Mac MacKenzie

All that we have and don't have is a grace. Even the awareness of grace is a grace in which we should give thanks."

If we feel unloved, it is difficult to truly love. If we feel rejected, it is difficult to truly accept. If we feel afraid, it is difficult to truly live. If we feel abandoned, it is difficult to truly belong. If we feel despair, it is difficult to truly hope. If we feel insignificant, it is difficult to truly care. It is difficult to draw water from an empty well. Without God, all of these things are difficult, if not nigh impossible. Thank God, that in Christ, all things are possible, for he is the hope for the beggary of our soul and the remedy for a broken, fragmented world.

I may distance myself from God from time to time, wandering off in the ignorance of my self-absorbed preoccupations and attitudesBut God is never far off. Never distant. Never remote.He is close enough to hear the raw, unbridled "fuck" in my silent prayer of anguish.Close enough to feel the groaning angst and tension in my gut that oft threatens to rend me to pieces. Close enough to hear my heart slam itself in abandon against the walls of this temple of skin in holy desperation; clutching at the veil that dulls and distorts my vision. Close enough to catch me as I stumble in my blind and weary state yet again and again and again.Yes, He is close. She is never far off. God is my faithful friend and traveling companion, though I see Him not yet with these orbs of flesh.

When we are courageous enough to begin exploring the __hy___ and the __ho__' of life, the __ow___ and __hat___ of life start to come into focus as well. "

The spiritual journey is an adventure of exploration that gradually starts to open up before us when we are ready to begin asking the questions, __ho am I? and __ho are you?

To forgive a friend, one must practice generosity. To forgive an enemy, one must practice empathy. To forgive yourself requires charity. Forgiveness is a sacred act of gallantry.

It is in descending in the humble silence of prayer that we are able to ascend to the greatest heights of true human fulfillment in union with God.

Unity without uniformity, community without conformity.

The more you rely on intellectual and philosophical concepts of God, the more difficult it becomes to simply experience and enjoy the wonder of God.