Bible

Passover and Easter symbolize release from the bondage of despair

Once upon a time, in what feels like a galaxy far, far away, faith was about love, compassion, protection, and building each other up. Those things create a quiet, personal righteousness.  But now a loud, public righteousness is fueled by anger with no room for forgiveness or redemption. Passover and Easter symbolize the power to […]

Your Life’s Purpose: Joy is Enough

“What is my purpose?”  The question is special when you sidestep the great abyss, like I did, surviving a cancerous lung tumor. I recovered fully during pandemic isolation, a big helping of time to ask, “And that happened because…?” I examined my reason for existence.  Find a cancer cure?  End world hunger? Create a global […]

Message from Mother Mary: Thought provoking and reassuring

Suzette here.  I’ve been attending different meditation circles, and one woman said that she received a message from Mother Mary.  Whether you believe the vision is real or not is not the point.  The message itself is profound and thought provoking.  When I asked permission to share it, the woman was afraid of hateful feedback. […]

My burden is light: when realization is a heavy load

Christianity gets bad PR from our so-called “very own.” The label “Christian” doesn’t automatically make one Christ-like. You’re not a financial expert just because you play Sudoku numbers.   Many outsiders stereotype Christianity as inflexible, judgmental, harsh, exclusive, and self-righteous. In one sense, they are right. Christianity has been hijacked to a public and perverse […]

Diver Ed O’Brien: stewardship of the oceans

(The Alvin carried aboard The Atlantis at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, photo taken by Suzette Standring) We toured the Atlantis and the Neil Armstrong, research vehicle ships, at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (www.whoi.edu) in Massachusetts. The men and women who work  toward the health of our oceans reminded me of Psalm 107: 23-24 inscribed […]