Disappointment

"The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a wood shed with him."

- Henry David Thoreau

No Tangible Experiences of God

"... I compared the Camino to a Prayer Labyrinth and the Santiago Cathedral as the center of the Labyrinth. The journey to the center is a process of dying, of letting go, of repenting, of releasing lost dreams, of laying down past rejections, failures and hurts. Sitting here in a cafe in Santiago, that sentiment feels more true now then when I wrote it, closer to the beginning of the Way.

So many of my friends (and maybe me too) are losing the ability to trust God. They are losing faith because God doesn’t show up. God is not fulfilling the promises of so many pastors and worship songs.

I have to keep reminding myself that Mother Teresa struggled to believe and said that God had never spoken to her. I need to remember that the vast majority of Bible characters did not get their hopes fulfilled or have tangible spiritual experiences.

I am in good company.

Instead of God living up to my expectations, I am going to meditate these next days on what it might look like to lean into God’s expectations.

- Tony Kriz (Blog May 29, 2018)

The Life I've Chosen

"I figured I'd put myself into an impregnable position and that no one would threaten to drive me from the life - and the death -  I had chosen. I stood up to the tearful, tragic letters from my mother and the free one one-way airplane tickets to Los Angeles or San Francisco sent to me by friends who couldn't believe that I lived as I did because I wanted to."

- Moritz Thomsen. The Saddest Pleasure