“This whole place is his temple, in which angel hosts are crying out, ‘Holy, holy, holy’ (Revelation 4:8). If we treat any of it—its air, its land, its work, its money—as if it were anything other than holy, we pollute it. We leech the life out of it, and the life we take from it is God’s life” (this page).
“The words hail, holy, hello, and whole are all related. Is it possible for us to sing ‘Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here’ in the same spirit we sing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’?” (this page). How well are you embracing the sacred nature of everyday life? In what deeper ways is Christ inviting you to encounter the world with earthy wonder and holy love?
Examining Our Witness
“A fear of the unknown must not set boundaries for our lives. An overweening desire for comfort must not inhibit our appetites for danger. The life of Christ is not complete in us when we have received it but only when we risk it against lies and indifference and evil” (this page).
Christ puts before us “an open door to the people who need us, to the world where others are waiting for a credible witness and a committed friend. Will you go through the open door? Or will you huddle in the comfort of religion?” (this page).
Examining Our Commitment
“We cannot be lukewarm spectators before such a Christ. We can be only passionate participants or ice-cold deniers. We can keep him at arm’s length for only so long—his persistent knocking rouses us to respond” (this page).
Prayerfully consider your heart. Where has your faith grown passive or complacent? Without shame or fear, consider what deeper invitation to passionate life that Christ might be extending to you at this time in your life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, is the beloved author of more than thirty books, including A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Run with the Horses, As Kingfishers Catch Fire, and A Month of Sundays. He earned his master’s degree in Semitic languages from Johns Hopkins University and also held several honorary doctorates. Peterson was the founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he and his wife, Jan, served for twenty-nine years before retiring in 1991. Peterson held the title of professor emeritus of spiritual theology at Regent College, British Columbia, from 1998 until his death in 2018.
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