In James, the "religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (1:27).
Practicing What I Believe 5: Religion
When Fear is Love
What if being safe and listening the CDC guidelines is not an act of fear at all but an act of love?
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Practicing What I Believe 4: Morning Prayers
Sometimes we feel like the world is falling apart. Like the disciples panicking in the storm, we look at the waves and wind and wonder when the boat will sink.
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Practicing What I Believe 3: Waste
The problem is that waste is a part of our daily lives. We can't go to a party or a restaurant without receiving plastics and styrofoams. This is an issue that is constantly creating cognitive dissonance in me.
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Practicing What I Believe 2: Meat
First... If you missed last week, I'm hoping to write a series on things that I have been trying to do to practice what I believe. I want to share these thoughts and ideas with you, not only to have a space to keep me accountable, but also to have a discussion about the best... Continue Reading →
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Cognitive Dissonance, Despair, and Practicing What We Believe
Whenever we have a conviction and cannot or do not live by it, we create a mental distance between our beliefs and our actions--we are singing two notes that don't go together. To protect ourselves, we mute the noise. As the distance grows, so does our guilt and despair.
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Gardening for Hope
The Creation story begins in a garden, where humanity is seen as caretakers, and I can't help but think that, whenever we return to the garden, we reclaim some sense of our original purpose and feel more alive in doing so.
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Anticipation Over Worry
Christian anticipation does more than look ahead--it looks behind at what Jesus has already done to save us, once and for all. Anything we could ever ask for has already been done, so we know our hopes will be fulfilled.
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You Already Know What You Need to Know
If we have been on this earth long enough, we have already heard or read many of the things we have needed to know, especially if we are actively seeking wisdom for certain areas of our lives. Yet we still keep seeking, and even when we take in advice, we don't always follow through with it.
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The Benefits of Stooping Down
I have always loved nature photography. When I was struggling with depression during my senior year of college, my eyes ached from scrolling through Pinterest for pictures of mountains and butterflies and birds. I watched nature documentaries. I obsessed over pictures of snails taken by photographer Vyacheslav Mishchenko. I sat outside in the cold and... Continue Reading →
