I’ve talked about control many times while writing this blog, and now I think it’s time to share something I was given near the beginning of my training as a Spiritual Director in the Wellstreams Program here in Columbus. Many of the handouts we received had been photocopied many times, some of them probably from … Continue reading Acts 5:27-42 Gamaliel’s Freedom
The contemporary spiritual world is full of talk about shadows. This is due to the influence of Carl Jung, who talked about shadows as those parts of ourselves that we want to keep hidden, both from our neighbors and God, but most of all from ourselves. When we feel a strong dislike for someone and … Continue reading Acts 5:12-26 Peter’s Shadow
Imagine this story being told around the table at one of the many meals that Paul presided over, Luke sitting to one side and noting everything. People are eating, dipping bread into olive oil, picking over fish, and as they eat they tell stories of Jesus and the disciples, engaging in the kind of deep … Continue reading Acts 5:1-11 Learning to Live Under Discipline
It’s the generosity of the church that has always helped her to grow and give meaning to people’s lives. Long after the humble group of Jesus’ disciples had become the church of empire, long after Constantine and the great struggles over doctrine, long after the fall of the Roman empire in the west, it was … Continue reading Acts 4:32-37 Giving and Receiving
No sooner has the community of the first church come together than it is threatened and afraid. All these early Christians really want to do is wander about the temple praying and helping out the people who ask them for help. Their actions are so inoffensive that it seems almost impossible that they should be … Continue reading Acts 4:23-41 The Community Threatened
KPB Stevens 