow me to devote myself completely to it." with

There is a sentence here from St. Isaac that overturns almost everything we are inclined to think about asceticism: You suppose these things were ordained simply to oblige you to labor. We imagine the vigil primarily as something difficult. Sleep is surrendered. The body is constrained. Psalms are prayed while the world sleeps. Nature protests and the monk remains standing before God. Looked at from the outside, it appears to be an extraordinary act of discipline. But Isaac tells us that if this is all we see, we have not yet understood the vigil. The question is not how much a man can endure for God. The question is what begins to happen within the heart of a man who desires God enough to seek Him in the night. Something is born there. This is why Isaac speaks so fiercely about the following day. The tragedy would not simply be that we failed in some ascetical rule. The tragedy would be that we received something precious and then lived carelessly enough to lose it. Seeking the One Who Has Already Come to Us The night vigil is born from desire. The monk rises because Someone is there. This is what distinguishes Christian asceticism from mere religious exertion. We are not trying to force our way toward an absent God. We are responding to the God who has already drawn near, already called us, already awakened desire within us. The Beloved has come seeking us. And eventually the heart begins seeking Him. There comes a moment in the spiritual life when prayer is no longer adequately described as obligation. The language of duty becomes too small. A man discovers within himself a hunger for silence because silence allows him to hear more clearly. He desires solitude because solitude removes the thousand competing claims upon his attention. He rises in the night because there are hours when the world has become quiet enough for the heart to recognize what it has always desired. Isaac knows this experience. This is why he speaks of Scripture as well. Reading is not merely preparation for prayer or the acquisition of religious knowledge. Scripture “sows” something within the soul. It gathers the scattered mind. It irrigates prayer. It plants the remembrance of God. It makes the understanding subtle enough to perceive things that previously escaped it. Scripture, silence, prayer, vigil—all begin converging upon the one thing necessary. Christ Himself. And once the heart begins to taste this, the whole ordering of life must change. The Day Must Become the Guardian of the Night Here Isaac becomes extraordinarily demanding. What sense is there, he asks, in sowing throughout the night only to scatter the seed during the day? We stand before God in darkness, struggling to gather the mind. Perhaps after a long while the thoughts settle. Something softens. The Name descends more deeply. Scripture opens itself in a way that cannot easily be explained. A stillness appears that we could never manufacture. Then morning comes. And we throw ourselves back into dispersion. Conversation. Curiosity. News. Opinions. Tasks that did not need to be done. Encounters that did not need to occur. Words that did not need to be spoken. The endless grazing of the mind among things. Isaac's question is devastatingly simple: Why would you do this? Why labor through the night to gather what you willingly scatter during the day? This reveals something essential about the monastic heart. Vigil cannot be isolated from the rest of life. There cannot be one life before God and another life afterward. Isaac says that we must place “no wall of separation” between the night and the day. That phrase is astonishing. The stillness of the night is meant to flow into the day. The remembrance of God cultivated in darkness must become the hidden atmosphere in which we move beneath the light of the sun. The silence of the cell must follow us. The Name must remain near. Our encounters, our speech, our work, even the manner in which we allow ourselves to think must begin to be governed by one question: Will this help me remain with the One whom I have found? This is not narrowness. It is love. Love Makes a Man Careful When something becomes precious to us, we become careful around it. This perhaps explains Isaac's asceticism better than almost anything else. The Fathers guard the senses because something precious has been entrusted to the heart. They guard speech because words can disturb what silence has gathered. They flee unnecessary encounters because the mind can quickly become populated by images, arguments, memories, anxieties, and judgments. They restrain curiosity because the heart cannot gaze simultaneously in every direction and remain simple before God. From outside, such a life may appear severe. From within, it is tenderness. A man in love does not experience every renunciation as deprivation. Some things simply become less interesting because something infinitely more beautiful has appeared. This is why the ascetical life is so counterintuitive. We ordinarily construct our days around what must be accomplished and then attempt to fit prayer somewhere within them. Isaac reverses the order. Order the day around what must not be lost. What if the most important thing that happened today occurred while the world was sleeping? What if the deepest work was not something we accomplished but the quiet gathering of the heart before God? What if the purpose of tomorrow were, in part, simply not to lose it? Then discernment changes. We begin asking not merely whether something is sinful, permissible, useful, interesting, or productive. We begin asking whether it preserves the heart's capacity for God. This is a much more demanding question. “You Would Have Embraced Jesus' Bosom” And then Isaac says something almost unbearably beautiful. Had the monk allowed his daytime life to correspond to the meditation of the night, had he placed no division between them, Isaac says that “in a short time you would have embraced Jesus' bosom.” Here the entire meaning of vigil is unveiled. Not achievement. Not spiritual heroism. Not mastery over sleep. The bosom of Jesus. Communion. Intimacy. Rest in the Beloved. Everything else exists for this. We constrain ourselves because we desire freedom from everything that prevents love. We become silent because we desire to hear. We remain awake because we desire to see. We read because we desire the mind of Christ. We guard ourselves because we have discovered something worth guarding. Even the night itself becomes sacramental in this sense. The darkness strips things of their urgency. The machinery of the world slows. The identities we carry during the day become less important. There is less to perform and less to defend. There is simply the creature before the Creator. The beloved before the Beloved. And the Name. Lord Jesus Christ. The New Life Begins in the Night Isaac finally speaks of those who desire “knowledge of the new life.” That is what vigil opens before us. A new life. Not merely a more disciplined version of the old one. Perhaps this is why the call to stillness can become stronger rather than weaker as the spiritual life deepens. The field of vision narrows. Things once regarded as indispensable reveal themselves as secondary. Activities that once seemed important begin to feel strangely weightless. Even good works must find their proper place. Not because love has diminished. Because desire has become concentrated. One thing is necessary. The night teaches this with a clarity the day rarely permits. And so perhaps Isaac's teaching on vigil reaches far beyond the question of how many hours we sleep. He is teaching us how to construct an entire life around the remembrance of God. Receive the night as gift. Read until the mind is gathered. Call upon the Name. Stand before God when nothing seems to be happening. Remain. And when something begins to awaken within you—some tenderness, some compunction, some clarity, some quiet awareness of the One who has been waiting for you—do not rush away from it. Guard it. Carry it into the morning. Let your speech become quieter because of it. Let your choices become simpler. Let unnecessary things fall away. Let the day itself become an extension of the vigil. For the purpose of the vigil was never simply that we should remain awake. It was that we should awaken. And having awakened, that we should refuse to return to sleep. The Fathers went into the night because they had begun to glimpse the astonishing truth hidden beneath all asceticism: God is worth seeking. God is worth waiting for. God is worth arranging an entire life around. And once the heart has begun to discover Him in the silence, wisdom consists largely in learning not to lose during the day what Love has given us in the night. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:21:49 Ambrose Little: It's supposed to make your head hurt.

Ken and Anthony tackle the wild west of NIL and the transfer portal, debating whether Jeremiah Smith might be the last player fans can truly fall in love with before free agency-style movement kills that connection for good. They wrestle with the fairness of players finally getting paid against the loss of tradition and hometown loyalty, using examples from Vince Young to Jamar Chase to make their case. The conversation spirals into whether coaches are overpaid relative to players and whether regulation is coming to clean up the chaos.

Visionary Activist Show 8.27.26 2 pm pt “Warning &Guiding”: Honoring Jerome McGeorge, with one of his bestest buddies, Eddy Nix Eddy Nix “plays a bookseller in real life and has many projects operating in the dream world. He is founder and operator of Driftless Books and Music in Viroqua, WI; was a founding teacher at Youth Initiative High School; and has a radio show on community radio station WDRT every Sunday. He identifies as a rhizome, or a verb, depending on circumstances. He has been many other things also.” For Eddy and me, Jerome was/is most Beloved accomplice/ally….. We play a long clip of the last show, (of 9!) on which Jerome and I co-cahooted…. (And we animate ) the back-stage party of Priestess Miriam, honored last week, Jerome and Dolly Parton   From 8.29.2024: Honoring Indigenous Prophecy – teased into guiding pertinence for us now… Caroline re-re-re-welcomes Jerome McGeorge, for Part 2 of Indigenous Prophecy, warning and guiding – “Indigenuity.” He will put much of his worthy cred on the table, inviting him to be a messenger, from the Kogi, the Hopi, the Wolf Teaching Clan, (into which he was initiated by Twylah Nitsch) – the Council of Grandmothers…. and more… Inviting into our world guiding sane reverence, that we may protect as much FloraFaunaFungi as possible…(that it may dissolve the cuckoo cartoon of cruel crackpot humanity) Jerome McGeorge, fellow anarcho*astro*animist*enviro-farmer-wizard, co-founder of Organic Valley; Jerome, a long-time ally of the Kogi in Columbia- with whom he spent much time, was chosen by them to be their guide on their first trip to America… October 20th – Nov 5th, 1999, sponsored by Organic Valley, an investigative mission of discovery; bringing messages of wisdom, warning, and mutual aid…         The post Warning & Guiding appeared first on KPFA.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. … If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14, 18-21)

“He who loves has his Beloved always in his mind; that time to him is well spent that is spent in contemplating Him, and the time to him is wasted in which He is out of his sight. He counts as profitable only those hours in which he contemplates the only thing that to him has any reality. All else is for him emptiness and nothingness. Let your soul melt into Mine, immerse yourself in Me, lose yourself in Me. Think how often I have told you to hope for the day when you will lean forever on My breast. And since I allow it, I tell you now to begin to live this life, in silence, lay your head upon My breast, and so accomplish your pilgrimage.”–Charles de FoucauldWhat would it look like to engage both our cognition and our imagination when we encounter the Gospels?Not just reading the stories, but entering into them. Feeling the dust beneath our feet, hearing the people gathered around Jesus, watching the questions being asked, and experiencing the Kingdom reality breaking into ordinary lives.Perhaps these two ways of approaching Scripture were never meant to be separated.In this second part of our conversation with Cara Murphy, we turn toward the Gospels not only as texts to read and sources of knowledge about Jesus and his Kingdom announcement, but as an invitation to encounter him in the present—to behold him more fully and, in the process, become more like the One we behold.Our apprenticeship to Jesus is not knowledge for knowledge's sake. The aim is union, participation, and transformation.And above all, the aim is Love: to receive Love, respond in Love, and move into ever-deeper union with the One who is Love.How do we become people who increasingly internalize the words, life, heart, and Kingdom of Jesus so that they shape and shift every facet of our perceiving, experiencing, and acting?The invitation is not to find the perfect plan or manufacture an outcome. It is to make ourselves available to Jesus and trust that he will form us as we immerse ourselves in his Way and his Words, over and over again.What fascinates you in the life of Jesus? And how might you follow that bright curiosity a little further?May we become lifelong students of Jesus, holding his Liveliness and Goodness before our minds with increasing fullness and clarity, trusting that as we behold him, we are being formed more and more into his likeness.It's all been prologue. The best is yet to come.For the Kingdom,Morgan & Cherie

Kaelin reveals what 2000's rom com is getting a sequel!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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There are 2 younger women sitting around a table at a trap house in Dallas, Texas. They're both Latina with a bit of baby fat in their cheeks - but they're not just some college students looking to buy drugs.   They're here to sell them – a lot of them.   One of the 2 women – she's a narco with deep connections in Mexico. The other woman? Just a Spanish/English translator for her boss, the narco, and the dealer of the trap house, a man named Love.   They need someone to move product for them and since Love has connections in the US - this deal could mean a lump sum of drugs and cash PLUS a lifetime supply from the cartel.   He just needs to earn their trust. How? Kill someone.   But not just anyone. They already have the target picked out.   A 35 year old pediatric dentist named Kendra Hatcher. Why would the cartels want to kill a random dentist for children in Dallas, Texas?         Full show notes available at RottenMangoPodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Close Readers, I'm thrilled to present this very special episode on Beloved with Dr. Angel Adams Parham, a professor at the University of Virginia and the co-author of The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature. We chatted about the literary tradition at the heart of the book, Morrison's aesthetic choices, the concept of re-memory and its significance in the story, its moral vision and the implications therein, teaching strategies for complex texts like this, and much more. Happy listening! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit closereads.substack.com/subscribe

Beloved author and winner of The Story Prize, Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home.Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?Etna (Scribner, 2026) is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times. Paul Yoon is the author of five previous works of fiction: Once the Shore, a New York Times notable book; Snow Hunters, winner of the Young Lions Fiction Award; The Mountain, an NPR Best Book of the Year; Run to Earth, a Time Must-Read Book of 2020 also longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction; and The Hive and the Honey, winner of the 20th annual Story Prize and longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Recommended Books: Maria Stepanova, The Disappearing Act Johnathan Buckley, One Boat Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beloved author and winner of The Story Prize, Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home.Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?Etna (Scribner, 2026) is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times. Paul Yoon is the author of five previous works of fiction: Once the Shore, a New York Times notable book; Snow Hunters, winner of the Young Lions Fiction Award; The Mountain, an NPR Best Book of the Year; Run to Earth, a Time Must-Read Book of 2020 also longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction; and The Hive and the Honey, winner of the 20th annual Story Prize and longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Recommended Books: Maria Stepanova, The Disappearing Act Johnathan Buckley, One Boat Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

There is a danger in reading passages such as this one from St. Isaac and hearing primarily a warning: Do not become negligent. Do not allow yourself to grow lax. Guard your solitude. Avoid unnecessary conversation. Do not permit the mind to become scattered. Certainly Isaac is warning us. His language is deliberately severe because he knows how fragile the beginnings of prayer can be. A heart newly awakened to God is like the tender blossom of a fruit tree. It possesses within itself the promise of fruit, but it can still be injured by a sudden frost. The mind that has begun to discover stillness can quickly become dispersed again. The heart that has tasted the sweetness of prayer can become strangely cold. But if we hear only the warning, we may miss something much more beautiful in Isaac's words. The great concern of Homily 19 is not simply that we avoid negligence. It is that we recognize what has been given to us and take hold of it. Isaac is speaking to men and women who have tasted something. They have tasted God. “If fiery thoughts arise in you,” he writes, “through the consuming flame of divine things,” and you “enjoy a taste of God,” then guard what has been given to you. That changes everything. The ascetical life is not primarily the anxious preservation of spiritual discipline. It is the response of the heart to a gift. We guard prayer because we have discovered Someone in prayer. We seek stillness because within stillness we have begun to hear the voice of the Beloved. We withdraw from unnecessary occupations not because created things are evil, but because something infinitely more precious has begun to draw the heart. This is why Isaac can speak so dramatically about the loss of fervor. “Only the man who drinks deeply of this wine, and afterward is deprived of it, only he knows to what misery he has been abandoned.” One cannot miss the language of desire here. The tragedy is not simply that the monk has broken his rule. The tragedy is that he has allowed himself to become separated from something he has tasted and loved. He knows the wine. He remembers its sweetness. And now he thirsts. This is the deeper meaning of vigilance. Negligence Is Forgetfulness Negligence in the spiritual life is rarely simply laziness. At its deepest level it is forgetfulness. The heart forgets what it desires. Isaac tells us that through excessive conversation, unnecessary occupations, sensory dispersion, and involvement in countless affairs, “the object of her desire is blotted out from her mind.” That sentence may be the key to the entire passage. The object of her desire is blotted out. The danger of distraction is not merely that it wastes time. It obscures desire. We begin to forget why we are alive. We may continue doing many good things. We may remain religious. We may fulfill responsibilities. We may even continue praying. Yet somewhere beneath all this activity, the memory of God can grow faint. And once that memory fades, lesser desires begin to fill the empty space. The Fathers understood this with extraordinary psychological depth. The heart cannot remain without desire. If it ceases to be gathered toward God, it will inevitably become scattered among countless lesser things. This is why Isaac says: “Do not multiply your occupations, and you will not find turmoil in your mind, or in your prayer.” He is not preaching inactivity. He is teaching simplicity of heart. The question becomes: What possesses my attention because it possesses my desire? Take Hold of Grace There is another danger, however, subtler than negligence. We may imagine that because everything depends upon grace, we need only wait passively for God to act. Isaac knows nothing of such passivity. When grace visits the heart, take hold of it. When prayer becomes warm, remain there. When tears come, do not hurry away from them. When desire for God awakens, feed it. When silence begins to gather the mind, protect that silence. When the Name of Jesus descends even slightly from the lips toward the heart, treasure it. Not because grace can be possessed or controlled, but because love asks for a response. There is a holy cooperation between divine grace and human freedom. God awakens the heart, and the heart turns toward Him. God gives the thirst, and we begin to drink. God lights the flame, and we cease throwing cold water upon it through negligence. This is why the Fathers can sound simultaneously so uncompromising about asceticism and so utterly dependent upon grace. There is no contradiction. Asceticism is what love looks like when freedom responds to grace. The Stronger Attraction And here we reach something even deeper. Isaac does not ultimately believe that the Christian life is sustained by fear of distraction. It is sustained by attraction. The lesser things of life pull upon us. Conversation pulls upon us. Curiosity pulls upon us. Responsibilities pull upon us. Memories, anxieties, pleasures, opinions, news, recognition, work—all of these exert a gravitational force upon the heart. But there is another gravity. Divine love. And it is stronger. The spiritual life matures when we discover that holiness is not primarily a heroic attempt to tear ourselves away from the world. It is allowing ourselves to be drawn increasingly by the beauty of God. The Psalmist does not cry: My soul has disciplined itself for Thee. He cries: “My soul thirsted for Thee.” Thirst is attraction. Desire is attraction. Love is attraction. The heart has glimpsed the Face for which it was created, and suddenly everything else begins to reveal its proper measure. This is why the saints sometimes appear almost incomprehensible to us. Their detachment can look severe from the outside. But from within, something very different is happening. They are being drawn. Christ has become more beautiful than everything they have relinquished. The Memory of the Wine Perhaps this is why God sometimes permits us to experience the loss Isaac describes. We have known moments when prayer was alive. Moments when the Name of Jesus seemed to contain everything. Moments when silence was not empty but filled with Presence. Moments when tears came without effort. Moments when we knew—not merely intellectually, but existentially—that God was near. And then the heart became cold. We became distracted. We multiplied our occupations. We returned to noise. The temptation is to despair over this. Isaac gives us another way. Remember the wine. The memory of grace itself can become a summons. Not nostalgia for a spiritual experience, but remembrance of the One who gave Himself within it. The coldness reveals the thirst. The absence reveals the desire. And the heart begins again: Where are You? Why have I wandered so far from what my soul desires? When shall I come and appear before Your face? Even our sorrow over having lost the sweetness of prayer can become prayer. “If You Will” There is something here that echoes the great saying of Abba Joseph: “If you will, you can become all flame.” Not because we manufacture the fire. The fire is God. The desire is awakened by God. The grace is given by God. The attraction originates in God. But the human will must consent to being consumed. This is the dignity and trembling mystery of our freedom. Grace comes and says: Remain. And we must choose whether to remain. Love draws and says: Come. And we must choose whether to follow. The flame rises and says: Give yourself. And we must decide whether we will continue protecting the thousand little things that keep us divided, or allow ourselves finally to belong to the One who desires the whole heart. Isaac's severity therefore conceals extraordinary tenderness. He is not telling us merely: Be careful what you lose. He is telling us: Look at what you have found. You have tasted something more precious than everything that distracts you. You have discovered the hidden wine. You have felt the beginnings of the fire. You have heard within yourself the ancient cry: “My soul thirsted for Thee, the mighty, the living God.” Do not be afraid merely of negligence. Be afraid of forgetting what your heart has discovered. And then turn again. Take hold of the grace that has taken hold of you. For beneath all our seeking is a greater seeking. Beneath our thirst is a deeper thirst. Beneath our desire for God is the immeasurably greater desire of God for us. In the end, it is not our weak attraction toward Him that will carry us home. It is the stronger pull of His love. Our task is to cease resisting it. To remain. To consent. And, if we will, to become all flame. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:03:04 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 219, paragraph 2 00:10:34 Janine: Oh great Miles is back! 00:12:04 James Hickman: I came across this today. It's from April 10, so the group might already be familiar. Professor Matthew Minerd a Ruthenian Catholic scholar offers positive reasons for following the approach of The Evergetinos and the Apophthegmata among others as great models of theology for the dialectics and holy anecdotes. https://www.athomist.com/articles/monastic-stories-casuistry 00:12:16 Alan Henderson: Which work is Myles discussing 00:12:40 James Hickman: “Monastic Stories as a Method of Ascetical Casuistry” 00:13:25 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Oh great Miles is ba..." with ❤️ 00:13:37 Janine: Oh that looks great! Thx James 00:13:38 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Which work is Myles ..." The Brothers Karamazov 00:14:46 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 219, paragraph 2 00:29:41 James Hickman: Driving is stillness lol 00:29:45 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Matthew Kelly's new book is THE CONTENT DIET 00:30:04 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Lots of practical helps... 00:30:18 Anna: No TV in my house for over a decade 00:30:35 Jesssica Imanaka: Reacted to "No TV in my house fo..." with

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Beloved child, overly familiar … what does it look like to walk with God?

Fifteen babies born into one church family this year. A Wednesday night with tables overflowing. And a stack of deadlines that all land before the month is out. Mark, Tamar, and Christian start with a correction, the preschool and children's choirs meet at 5:30 and not 5:00, then recap the Journey Together kickoff and a first-time guest who nearly stayed home. From there: DivorceCare and DivorceCare for Kids begin Tuesday, August 18 at 6:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall, Beloved for young moms kicks off September 10 with a childcare deadline of August 27, and Parent and Child Dedication is Friday, September 11 with registration closing August 26. They also preview the Know The Word Conference on September 18 and 19 with Dr. Greg Lanier, and introduce Tayler Newberg, Administrative Assistant to Human Resources. If you want one place to keep up with what God is doing in this church family, start here. Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com Interested in visiting? Learn what to expect at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

Dr. Chuck Colson preaches on Ephesians 1:1-10 in his sermon “In the Beloved”.

Closing Thought: Three witnesses stand before us: the water, the blood, and the Spirit. Each points to the same truth: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came to save His people from their sins. Beloved, when doubts come or the world challenges your faith, remember that God's testimony has not changed. The message is consistent, the witnesses agree, and Christ remains the same. Believe God, rest in His Son, and encourage one another to hold fast to Him. NOTE: A suspected lightning strike from the previous night's storm knocled out the transformer to our church. So, with minimal power and no air conditioning, the church carried on. The noise you hear in the background is a large fan.

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 16 So we have come to…

Morning Worship Sermon with Rev. Bud Hance Scripture reference 1 John 3:1-10  1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Sin And the Child of God 4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

Closing Thought: Three witnesses stand before us: the water, the blood, and the Spirit. Each points to the same truth: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came to save His people from their sins. Beloved, when doubts come or the world challenges your faith, remember that God's testimony has not changed. The message is consistent, the witnesses agree, and Christ remains the same. Believe God, rest in His Son, and encourage one another to hold fast to Him. NOTE: A suspected lightning strike from the previous night's storm knocled out the transformer to our church. So, with minimal power and no air conditioning, the church carried on. The noise you hear in the background is a large fan.

I didn't grow up in Reformed theology circles. We were part of a branch of Presbyterianism that had rejected its confessional roots and only partially retained the governmental structure. I think I knew in my late teens there was something called “5-point Calvinism,” but I didn't know what that meant, or anyone who believed in it (other than my grandfather's hermit cousin). Fast forward 25 years, and now it's not just an optional feature of the Presbyterian package for me. It's a foundational part of how I understand the God of redemption. I teach it several times a year and each time my faith is always enriched.  One of the things I've heard many times along my own journey of discovery is someone claiming to be a “4-point” Calvinist. Often the “point” these folks don't want to adopt is the one of the two we're talking about the few weeks: unconditional election and limited atonement. But the deeper concern is actually a collection of unspoken logical implications drawn from the flow of the entire argument. When I learned what they were objecting to, I was quick to recognize the logical inconsistency of this pick-and-choose method. The whole rational nature of the doctrines of grace collapses under that kind of buffet-style theology. Why would people do that? What takes much longer and much more love is to see how this is not a quibble with the theology, but commitment to God's holiness paired with a confession of grief. When you are a broken person in relationship with broken people, Biblical terms like election and predestination (and theological counterparts like eternal security and assurance of salvation) aren't just ideas. They carry heavy implications for those we care about. We are not just rational creatures. We are affectionate too, and very protective of our loves. And the secret is that this tension we feel is not just a problem: it's a hint at the solution.  This week, I hope to help us repent of a separation between the rational and relational aspects of our souls that puts us between the rock of our salvation and the hard places of our experience.  If God is as gracious as we Reformed folks claim He is, then the way we talk about the so-called “doctrines of grace” should reflect that. And He certainly is. 

On this heartwarming and inspiring episode of the Authority on Demand Podcast (formerly Authors On Mission Podcast), host Danielle Hutchinson sits down with Laury A. Egan to explore the story behind Morley: The Very Best Basset Hound.Laury shares what inspired her to step away from psychological suspense and create a charming, humorous book told from the perspective of a lovable basset hound. She discusses the collaborative creative process, the role of photography in bringing Morley's personality to life, and why preserving the tactile experience of the book made a print-only edition the perfect choice.What You'll Learn:

What if walking could change the way you see your entire life? Beloved author Sean Dietrich returns to the podcast to talk about his new memoir, I Would Walk 500 Miles, chronicling the month he and his wife, Jamie, spent walking the Camino de Santiago across Spain. What begins as a physical pilgrimage through mountains, mud, ancient villages, and crowded hostels becomes something far deeper like a journey into identity, faith, suffering, community, and what it means to discover who you really are. Sean shares why hours of walking can create an unexpected kind of clarity, what he learned from carrying nearly everything he needed on his back, and how strangers along the Camino became part of his story. He also opens up about his difficult childhood, losing his father at a young age, spending decades feeling as though he hadn't quite found himself, and the realization that perhaps we are far more loved - and far more than the labels and experiences that have defined us - than we realize. This conversation moves effortlessly from hilarious stories about tutus, potatoes, peanut butter, and life-changing Spanish cheesecake to profound reflections on God, healing, play, suffering, simplicity, and the strange beauty of being a pilgrim. Ultimately, Sean discovered that the Camino isn't only a trail in Spain: we're all walking one. And sometimes stripping life down to its simplest elements - walking, eating, talking, laughing, and being with other people - helps us finally notice what has mattered all along. Get Sean's book here A huge thank you to our sponsors! Check them out below:  My Green Mattress: Visit www.mygreenmattress.com  and save 15% on your order during their Labor Day Sale. Plus, use code 1000hours for an additional $10 off your cart total when you purchase any mattress. BetterHelp: Visit  www.BetterHelp.com/1000HOURS  today to get 10% off your first month. Quince - Visit www.quince.com/outside and get free shipping and 365 day returns IXL Learning - Head to www.ixl.com/1000hours to get an exclusive 20% savings on your membership Whisker - Take care of your cats while taking an additional $50 off bundles with code 1000HOURS when you shop www.whisker.com/1000HOURS  Muzzle Sleep Tape - Go to MuzzleSleep.com and use code 1000HOURS for 10% off.  Zenni Optical- Go to www.zenni.com/podcast  and use code PODCAST15 for 15% off your first order, plus free shipping on all U.S. orders over $65. Active Skin Repair - Don't forget to put this in your first aid kit! Visit ActiveSkinRepair.com and use the code 1000HOURS to save 20% on all Active Skin Repair products. KT by Knix - Go to www.KnixTeen.com , and use code 1000HOURS for 15 percent off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rabbi Dobrusin shares a sermon that he delivered for the Yizkor (memorial) service on Yom Kippur several years ago. 

God wants that best for us! Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of that! For the plans He has for us is to prosper us not hinder us. Yet, oftentimes we encounter spiritual roadblocks in life that can either benefit us or stagnate us depending on how we handle them. We can either let go and let God or hold on and dig ourselves into a deeper situation. And even then, through Christ, we can still come out victorious, but it takes denial of self.Ultimately, Our Heavenly Father wants us to be spiritually healthy, faith filled, and obedient to His purpose and plan for our lives. 3 John 1:2 tells us this very thing. "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers". That includes every obstacle or spiritual roadblock that we will ever encounter. Afterall, Jesus paid the unrepayable price so that we can live righteously, victoriously, and experience eternal life.Series: How To Identify Your Spiritual Roadblocks

Beloved the Good News we proclaim is that in the midst of the unending headlines filled with human suffering, harm and pain - God has come to tell a story to weave a tapestry of His Grace - that every detail of our lives is touched by this Grace to tell an eternal story that we have become a part of - this is the mystery of our confession. We believe in a Grace that will make all things work together - so we can say - all shall be well.

CLOSER WEEK PT. 1  |  AUGUST 9, 2026Pastor Bria Bradshaw1 John 3:1-2 ESV - See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.Matthew 18:3 ESV  Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.Humanity began with attachment to the Source.Genesis 3:9 ESV - But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”Not because God lost them, but because they lost proximity.Ephesians 2:13 ESV - But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.Matthew 7:21-23 ESV - “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me…'It's possible to do the things of God that we know to do but never actually know the God we're doing it for.1 Corinthians 13:1-3 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”The answer is to come closer, not try harder.Where are you?Where have you made your home?How have you learned to keep yourself safe?Where do you run when you're afraid?

Thinkabout that today. If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are loved byGod! The Bible does not teach us that God loves us because we are good enough,religious enough, or deserving enough. God loves us because of Who He is. John3:16 reminds us, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begottenSon.” Romans 5:8 says, “But God commended His love toward us, in that,while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God did not wait until wecleaned ourselves up before He loved us. He loved us while we were sinners, andHe demonstrated that love at the cross. ButPaul goes even further. He says, “Knowing, beloved brethren, your electionof God.” Now, the word “election” sometimes becomes the subject oftheological debates. Good and sincere Bible-believing Christians have disagreedover exactly how God's sovereignty and human responsibility work together. ButI think sometimes we can become so occupied with the questions surroundingelection that we miss the wonderful encouragement Paul intended these believersto receive from it. The word simply carries the idea of being chosen to loveand serve God and others. Paul was reminding these Thessalonian believers thattheir salvation was not an accident. God had a purpose for them. God had calledthem to Himself through the Gospel. Andnotice something very important. Paul said, “Knowing… your election of God.”How could Paul know? He could not look into the secret counsels of God ineternity. He could not see their names written in the Book of Life. But hecould see what had happened in their lives. And that becomes especially clearwhen we read the next verse. Verse 5 says: “For our gospel came not unto youin word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.”Paul knew something genuine had happened because he had seen the evidence. Rememberwhat we learned yesterday. Their faith was working. Their love was laboring.Their hope was enduring. In other words, their changed lives gave evidence ofthe reality of their salvation. Jesus said in Matthew 7:20, “Wherefore bytheir fruits you shall know them.”  Weare not saved by our works, but when we are truly saved, there should be a workof God taking place in our lives. Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it very clear: “Forby grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is thegift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” But we sometimesstop there. Verse 10 continues: “For we are His workmanship, created inChrist Jesus unto good works.” We are not saved by good works, but we aresaved unto good works. That is exactly what Paul was seeing in Thessalonica. Thinkabout what had happened there. Paul had only been with these people for arelatively short period of time. He preached the Gospel to them. They receivedthe Word. They turned from idols to serve the living and true God. Then almostimmediately, persecution came. Yet they remained faithful. Paul could look atthem and say, in effect, “I know God has done something in your lives because Ican see the evidence of His grace.” AndI believe there is a very practical application for us today. What evidence isthere in my life that God is at work in me? Not, “Have I joined a church?” Not,“Have I been baptized?” Not even merely, “Did I pray a prayer sometime in thepast?” Those things may have their proper place, but the question is: Has JesusChrist changed my life? Is there a work of faith? Is there a labor of love? Isthere a patience of hope? Is there a growing desire for the Word of God? Isthere a desire to please the Lord? Is there a love for God's people? When Isin, does the Holy Spirit convict me and draw me back to fellowship with theLord? Do I desire to share Christ with the lost? These are evidences of thework of God within us. 

Jude 1-16 Who is Jude and why is he writing to the Beloved? The faith once for all delivered to the saints What is that faith we are to contend for? The people who pervert the grace of God Why should we contend for the faith?

The Tim Conway Jr Show Hour 1 (8.10) It’s a heavy Monday on “The Conway Show” as we mourn the loss of Jackie the bald eagle. Timmy is struggling to process another animal death and shares a grim nature story from his Alaska cruise: Guides told the group that the biggest threat to baby bears is often their own father, who will kill and eat the cubs right in front of the mother. Nature is brutal. While every LA reporter has rushed up to Big Bear to cover Jackie’s passing, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia has already killed more than 111 people — and the death toll is still climbing — yet it’s getting far less attention. In Jackie’s honor, the show plays “Nightshift” by The Commodores. Timmy wonders if she’ll get a standing-room-only memorial at SoFi Stadium and half-jokingly predicts 45,000 to 65,000 people might show up from around the world. Will the Steve Miller Band play “Fly Like an Eagle”? Will Dolly Parton perform “Eagle When She Flies”? And how much will the Friends of Big Bear Valley or the Ojai Raptor Center raise in her memory? Six months ago, on Jackie’s 14th birthday, Timmy wrote a song for her — and now we play that tribute. Fly free, Jackie. Fly free. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3 John 2) This text has been misused by many who promote the modern false gospel of h... More...

Romans 1:7 (AMP) [I am writing] to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called to be saints (God's people) and set apart for a sanctified life, [that is, set apart for God and His purpose]: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lamentations 2 - The second acrostic poem of Lamentations explores the justice and judgment of God and provides a model for bringing your whole self, raw questions and all, to Him. Through it we are reminded still of the love and mercy that God always maintains. A sermon by Tsion Reid. [Part 2 of our series "A Memorial to Our Grief: A Month with Lamentations"]

Beloved burlesque legend Shawna the Black Venus, showgirl at age 78, joins Viktor Devonne for a glimpse into her past from Pittsburgh to Oahu, and the stages in-between.  Shawna candidly shares about colleagues, venues, photoshoots, costumes, healthcare, history, and the time she needed her stage fire torches to keep warm in a broken down car on a cold early morning. She would retire in 1994, and return to the Burlesque Hall of Fame stage to staggering applause, with festivals and events clamouring to include her. Still recovering from breast cancer treatment, Shawna is taking time to return to her rightful place back to those stages. You can help by way of BurlyCares: https://burlycares.love/activefundraisers  This chat was recorded on July 26, 2026.   Give love to the folks… Shawna: https://www.instagram.com/darrylboard/  More Viktor: Viktor Devonne More WEBurlesque: http://www.weburlesquepodcast.com FOOTCLOTHES! Get 10% off your order with the code VIKTORDEVONNE at FOOTCLOTHES.COM FootClothes

Willie Stone is the “mailman of the century” after spending 40 years on the same routes in Henrico County, Virginia. AND Bliss and Robert Sawyer of Saratoga Springs, UT, recently set out on what may be their most ambitious journey yet: biking across America from Washington state to New Jersey. To see videos and photos referenced in this episode, visit GodUpdates! https://www.godtube.com/blog/mailman-of-the-century.html https://www.godtube.com/blog/couple-bikes-across-country.html Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Beloved, you had 3,000 years to read the book! Spoilers abound, so don't listen yet if you have not seen the film and want to.

Game of Thrones was known for its brutality. Beloved characters could die, and it kept audiences on the edge of their seats, not knowing if their favourite character was going to make it. House of the Dragon had the difficult task of reestablishing the universe and what the status quo was during the time it is set. The third season had the benefit of rewarding viewers with shocking twists that you won't see coming. Choices that characters have made will have […] The post House of the Dragon Season 3 Review: Did They Rise Above Past Mistakes? appeared first on Multiverse Of Color.

Welcome back to Moody Presents, it is a joy to bring you some of the finest Bible teaching moments on Moody Presents as we celebrate 100 years of Moody Radio. Beloved former president of MBI, Dr. Joe Stowell, delivered the keynote address for MBI Founder's Week 2003 with a sturring message on the holiness of God and how we respond to that amazing attribute. So many powerful illustrations of God's faithfulness. Let's listen to part 1 of Holiness.Become part of our Advance Team: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/moodypresents/partnersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 42 of the Great American Novel Podcast considers Toni Morrison's 1977 novel and National Book Critics' Circle award winner Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon tells of the coming age of Macon “Milkman” Dead between the Second World War and before the passage of the Civil Right Act. Other unique and complex characters such as Pilate, his aunt, Hagar, his lover (and cousin), and Guitar, his friend and nemesis help round out a complicated and intriguing story about how a young man has to learn who he is and where he came from before the can grow into the future.   Critics and fans have long debated which is her best novel.  Is it Song of Solomon?  Beloved?  Sula, Jazz?  Your intrepid hosts weigh in on the debate and also discuss the origins of this novel in a folk tale.  They ask whether Morrison was right or wrong in saying she didn't practice magical realism.  Please join us in this discussion of an incredible and electrifying novel.  All opinions are the hosts' own and do not reflect the points of view of their employers, publishers, relatives, pets, or accountants. All show music is by Lobo Loco.  The intro song is “Old Ralley”; the intermission is “The First Moment,” and the outro is “Inspector Invisible.”  For more information visit: https://locolobomusic.com/.

Being left out, overlooked, or rejected can leave lasting wounds, but those moments don't determine your identity. Ephesians 1:4-6 reveals a greater truth: through Jesus Christ, God has chosen, adopted, and accepted you into His family. Discover how your identity in Christ brings lasting security when the approval of others falls short. Rejection has a way of making us question our worth, but God's love tells a different story. Emily Rose Massey reminds us that while people may disappoint or exclude us, our Heavenly Father has already declared us His beloved children. When we anchor our identity in Christ instead of others' acceptance, we find the confidence, belonging, and peace that only He can provide. Highlights: Discover what it means to be accepted in the Beloved through Jesus Christ. Learn how Ephesians 1:4-6 speaks to feelings of rejection and loneliness. Find encouragement to root your identity in God's love rather than others' opinions. Understand how Jesus experienced rejection and empathizes with our pain. Be reminded that God's adoption into His family offers lasting security and hope. Learn how embracing your identity in Christ transforms the way you respond to rejection. Join the Conversation Have you ever struggled with feeling rejected or overlooked? How has remembering your identity as God's beloved child helped you find peace and confidence? Continue the conversation with the Crosswalk community here: https://forums.crosswalk.com/ Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! Full Transcript Below: Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Till He Come brings together some of Charles H. Spurgeon's most tender and spiritually searching meditations on the Lord's Supper. Drawn from addresses delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle and also in smaller gatherings around the communion table, these messages invite believers to linger and renew their love and devotion for Christ in remembrance of His atoning sacrifice. Spurgeon leads readers into the heart of Christian communion – reflecting on Christ's love, His finished work, and the believers' fellowship with Him “until the day breaks and the shadows flee away.” Whether speaking of resting under the shadow of the Almighty, our Lord's loveliness, or the redemption we have because of His selfless sacrifice, Spurgeon masterfully expounds on the endless depth and breadth of Christ's love and character as displayed through His broken body and poured-out blood. These short sermons are especially suited for personal devotion, preparation for the Lord's Table, or for those entrusted with leading others in communion. Reverent, Christ-centered, and moving, Till He Come stands as one of Spurgeon's most precious devotional works – calling believers to remember their Savior, cherish His presence, and proclaim His death and resurrection until the day He returns for His chosen. About the Author Charles Haddon (C. H.) Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a British Baptist preacher. He started preaching at age 16 and quickly became famous. He is still known as the “Prince of Preachers” and frequently had more than 10,000 people present to hear him preach at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. His sermons were printed in newspapers, translated into many languages, and published in many books.

The Tim Conway Jr Show Hour 2 (8.4) Seven months of ash, and now a ribbon cutting. ✂️Palisades Village is coming back. Rick Caruso's $100 million interior rebuild — plus environmental cleanup and a full renovation after the January 2025 Palisades Fire — wraps with an official reopening Saturday, August 15. Seventy percent of the businesses are returning, restaurants included. For a neighborhood that lost so much, this one actually feels like a milestone.

David Johnson discusses Romans 12:19—“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord.”

What if the quality your team calls "intimidating" is the same thing responsible for every result you've ever produced? In this episode of The Game Changing Attorney Podcast, Michael and Jessica Mogill tackle three listener questions about the uncomfortable truths of firm leadership: what to do when anonymous feedback calls you intimidating, how to stop letting partner consensus paralyze decisions, and why the partner who drives accountability always ends up labeled the villain. This conversation draws a clear line between high standards and bad behavior, and shows why getting to the truth matters more than being popular. Here's what you'll learn: Why seeking 100% partner consensus on every strategic decision is quietly stalling your firm's growth How to hold exceedingly high standards and still create a culture where your team tells you the truth What "disagree and commit" looks like in practice, and why it builds more trust than endless debate If your firm's best ideas keep dying in committee and your team's real feedback never reaches you, this episode explains exactly why. (00:00:00) Introduction (00:01:52) The World Cup and Being a Fan (00:05:51) Maturity Is Recovery Time (00:09:59) Q1: My Team Calls Me Intimidating (00:12:26) High Standards and Kindness Coexist (00:14:28) Not All Feedback Deserves Action (00:16:11) Q2: My Leaders Resent My Decision (00:17:31) Why Full Consensus Stalls Growth (00:20:49) Disagree But Commit (00:21:34) Q3: I'm the "Bad Guy" Partner (00:24:35) You Don't Have to Be Loved (00:26:08) Wrap Up Links & Resources: Radical Candor by Kim Scott FIFA World Cup 2026 Learn what sustainable growth can look like for your firm at crispcoach.com. Do you love this podcast and want to see more game changing content? Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Past guests on The Game Changing Attorney Podcast include David Goggins, John Morgan, Alex Hormozi, Randi McGinn, Kim Scott, Chris Voss, Kevin O'Leary, Laura Wasser, John Maxwell, Mark Lanier, Robert Greene, and many more. If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like: 456. AMMA - Why It's Your Fault If Your Team Isn't Performing 375. AMMA - Stop Being The Bottleneck: Lead Your Firm Without Being Needed 284. AMMA - Elevate Your Leadership with Emotional Intelligence

Judy Blume is more than an author. She's a legend in teen literature for her frank and honest portrayals of adolescence. Today we pay tribute to her.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.