Loving God and loving one another - Dorothy Day

This is a profound thought:

We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.

- Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness (via invisibleforeigner)

Pray that the moments of your life are filled with opportunities for loving God and loving one another. Pray that even where there is 'a crust' with companionship that your togetherness in Christ would be a sustaining and nourishing meal of grace.

I am experiencing the grace of togetherness this week as I get to know sisters and brothers from all over the world at the Global Kingdom Partnership Network conference in Orlando Florida. Indeed, God has placed a rich blend of diversity in the body of Christ. We discover aspects of God's gracious diversity as we encounter one another in love.

Kenosis is theosis...

Life, communion and community

This is a very powerful quote on community and communion:

We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.
— Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness

Sometimes I do find it difficult to be a part of an honest, loving Church community. But, I realize that it is often my ego that causes me to feel this way. When I am honest, I have to admit that I cannot live without the gracious acceptance and love of God's people. I discover God, others, myself and what it means to truly live.

Who is welcome at His table?

Last night we confirmed 24 young people at the Church where I am a member and preacher, Bryanston Methodist Church. It is an incredible community! There are people with such passion, passion for Christ, passion for Christ's mission, and passion for this world. What amazes me even more is the flexibility and gentleness with which they handle my constant challenge. I always love being a servant at our community's table - there is a diversity of the kind that can only be found in God's rich Kingdom.

The challenging quote below came from an email message sent by Rev Colin Garvie. Colin, this is magnificent! Thank you so much for sharing it!

My mentor in seminary had a saying when she welcomed people to the table that I believe is applicable here: "The question is not whether you are invited to the table for God invites everyone. The only question that remains is whether or not you are willing to sit at the table with everyone else whom God invites."

I use this saying each week when I welcome people to the table and it perhaps summarizes my position relative to grace (though I'm not sure I grasped that previously). What I find astonishing is that when some church members hear of "amazing grace" or universal grace, they become angry and adamant: they simply "don't think it's fair" that those "other people" get into the kingdom along with them. Will such an attitude exclude them? I don't know and it's not my concern. Ultimately, all this is up to God and I don't worry about it---mainly because I believe "unconditional love" means precisely that, unconditional.

- Janet Weiblen, PRCL-L, 1 October 2007