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The Bible Makes It Clear That Every Time That There Is A Story Of Faith, It Is Completely Original. God's Creative Genius Is Endless.

This Kingdom Of God Life Is Not A Matter Of Waking Up Each Morning With A List Of Chores Or An Agenda To Be Tended To, Left On Our Bedside Table By The Holy Spirit For Us While We Slept. We Wake Up Already Immersed In A Large Story Of Creation And Covenant, Of Israel And Jesus, The Story Of Jesus And The Stories That Jesus Told. We Let Ourselves Be Formed By These Formative Stories, And Especially As We Listen To The Stories That Jesus Tells, Get A Feel For The Way He Does It, The Way He Talks, The Way He Treats People, The Jesus Way.

There Is Something About Christmas That Requires A Rug Rat. Little Kids Make Christmas Fun. I Wonder If Could Rent One For The Holidays. When I Was Tiny We Would By A Real Tree And Stay Up Late Drinking Hot Chocolate And Finding Just The Right Place For The Special Decorations.

"sabbath Is Not Primarily About Us Or How It Benefits Us; It Is About God, And How God Forms Us. It Is Not, In The First Place, About What We Do Or Don't Do; It Is About God - Completing And Resting And Blessing And Sanctifying. These Are All Things That We Don't Know Much About......but It Does Mean Stopping And Being Quiet Long Enough To See - Open-mouthed - With Wonder - Resurrection Wonder.....we Cultivate The "fear Of The Lord". Our Souls Are Formed By What We Cannot Work Up Or Take Charge Of. We Respond And Enter Into What The Resurrection Of Jesus Continues To Do."

Pity Is One Of The Noblest Emotions Available To Human Beings; Self-pity Is Possibly The Most Ignoble . . . . [it] Is An Incapacity, A Crippling Emotional Disease That Severely Distorts Our Perception Of Reality . . . A Narcotic That Leaves Its Addicts Wasted And Derelict.