Aligning with Grace

I begin a journal of writing down 1000 things I am grateful for - 1000 reasons to give thanks and to touch the sky and kiss the earth... I am moved to do so, after reading Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are... We miss so many of the opportunities we could be grateful for - for they are truly the simple things that fill our quotidian life and endeavors - a smile, a touch, a good cup of coffee, the sunrise, a walk through the woods, or your neighborhood, precious time spent with a loved one... There is such beauty in simplicity and often, it is so easy to miss... And it takes a snow storm - no - a blizzard - to slow me down - to show me the way of simplicity, of gratitude, of the exquisite beauty of a storm raging without any checks and balances, with nothing to corner it in... When it ends, everything is blanketed in stillness... There are no paths or streets - and no demarcations between one dwelling and the next... A...

I am reading Love Wins, by Rob Bell, and am drawn in by its stark simplicity and deep truth, that is both thought-provoking and controversial... I do not normally read this kind of book, but a review by Krista Tippett in The Washington Post and an article in Time certainly caught my interest... "God Love us. God offers us everlasting life by grace, freely, through no merit on our part." So affirms the back cover... Here's the thing, there is much in this book that I agree with. And so much that is "tantric" in nature as well. I'm sure that's not something the author might expect to hear! I know, I have much to explain. But I think this book could revolutionize Christianity, and why not? Bell asks: "I have long wondered if there is a massive shift coming in what it meant to be a Christian. Something new is in the air." He also says, "Love demands freedom." I may have to revisit this book. It would be interesting to illustrate the ta...