We offer spiritual reflections that relate Scripture and faith to our everyday lives. You can subscribe to the Providence Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
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It’s not easy, but the essence of God’s call is simple: imitate Christ by loving God and caring for our neighbors with our whole hearts, minds, and souls because we are one with each other.
Read MoreDo you feel like you could use a little more hope these days? Who doesn’t? And who doesn’t want to find ways to build endurance and maybe even maintain a sense of hope when things get hard? Well, there are no easy answers or practices, but there are some things we can do to raise our endurance and also our hope.
Read MoreWhat would it be like to unveil ourselves, to free ourselves from assumptions and suspicions so that we see and love each other as we are? What would it be like to lay down our defenses and create a safe space for everyone?
Read MoreGod doesn’t ask us to deny our heartbreaks, but God does want to protect us from the further harm that comes from ruminating on negativity. Life brings hard things, but it also offers things which are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise. What if we spend some of our prayer reflecting on the good in our lives and some of it sharing the difficult things with God? “Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard [our] hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Read MoreGod calls each of us to authenticity, to discernment, to aligning our words and actions. It’s challenging to live this way, but God is with us, guiding and caring for us no matter what we say or do -- yes, no, or even maybe.
Read MoreGod is somewhere within me and you, but God is still God. The fullness of God is more than just me, vastly more. I need to be reminded that God is great Mystery, the omniscient Creator of the universe, that gentle but powerful Presence that cares for me and for all people and creation beyond what we can even imagine.
Read MoreAnger is not a bad thing, but wrath -- that can cause some harm. Which kind of anger am I embracing, nourishing, and putting out to the universe? Only when I can name anger and identify its flavor can I know how God is calling me to respond with action, mercy, healing, or forgiveness.
Read MoreWhen I see care and compassion expressed in my communities, I see how community is not about perfection but about love. I am incomplete on my own; I need to be in relationship to see God manifested. Even though communities are imperfect, God is present in them.
Read MoreGod’s call is not to conform ourselves to everything happening around us but to allow the vision of God’s kingdom of justice, peace, and love to give us hope. God’s will is for us to work to make this vision a lived reality that’s good and pleasing and perfect for everyone.
Read MoreThe beloved community is worth working for. In the spirit of Pentecost, as we celebrate the breath of the Spirit moving over people and drawing them together, God is calling us too.
Read MoreAs grown-up disciples in the faith, we also must step up and step out to do the work of love and service that Jesus started. We have a whole lot of proclaiming to do. How is God calling us to serve now? How must we respond to this call?
Read MoreGod is the source of my hope, and God shows me how to make a practice of hope. That’s not the same as trying to manufacture hope within myself; it’s more like seeking out the hope that God has already infused within me.
Read Morehttps://anchor.fm/leslie-keener-cdp/
Read MoreThere are no spiritual life hacks into the Kingdom of God. It's something we work to build bit by bit, something that emerges from within us as we keep growing in the spiritual life. God loves us as we are and invites us to be more. In God’s invitation, there will likely be a little bit of challenge, and that’s okay. Challenge is how we grow. Someday we’ll look back and see how far we’ve come.
Read MoreYes, our hearts are burning. They might be big and blaze-y or softly glowing or sputtering with reluctant sparks, but God is with us. We seek God even as God seeks us, walking along the road we travel every single day.
Read MoreI’ve heard people say that questioning is okay but doubting is wrong, but I think questioning is okay, and doubting is okay too. God doesn’t seem to mind when we doubt. In fact, doubt can be an opening for God to come closer and show us God’s love and care; it can be a means to transformation.
Read MoreDarkness and light are neither good nor bad; they’re both parts of the whole. We can’t consider suffering apart from resurrection, and we can only enter into resurrection joy while bearing the experience of suffering. Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death and resurrection? Christ is with us in darkness and light.
Read MorePalm Sunday shows us the extremes of human experiences as Jesus is celebrated but then betrayed, condemned, and executed. We see how fast things can change – in this Passion story and in our own lives too. However, through all of life’s joys and sorrows, we can trust that God is with us. And when the intensity of it all feels like too much to hold, God holds us.
Read MoreWhy is important to hold a space for our grief, sorrow, and pain — especially if we’d rather look away or just go about our lives as if those emotions weren’t there? Because they are a part of life, and despite their difficulty, our struggles give God a chance to show us God’s love and to show us that we have cause to hope. And we do have cause to hope. Maybe hope is what God’s glory feels like.
Read MoreWe’re called to see as God does, to look beyond appearances into the heart of things, including our own hearts. As we go within, we recognize God working in our lives, and we discern how to respond to God with our whole hearts.
Read MoreGod Space is a spiritual community, a space of welcome and belonging. We’re not a church, but some of us go to church, and some are more spiritual than religious. However we identify, we come together to explore faith and build connection through small groups, social events, prayer, and community service. Come and connect at God Space. You belong here.
