Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect?” (Matthew 5:48) Here’s my take on it…
5 Merciful
Invisible People (poem)
Invisible People J. Marshall Jenkins As I age, I see invisible people whom I once walked past in my youthful hurry. Some literally shrink, with brittle bones bowing, slow gaits, dim eyes, ears catching only echoes. They wear a practiced smile. My late mother retreated...
Christian Spirituality of Now: A Sermon on Matthew 24:36-44
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor...
Compassion Spills from God’s Broken Heart
A touching image of God’s mercy…
Pope Francis Takes On Global Indifference
Welcome, Pope Francis!
Because He Meets Us In Trials (poem)
Because He Meets Us In Trials J. Marshall Jenkins This restlessness to rest in God: Many set out with Wordsworth and take it to woods and fields green hazed yellow with daisies, birds a choir in flight. God is there, no doubt. However, such wandering retreats only...
HALT, Welcome, and Be Welcomed
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). Participants in Alcoholics Anonymous keep an eye on themselves with the acronym, HALT, which stands for, “Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired.” That experience cues them to call the sponsor, go to a...
Witness Defined: See the Beatitudes
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled....
By Mercy (poem)
By Mercy J. Marshall Jenkins Only by mercy do the merciless live another day, and only by mercy does another day come at all. By mercy the rainbow drapes every color over battlefields, and a young sycamore etches spring growth in winter sky. By mercy mortals play at...
A Therapist Queries His Wife, A Pianist, About Silence (poem)
A Therapist Queries His Wife, a Pianist, About Silence J. Marshall Jenkins (for Wanda, Valentine's Day 2024) When musicians talk, what do you say about the silence between the notes? Is it like the silence between us as we sleep and eat or as we segue from talking...
Mother Teresa and the Thirsty Christ
How far must you go to give a drink of water to the poor? Calcutta? Across town? Next door?
“The Miracles at Hand”: Buechner on the Good Samaritan
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). In his sermon, "The Miracles at Hand" (The Magnificent Defeat, pp.136-144), Frederick Buechner offers a compassionate reading of Jesus' greatest parable on compassion, "The Good Samaritan" (Luke...