Lost and Found by Jill Carattini

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. (Matthew 13:44-45)

"Slow was I, Lord, too slow in loving you. To you, earliest and latest beauty, I was slow in love. You were waiting within me while I went outside me, looking for you there, misshaping myself as I flung myself upon the shapely things you made. You were with me all the while I was not with you, kept from you by things that could not be except by being in you. You were calling to me, shouting, drumming on deaf ears. You thundered and lightninged, piercing my blindness." - Saint Augustine, Confessions, trans. Garry Wills, (New York: Penguin, 2006), 234.

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Like the disciples on the mount who fell on their faces as Jesus became "like the sun" and "as white as light," it seems God brings us again to that place where we are awed by his glory, his goodness or mercy--his fearful existence. And like the disciples, like Job and Isaiah, we are reminded that we are in the presence of the Father in all his glory. Whether we are aware of it or not He is always near, his glory declared day after day, the work of his hands proclaimed night after night.

*The Street Church is in need of donations for the homeless - clothing such as new underwear in the package, shorts and t-shirts; hygiene items as well as back packs/camping gear are all greatly appreciated.
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Meekness and Majesty by L.T. Jeyachandran

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.



Wisdom unsearchable, God the invisible,
Love indestructible in frailty appears.
Lord of infinity, stooping so tenderly,
Lifts our humanity to the heights of his throne!

O what a mystery! Meekness and majesty,
Bow down and worship for this is your God!
- Graham Kendrick

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
When Philip asked Jesus to show the Father to him and his colleagues, he did not quite know what he was asking for. He must have assumed that he would be able to see the God of the Old Testament, the fearsome one of whom his ancestors were so scared that they had asked Moses to go and listen to Him instead of hearing Him directly (Exodus 20:18-19; Hebrews 12:19). Philip must have thought that the one whom Jesus so familiarly addressed as Father would have been of somewhat manageable proportions! Perhaps Philip (and we along with him) would not have been surprised if Jesus had said something like this in reply: "You know it is really very difficult to see Him, but I will try my best to see what can be done." Instead, Jesus replies, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:8-9).

...There is a unity between the Father and the Son that we cannot ignore. In chapter 10, John records Jesus proclaiming his oneness with the Father. He uses the neuter gender in the Greek language, implying oneness of substance or essence, and emphatically not oneness of Person. (If he had wanted to mean oneness of Person, he would have used the masculine gender.) This is fundamentally important but is not often heard. Simply put, Jesus says that he is of one essence with the Father, but is not the same Person. As a result, we see a continuing invitation from Jesus to "come and see" his actual humanity, the uniqueness of Christ, the person of God incarnate.

Today, at the right hand of God, we have an intercessor who is "the Man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5). In other words, the humanity that Jesus assumed is with him forever. In that humanity, the redeemed Church is made a worthy and compatible partner to the Lamb. It is a heavenly marriage in which we are worthy only because the Bridegroom is God who has forever become Human, and we are humans who have become participators in the divine nature by the promises of God (II Peter 1:4).

Comments:
It is quite interesting to consider Christ retaining his human-ness.



*The Street Church is in need of donations for the homeless - summer clothing like shorts and t-shirts as well as back packs are greatly appreciated.
*To comment on this thread, visit the blog.
*Read today's slice and email me with your comments/questions/prayers for
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My Flickering Mind by Jill Carattini

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.

"Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
The parable of the prodigal son is typically understood as a story that speaks to us when we have wandered away from God in belief or obedience. It is a story we often apply to a specific time in our lives--a momentous return to faith, a homecoming back to the church, a particular event that caused us to remember God's grace personally and powerfully. It is a parable that at one time or another describes many of us. Perhaps it is also a parable that describes us daily. In the daily struggle to see, the constant battle to be present and conscious of the presence of God in this place, we come and go like prodigals.

The parable tells us that the wayward child had a plan for returning to his father's house: he would confess his sin against heaven and against his father, and then he would ask to be treated as one of the hired servants. He would work his way back into his father's life. But the father doesn't even give him a chance to fully present the offer... With every symbol of restoration, the father who was waiting embraces the son who was lost.

Gripped by the intensity of the massive painting before him, Henri Nouwen found himself becoming "more and more part of the story that Jesus once told and Rembrandt once painted." Yet in Rembrandt's painting we do not find the father eagerly rushing out to greet his wayward son as it is described in the Gospel of Luke. Rather, we find stillness; we find the parable's characters at rest. Rembrandt slows our flickering minds to the scene that captures a thousand words for our daily walk in faith: "Lord, not you, it is I who am absent." In this scene, the son has returned, and he is kneeling before his father in his ragged shoes and torn clothes exactly as he is: the one who insisted upon defining himself apart from his father, the one who was absent. In pursuit of life beyond his father, the child lost sight of life itself.

In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus bids us to slow down and be present, to taste and see, to be still and know: the Father is near. He is here, though we are absent. He waits, though we put off Him off. He grieves over our wandering hearts and minds, moving in grace to embrace those who long to see. He is the God who runs to greet his wavering child, and it is a sight to behold.

Comments:
Let us outstretch our arms to our Father who is waiting for us. May we not be absent.

Henri Nouwen (Mentioned above) is one of my favorite authors. A Catholic priest, now moved from this life to the next, he devoted much of his earthly time to caring for those whom society may deem as less fortunate, retarded or sick. The book eluded to is called, The Return of the Prodigal; it comes highly recommended from yours truly.

*The Street Church is in need of donations for the homeless - summer clothing like shorts and t-shirts as well as back packs are greatly appreciated.
*To comment on this thread, visit the blog.
*Read today's slice and email me with your comments/questions/prayers for
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Taken Up by Wonder by Margaret Manning

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. (Psalm 19:1)

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
gardening took me up because gardening quickly grew in me a sense of wonder. I suspect my friend knew this when she introduced me to my first, little jade plant. She knew that gardening would introduce me to the extraordinary in the ordinary. You cannot help but begin to pay attention to the tiniest details as you garden, and in turn, begin to notice all kinds of other awe-producing details all around you. The varieties of the color green in the trees, grasses, plants and shrubs, the nuances of blue and aqua hues that shimmer on lakes and oceans, and the little creatures that share the world with us--birds, rabbits, coyotes, skunk, deer, dogs, and cats.

The Scriptures indicate that the natural response to wonder is worship. Indeed, the psalmist suggests that the very detailed elements of creation proclaim the glory and worship of God: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands!" (Psalm 19:1). We are drawn into the very presence of God when we wonder in God's creation. We affirm the beauty and the goodness of God as we wonder at creation. As we wonder, we agree with God "that all he had made...it was very good" (Genesis 1:31).

Have you lost your sense of wonder? Has your life gotten too busy, too laden with care that you cannot see God's extraordinary presence in the ordinary details of your life? If so, take time to garden your soul... you'll be taken up by wonder too!

Comments:
G.K. Chesterton said something to the effect of the world being so obviously put together by the hand of a Magician - The wonder of a tree being green because it could just as easily have been blue.

Yesterday, my friend Pat was discerning something regarding the homeless. A spiritual person in his life, without provocation or mention of any sort, began to tell him about how to handle something with the homeless less than an hour after his discerning arose. God is alive and speaks to us. Truly Wonder-Full!

*The Street Church is in need of donations for the homeless - summer clothing like shorts and t-shirts as well as back packs are greatly appreciated.
*To comment on this thread, visit the blog.
*Read today's slice and email me with your comments/questions/prayers for
our next posting.
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*Invite friends and family to join us on this faith journey.

When Theology Becomes Doxology - Jill Carattini

Our Disappointments Matter to God - by Ravi Zacharias

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

Mary responded,

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.” (Luke 1:46-55)

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
When we come to know the God of heaven, when we see the Father’s character, when we glimpse the goodness of the Son or his merciful hand in our lives, there becomes within us a need to share it, a need to profess it in word and deed. There becomes within us a need to praise God for all that we see and all that we know.

What do you know about God? What have you seen of the Father’s character and known of his goodness? May this become your song. In your knowledge of God and in your knowing of Christ, may you find in word and deed, in prayer and song, your life a doxology to the truth of his holy name.

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Our Disappointments Matter to God - by Ravi Zacharias

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. (Colossians 3:15-17, The Message)

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Thankfully, our disappointments matter to God, and He has a way of taking even some of the bitterest moments we go through and making them into something of great significance in our lives. It’s hard to understand at the time. Not one of us says, “I can hardly wait to see where this thread is going to fit.” Rather, we say, “This is not the pattern I want.” Yet one day the Shepherd of our souls will put it all together--and give us an eternity to revel in the marvel of what God has done. Our Father holds the threads of the design, and I’m so immensely grateful that He is the Grand Weaver.

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Hem of Grandeur - by Jill Carattini

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

It was in the year King Uzziah died^[a] that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. (Isaiah 6:1)

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29)

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Isaiah entered the temple with distress and loss, despair and confusion--all very large. And then, Isaiah says, he saw the Lord, and the very hem of his robe filled the temple. The prophet had come to worship grieving a king and in the midst of his pain had an encounter with a throne of far greater caliber. God's kingship was far bigger and grander than anything he had imagined.

Whatever our circumstances, let us not hide from the one who offers to stand beside us and asks that we cast our cares upon him...In the awe-inspiring presence of God our worries are put into perspective. As a friend is fond of saying, worship is an encounter with one who is "always bigger than what's the matter." Yet perhaps it is not that our anxieties are in fact smaller than we perceive them, but that the King of Kings is far greater than we have perceived Him. In the words of Isaiah himself, “From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you” (Isaiah 64:4). And we have yet to see even a hem of the grandeur of his kingship.

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