Mike Paschall . com

In her Dialogues, St. Catherine of Siena pictures the spiritual life as a large tree:

> The Trunk of the tree is love.

> The core of the tree, that middle part that must be alive for the rest of the tree to be alive is patience.

> The roots of the tree are self-knowledge.

> The many branches, reaching out into the air, are discernment.

>In other words, says Catherine, love does not happen without patience, self-knowledge, and discernment.

Today we have little encouragement toward honest self-knowledge or training in spiritual discernment from our churches. We prefer the seeming clarity of [duality] black-and-white laws. By nature, most of us are not very patient. All of which means that love is not going to be very common. We need St. Catherine’s tree again.

+Adapted from Radical Grace Meditations, pp. 184-185

This is really something to ponder. Eugene Peterson’s translation of 1 Corinthians 13 is so blatantly obvious and insightful to the current condition of not only our world, but the Church (the Bride of Christ) itself. WHEN did it become fashionable and quite normal [yawn] for the Church to be so agitated with hate, unabashed bias, comfortably divided, pridefully exclusive, and unashamedly at ease with groping for social and political prominence? Did Palm Sunday teach us nothing? “So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love” (1 Cor. 13:3). WHEN did this not apply to us anymore? —MDP

“If you cringe at your former self, that’s good—it means you’ve grown.

Never stop cringing.”  MARK MANSON

LIVE YOUR LOVE… THE WORLD NEEDS IT!