As we continue our internal journey in Lent -- our journey of penitence, of turning toward God -- it is essential we wrestle with the question of sin, of the devil's persistence in pursuing us and how we're taught to overcome temptation. I write this as a sinner, constantly tempted and often failing in the … Continue reading Sweatin’ in the desert of temptation
Penitence
Lent: Not an end unto itself, but a call to greater action
Most of us start Lent asking ourselves, or being asked, “What will you give up?” This act of giving something up – a favorite food, a frivolous pastime or common distraction – is all many people know of Lent. At the heart of Lent is the effort to identify those aspects of our lives that … Continue reading Lent: Not an end unto itself, but a call to greater action
Searching our hearts for Jonah
Wednesday in the First Week of Lent "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" Jonah’s warning to the Ninevites – after his unsuccessful attempt to run from God, and his three-day encounter with a rather large fish – rings as true to us today as it did some 2,800 years ago. There’s some obvious … Continue reading Searching our hearts for Jonah
Stardust, ashes and surrendering all for everything
An Ash Wednesday reflection ... a few days late. Our entry into this period of self-examination and penitence traditionally begins with the visible mark of ashes on our forehead. If you’re lucky, the mark resembles a cross – the sign of our faith. But, whether you receive the perfect ashen Roman cross or something resembling … Continue reading Stardust, ashes and surrendering all for everything
The path to transformation
This post originally was begun on Shrove Tuesday, as part of an intended series of reflections on Lent. In keeping with the writer's sins of procrastination and poor time management it is offered here, on the first Friday in Lent. If you ever want to see one of the miracles of our everyday life, you … Continue reading The path to transformation
Sacrificing our children on the altar of greed and guns
This originally was published as an opinion column in the Feb. 16, 2018 Enid News & Eagle. By the time this prints, the fervor of media coverage surrounding the latest mass killing will have subsided. Funerals will be planned. Families will grieve. Survivors will suffer. A nation will shake its head in a collective “So … Continue reading Sacrificing our children on the altar of greed and guns
James R. Neal 