Joseph E. Parker

excellence activator

[jeviparker]

 what is thrown at us is not in our hands 

what comes our way is not in our hands

but what we make out of it is 100% in our hands

[worshipgifs]

[jeviparker]

The Beauty of Prayer #TBP

[jamesandrewcrosby]

Typewriter Poetry #737 by James Andrew Crosby

[thejournalofbisonjack]

The Storm.

I am not the type to tie white string to the branches of trees, nor am I the kind of man to fashion a compass from a paper clip and a leaf; but today at the beach, as I dove beneath the waves of a rising sea, I hoped it was true that water does have memory and, after all these years, it might still remember me.

[m0untain-spirit-deactivated2017]

[jeviparker]

This withdrawal of theology from the world of secular affairs is made more complete by the work of biblical scholars whose endlessly fascinating exercises have made it appear to the lay Christian that no one untrained in their methods can really understand anything the Bible says. We are in a situation analogous to one about which the great Reformers complained. The Bible has been taken out of the hands of the layperson; it has now become the professional property not of the priesthood but of the scholars.

Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture.

[jeviparker]

It's hard for the mind to be peaceful when the body is not in a physical space that is peaceful. When we have a peaceful space, then we can come back to ourselves. That's the intention of sacred space. But we don't need to wait until we can find a church, temple, mosque or synagogue. A small path, the edge of a sidewalk, a patch of grace, a corner of your workplace, or even a corridor of an apartment building (like this photo) will do.

[jeviparker]

Bridges

Bridges seem to link the present to the past, as it were, obliterating the hope of the future, like it doesn’t exist. And we are perpetually bound to the haunting knowledge that we have become the summation of the cumulative actions and reactions of the years gone by. So, we seem to move, stop, swirl, “exist” in the present, but the yesteryears become mirrors fixed in front of us. They become our compass, our guide and map for life in the now. We stumble and we fall, bumping into detours and contours of the present on the way to our destination because we cannot see clearly. The view of the future has become the mural of the past. We intend to anticipate tomorrow, but we end up living in the glories and gloom of yesterday. 

[jeviparker]

Fear not. Isaiah 43:1-3

[mostlyfiction]

I need to stop pushing myself into the dark corners of your mind in hopes of shedding some light upon those places that you cannot seem to reach.  I need to understand that not everyone needs a helping hand, and that not everyone wants someone to pull them out of their own trying times.

[jeviparker]

Socrates did not leave one shred of writing behind at the end of his life, yet he helped form the foundation of our western philosophy to this very day. The things he taught were so profound, close to truth, and universal, that one could live an awesome life today just by following his fundamental advice.

[jeviparker]

God made everything. God knows everything. God is everywhere. And we are a part of this majestic story!

[jeviparker]

The mammalian brain has a distinct aptitude not found in any other class of animal. We are capable of hierarchical thinking, of understanding a structure of diverse elements arranged in a pattern, representing that arrangement with a symbol, and then using that symbol as an element in a yet more elaborate configuration. This capability takes place in a brain structure called the neocortex, which in humans has achieved a threshold of sophistication and capacity such that we are able to call these patterns ideas. Through an unending recursive process we are capable of building ideas that are ever more complex. We call this vast array of recursively linked ideas knowledge. Only Homo sapiens have a knowledge base that itself evolves, grows exponentially, and is passed down from one generation to another.

-- How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed (Ray Kurzweil)

[jeviparker]

The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and heart His written Word. Sheer scholarship alone cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of *knowing* Jesus Christ personally and directly. When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvicted and unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never visited.

Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

[a-pilgrims-diary]

Do you wish to pray? Renounce all things. You then will become heir to all.

Evagrius Ponticus (via a-pilgrims-diary)

Renunciation of all things temporal for the acquisition of all things permanent (eternal).

[jeviparker]

“Whether our theological knowledge is great or small, we all need to ask a vital question: What will we do with the knowledge of God that we have?”

[jeviparker]

Christ extended his friendship to all, without rejecting anyone. Those who love Christ all across the earth form, in his steps, a large community of friendship. This is called communion. For this reason, they have a contribution to make in healing the wounds of humanity: without wanting to impose themselves, they can promote a globalization of solidarity which excludes no people and no single person.

  How can each person take part in this?