For the longest time I was finding it hard to have anything in common with my own age group. Here I am, a 21 single girl, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I take care of my mind, body & soul, and I have this amazing friendship with God. I want to learn so much & experience so much, that sometimes I feel like I isolate myself because I am not following the normal life of a 21 yr old. Until I found this website, I was at a loss for relating with other people about spirituality, keeping my prayers to myself.

Is it really possible for us to believe (trust in the reality & goodness of) anything that we haven't actually experienced?

Personally, I don't think so. What do you think?

Dear Wonder Friends,

As some of you may know, I have been in hospital since April.

Isn't it about time we built a bridge over the troubled waters between the sacred and the secular?

Let's begin by accepting the fact that both have much in common and are valid ways seeing and living within what we experience as reality, the now.

I was looking for another story to post this morning, but came across this one and wanted to share.

Did they know what they asked

When they woke you that day

Fear brought them to the edge

Phil starts in. “A lot of Christians,” he says, leaning on the side of the dumpster, “think that hope is in church, or in ritual, or in prayer or pious behavior. But most of ‘em believe that ultimately, hope is in heaven. They are just waiting for their tickets out of this madhouse so they can take it easy in the sweet bye and bye.” He pauses, and I shiver, nodding dumbly.

In a time when the oxymoronical slogan of the day is, "There are no absolutes!" and the shout is declared as a glorious message of liberty, I am glad that there are some things that are solid and true. We have the freedom today to believe anything we want as long as we do not believe it exclusively. We can hold a particular belief as long as we recognize that many other contradictory beliefs are also true no matter how unreasonable the conflict of ideas we hold simultaneously seems to be.

What is our response? What is GOd's response? THat is the question at the base of my sermon for next Sunday.

Click here to read my early thoughts

As the refrain in More Voices says: Don't be afraid, my love is stronger. My love is stronger than your fear...ANd I have promised, promised to be always here.