I soaked this post up like a sponge. I loved every single line, seeing it all in my minds eye.
Paul's focus on the aspect of simplicity is spot on. It comes down to that...after all is said and done for us all, living lives of suffering along side of you as every reader does, we will all eventually come to see things through Paul's eyes and be better for it.
Less is more and simplicity is the best of all. Peace is to be found there.
Steve I’ve just subscribed out of thanks for that photo of the Resurrection Window at Christendom College. That was removed from my now closed Parish Sacred Heart of Wilkes-Barre PA. Seeing it now is like discovering a long lost photo of a beloved relative. Thank You!!! And May God grant you peace in the days ahead.
Hey Steve, I subscribed just now because of your talk concerning your struggle with faith. What your friend told you about simplicity surely is important. I often think that all God wants is for us to be is obedient children - in spite of the suffering. But you have to ask yourself, why does God want us to be obedient? For me, it's because He wants us to be like Him.
Here's my paraphrase of 1 Peter 1:14:
As children of obedience, do not conform your life as you previously did to forbidden cravings in your moral blindness and ignorance, but rather as the One who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all manner of life, behavior, and conduct; for indeed it is written, “become holy, for I am, always have been, and always will be holy”.
The verse normally reads, "Be holy, for I am holy", but then God is the eternal I am. The point here is that He is never going to change. He's never going to become like us, so we have to become like Him. Which may seem impossible, but then that is what faith to me is all about. It's believing I can change to become increasingly like Him.
Think of it this way. If we all lived more like Him, would there be such suffering?
And then, you have to ask yourself, what is God up to anyway? Why did He create us? What does He want? Why does He even care if we are obedient or not?
And here, I truly love what my favorite bible teacher (David Pawson) says. He summed up the entire bible this way: The bible is the story of a Father searching for a bride for His son.
That's it. End of story.
But how can we become the bride of Christ if we don't become like Him? Moreover, seeing ourselves as a potential bride changes how we view suffering. For the more we can love - in spite of our suffering - the more we become like Him - the more beautiful a bride we are.
Read the book of Hosea. God commanded that the prophet marry a prostitute - that would then run away from him - and that he would have to buy back. God did that so that Hosea could feel what God felt about His bride Israel. God was saying, feel My suffering. All I want is a bride who will love Me as I love her.
The amazing thing is the length God will go to get us back.
What I'm saying is that this goes way beyond theology. It gets to the heart of why we're here. To why I'm here. To why you're here.
I recently started receiving your substack posts. This one was a real surprise! I was not expecting to see Cottonwood Ranch and the Uhlenkotts! I moved to Virginia from Idaho 3 years ago where I knew fathers Ben and Mark Uhlenkott. Small world.
I read your recent testament to life’s crash and burn; been there & done that, and it touched me deeply. Sometimes our ride through life is like United Flight 93; we struggle against hijackers but still end up crashing. I was encouraged for you that you recognized that in all the repeating crises the common element is myself. In the deep thought of Buckaroo Banzai, “No matter where you go, there you are.”
I don’t know if you saw Fr Nix’s Substack post:
Suffering Transformed In Your Life (by a Dominican.)
That brief meditation has been a great help in making sense of my prior disasters, and now my 3rd and final upcoming crash; even if it be a slower terminal descent.
For what it’s worth, the circle doesn’t square…
I’d love to treat you to a cup of coffee and lunch if you come through Virginia Beach, and lend an ear.
Faith is a funny thing. Mine took a while to become real. Even though I'd been a Christian for decades, I had little real faith, I just believed from what I'd read and by going to mass that Catholicism was true.
That is not faith, it's a persuasion, a beginning.
Great post, what I small world, I just drove by his new store on Thursday, Front Royal is an incredible area, it even has a hipster vibe on Main Street, such a beautiful area
Your writing is as good as Tolstoy. Keep going, good things are in store for you and yours. St. Padre Pio: "Pray, hope, and don't worry". If you put a cam on your dash from time to time and just talk (facing it outward toward the passing scenery, facing it inward to your presence by turns), you'd get 1000 subscribers in one month, easily, on youtube. That would be just the start. Yesterday was St. Francis of Assissi's Feast Day. October 1 was St. Therese-- Little Flower's-- Feast Day. October 15th St. Teresa of Avila's Feast Day. I'm asking all the Saints (and more, all the angels) to help you find what you're looking for (U-tube "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for.") All Saints and All Souls Days straight ahead. God bless you and yours.
"Calling All Angels" for peace and calm in all the world.
Song by Jane Siberry an K.D. Lang enclosed. If it helps, use it.
Steve
I soaked this post up like a sponge. I loved every single line, seeing it all in my minds eye.
Paul's focus on the aspect of simplicity is spot on. It comes down to that...after all is said and done for us all, living lives of suffering along side of you as every reader does, we will all eventually come to see things through Paul's eyes and be better for it.
Less is more and simplicity is the best of all. Peace is to be found there.
Steve I’ve just subscribed out of thanks for that photo of the Resurrection Window at Christendom College. That was removed from my now closed Parish Sacred Heart of Wilkes-Barre PA. Seeing it now is like discovering a long lost photo of a beloved relative. Thank You!!! And May God grant you peace in the days ahead.
Hey Steve, I subscribed just now because of your talk concerning your struggle with faith. What your friend told you about simplicity surely is important. I often think that all God wants is for us to be is obedient children - in spite of the suffering. But you have to ask yourself, why does God want us to be obedient? For me, it's because He wants us to be like Him.
Here's my paraphrase of 1 Peter 1:14:
As children of obedience, do not conform your life as you previously did to forbidden cravings in your moral blindness and ignorance, but rather as the One who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all manner of life, behavior, and conduct; for indeed it is written, “become holy, for I am, always have been, and always will be holy”.
The verse normally reads, "Be holy, for I am holy", but then God is the eternal I am. The point here is that He is never going to change. He's never going to become like us, so we have to become like Him. Which may seem impossible, but then that is what faith to me is all about. It's believing I can change to become increasingly like Him.
Think of it this way. If we all lived more like Him, would there be such suffering?
And then, you have to ask yourself, what is God up to anyway? Why did He create us? What does He want? Why does He even care if we are obedient or not?
And here, I truly love what my favorite bible teacher (David Pawson) says. He summed up the entire bible this way: The bible is the story of a Father searching for a bride for His son.
That's it. End of story.
But how can we become the bride of Christ if we don't become like Him? Moreover, seeing ourselves as a potential bride changes how we view suffering. For the more we can love - in spite of our suffering - the more we become like Him - the more beautiful a bride we are.
Read the book of Hosea. God commanded that the prophet marry a prostitute - that would then run away from him - and that he would have to buy back. God did that so that Hosea could feel what God felt about His bride Israel. God was saying, feel My suffering. All I want is a bride who will love Me as I love her.
The amazing thing is the length God will go to get us back.
What I'm saying is that this goes way beyond theology. It gets to the heart of why we're here. To why I'm here. To why you're here.
Hello Steve,
I recently started receiving your substack posts. This one was a real surprise! I was not expecting to see Cottonwood Ranch and the Uhlenkotts! I moved to Virginia from Idaho 3 years ago where I knew fathers Ben and Mark Uhlenkott. Small world.
I read your recent testament to life’s crash and burn; been there & done that, and it touched me deeply. Sometimes our ride through life is like United Flight 93; we struggle against hijackers but still end up crashing. I was encouraged for you that you recognized that in all the repeating crises the common element is myself. In the deep thought of Buckaroo Banzai, “No matter where you go, there you are.”
I don’t know if you saw Fr Nix’s Substack post:
Suffering Transformed In Your Life (by a Dominican.)
https://padreperegrino.substack.com/p/suffering-transformed-in-your-life
That brief meditation has been a great help in making sense of my prior disasters, and now my 3rd and final upcoming crash; even if it be a slower terminal descent.
For what it’s worth, the circle doesn’t square…
I’d love to treat you to a cup of coffee and lunch if you come through Virginia Beach, and lend an ear.
May God bless you
Wonderful to hear of your healing journey.
Faith is a funny thing. Mine took a while to become real. Even though I'd been a Christian for decades, I had little real faith, I just believed from what I'd read and by going to mass that Catholicism was true.
That is not faith, it's a persuasion, a beginning.
Prayer helps, and you have mine.
Great post, what I small world, I just drove by his new store on Thursday, Front Royal is an incredible area, it even has a hipster vibe on Main Street, such a beautiful area
Great post, Steve. Perhaps one to reread yourself, on dark days.
Your writing is as good as Tolstoy. Keep going, good things are in store for you and yours. St. Padre Pio: "Pray, hope, and don't worry". If you put a cam on your dash from time to time and just talk (facing it outward toward the passing scenery, facing it inward to your presence by turns), you'd get 1000 subscribers in one month, easily, on youtube. That would be just the start. Yesterday was St. Francis of Assissi's Feast Day. October 1 was St. Therese-- Little Flower's-- Feast Day. October 15th St. Teresa of Avila's Feast Day. I'm asking all the Saints (and more, all the angels) to help you find what you're looking for (U-tube "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for.") All Saints and All Souls Days straight ahead. God bless you and yours.
"Calling All Angels" for peace and calm in all the world.
Song by Jane Siberry an K.D. Lang enclosed. If it helps, use it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRUErh47sao