What does it mean for us as Christians to worship a God who places obstacles in our paths? In fact, what drove the author of Acts to interpret obstacles as being from the Holy Spirit, rather than the forces of evil? Wouldn’t it make more sense to interpret obstacles to the spreading of the Gospel as being devil-sent, and not God-sent?  

“To brand the lambs – and to give them their vaccines and medicine – the ranch hands will pick a lamb up using both arms. The little guy will fight tooth and nail, wiggle and squirm, and there is nothing at all passive about him. All of the sheep in the pen will jump up and over each other to avoid the helping-hands of the ranchers.”

“Somehow in this universe of religion, we like to think of ourselves as God-Seekers, that we ourselves choose to look for God in order to find grace, like Mary in the garden looking for Jesus. Only, Jesus found Mary, and not the other way around.”

“Faith, the seeing of invisible things, the author to the Hebrews called it, the seeing of a path that is not there. As I walked, I found myself struggling off-trail at times because I’d strayed, trudging through thigh-deep snow.”

“I am no less than I am, more human than I’d like to be. And I, too, wonder why God – if it is God at all – cycles me through the wilderness as though I require or deserve some sort of Lenten-tainted life. To change me? To remind me of my humanity? To teach me to love others? Sometimes – sometimes – it feels like more than I need and far more than I deserve.”

“God of the table, 
prepare a place for us
to love and be loved
to know and be known
to forgive and be forgiven.”