Prayer

The cup of submission, of suffering, of death itself becomes the vessel not of our punishment or of God’s wrath, but of our salvation.

I was deeply moved by a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane and to the Church of All Nations that is accessible through the garden.

Whether we imbibed that living water at a religious summer camp, in a youth group or simply through the regular practice of attending church with family, we are blessed by the abiding, grounding presence of God, even when we drift away.

Although it doesn’t always seem so, waiting is an inherently hopeful activity.

As we prepare to enter with Christ into the protracted pain and suffering of his passion and death, let us determine to reach beyond them towards the endless delight that awaits us the other side of the tomb: the delight of life with God.

In times of trouble, our connection to God is our surest lifeboat.

Searching for God takes effort; it is not just for Sundays alone.

God is also a transcendent deity whose grandeur and majesty command our attention and our reverence.

Perhaps we should ask, with the Russian Orthodox monk and theologian Anthony Bloom, “When we think of the absence of God, is it not worthwhile to ask ourselves whom we blame for it?”