I’m afraid to show you who I really am, because if I show you who I really am, you might not like it — and that’s all I got. Sabrina Ward Harrison In the classic story, The Phantom of the Opera, the title character hides for years in the Paris Opera House. When he is…
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In the place inside me where the hurt of abandonment had been, now only compassion lived. Antwone Fisher Antwone Fisher was placed in a foster home weeks after he was born and through most of his childhood. He spent 12 years with a family who abused him physically, verbally and sexually. He was later…
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Two friends accompanied another friend home from the hospital – a journey that took two plane flights and 24 hours of driving through 10 states over three-and-a-half days. The friend in the hospital was in a very dark and lonely place. Addictions and crushing mental health challenges have caused him and his family considerable anguish…
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Human relationships are rich; they’re messy and demanding. We have learned the habit of cleaning them up with technology … But it’s a process in which we shortchange ourselves. Worse, it seems that over time we stop caring, we forget that there is a difference. A recent article in The New York Times – “The…
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Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings. Miles Franklin This statement by the Australian author Miles Franklin has intrigued and found resonance with us since the very first time we read it. During our years as pastors – especially through visiting people who have been confined in their…
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“You must stop being a pleaser and reclaim your identity as a free self…You must stop seeing yourself through the eyes of others and trying to make them proud of you.” ~Henri Nouwen Where do you get your identity? Who gives you your self-worth? Do you need and depend on other people-parents, spouse, child, friend,…
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A human life has seasons much as the earth has seasons, each time with its own particular beauty and power. And gift. By focusing on springtime and summer, we have turned the natural process of life into a process of loss rather than a process of celebration and appreciation. Life is neither linear nor…
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A lot of the conflict you have in your life exists simply because you’re not living in alignment; you’re not being true to yourself.Steve Maraboli Tom works with a lot of college students right now. It’s amazing how many of them are pursuing studies that they do not enjoy, are following a career path that…
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When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that here is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and…
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