Posts Tagged: "Phil Needham"

the attraction of small graces and specific kindnesses

Advent Day 20: She Makes Oranges

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

The Christian religion asks us to put our trust not in ideas, and certainly not in ideologies, but in a God Who was vulnerable enough to become human and die, and Who desires to be present to us in our ordinary circumstances. —Kathleen Norris

In Phil Needham’s book When God Becomes Small, he shares the following…

I love the story Kathleen Norris tells about her three-year old niece. The girl’s father would drive her to day care in the morning on the way to work, and her mother would pick her up on the way home.

Often the mother would peel an orange and bring it to her daughter when she picked her up.

One day Norris came across her niece playing “Mommy’s office” on the front porch of their home. She asked her niece what her mommy (a stockbroker and financial planner) did at work.

“Without hesitation, and with a conviction I relish to this day,” says Norris, “she looked up at me and said, ‘She… Read More

take the risk post

And He Says, “Take The Risk”

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

Whoever we may be, living authentically in God’s image is a risk, because it is a rejection of the self-serving drives that enthrall us and keep us afraid to put our integrity on the line and release our compassion.

The choice is whether on this day to be full of ourselves or have fullness of life. We lean towards self-fullness when we ask, “What’s in it for me?”

The lowly paths are truly the most ambitious because they ask us to make the toughest choices. They require us to make sacrifices for good and not gain. They call forth from us the courage to let go of the lesser ambitions of self-advancement for the greater ambitions of God’s kingdom of grace, generosity, and compassion. They invite us to become big enough to become small, whatever our place in the social strata.

There we will find the treasure, the meaning of our humanity, the real fullness of life. Enduring significance is not found in our achievements; it is found in the countless and small ways we value and touch people

Enduring significance is not found in our achievements; it is… Read More

the attraction of small graces and specific kindnesses

The Attraction Of Small Graces & Specific Kindnesses

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

In Phil Needham’s book When God Becomes Small, he shares the following…

I love the story Kathleen Norris tells about her three-year old niece. The girl’s father would drive her to day care in the morning on the way to work, and her mother would pick her up on the way home.

Often the mother would peel an orange and bring it to her daughter when she picked her up.

One day Norris came across her niece playing “Mommy’s office” on the front porch of their home. She asked her niece what… Read More