Tag: faith

Bible, Christianity, Faith, hope, Jesus, Love, reconciliation, Selfishness, Spirituality, Teachings, Theology2 Comments

Love Your Neighbor–part 3

Gary Furr

In our previous time together, I examined the mystery of how love of God, neighbor, and even ourselves, is so askew. And this lives out so differently in men and women, the well-located and the dislocated, the rich and the poor, but there are common roots to it all. We concluded with this observation of the matter–When we love our neighbor this way, forgetting ourselves in love for another, we connect with the powerful love that is at the heart of all things.  It is life-giving.  It is also impossible unless God helps us to love.  And yet we know, … Continue reading Love Your Neighbor–part 3

Bible, Christianity, humanity, Jesus, Love, Selfishness, spirituality, Teachings, Theology and Life

Love One Another– part 2

Gary Furr

So today, let’s pick up where we were last time. In the New Testament, there are two injunctions. As I mentioned previously, we are to love God and love our neighbor. Romans 13.8 states, let no debt remain outstanding except the outstanding debt to love one another for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. But what about self-love? We’ve become bogged down in modern life by being sure that we love ourselves enough and have subtly reversed the emphasis of this commandment. Many people struggle with finding a sense of purpose and worth. The modern secular profession of counseling … Continue reading Love One Another– part 2

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Love Your Neighbor–part 1

Gary Furr

The phrase “love your neighbor as yourself,” which appears in nearly all religions as what we often call the “Golden Rule,” is the rule of reciprocity—love as you wish to be loved, treat others as you wish to be treated. Now this seems almost imbecilically obvious except that we are living through a ghastly moment of stupidity in our public life. “Strength” is exalted across the world by rightward mobs in reactionary anxiety of cultural and societal erosion. These changes, in my view, are mostly our own creations due to endless speeding up of life, isolation by our technologies of … Continue reading Love Your Neighbor–part 1

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Life Goes On

Gary Furr

Been away for two weeks welcoming our new grandson. He’s glorious, sweet, wonderful, and his big sister turned four while we were there. We celebrated at Chuck E Cheese. Grands give me hope, yes they do. Not certainty, the world is too unpredictable than that, but a baby’s face does something, makes me root for humanity in spite of ourselves. Just keep finding something good to do where you are. It matters. My daughter had a framed saying in her kitchen when we brought our little prince home: “You are the sky—everything else is just weather.” We kept big sister … Continue reading Life Goes On

Disappointment, Faith, fear, hope, humanity, Jesus, Spirituality, spirituality, Story1 Comment

The Gift of Doubt

Gary Furr

My children asked the question, “Have you ever doubted your faith?” This is what I wrote. I hope it reassures you to know that the answer is simple: Yes, of course. In some ways, the question itself could open so many different directions. Is the question, “Have I ever doubted whether I have faith?” Yes. Many times. Have I ever had questions that threatened to undo my sense of belief, everything I had trusted in my life? Yes, those are more about the subjective experience of faith. Sometimes it could be taken to mean, “Have you ever doubted the faith?” … Continue reading The Gift of Doubt