“Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.” (Anthony of the Desert)

ABOUT “SALTSISTER”

“SaltSister” began at the tail end of a real life question: What if God can best be known outside the margins of all that is called “church”? I knew I had reached my limit when I left at the beginning of a church service one Sunday and sat on some steps outside so I could be close to God. I thought something must be wrong with me.

In the pages of “SaltSister” you will see contemplative writings, historical accounts and personal narratives. From time to time I may update this first page with new information, but I needed a front page to say, “Hello.” Share the wonderment and the struggles with me. Enjoy.

From WindRumors

If you haven’t read The Shack, you really should. I have read a lot of reviews on it, some right on and some that are plain stupid. I wondered how William Paul Young managed to process some of it. Personally, I loved the book — probably because I was not demanding or even expecting theological precision. It’s not that kind of book — and if people have to criticize it on “biblical” grounds, they ought to know it’s a literary fiction — not a catechism. It’s about the process that people undergo from a human point of view in coming to understand the dealings of God in our lives. Young gives us a wonderful insight into what he really believes in “The Beauty of Ambiguity (Mystery)”.

OUR POVERTY, GOD’S DWELLING PLACE

Someone sent this excellent word today.

How can we embrace poverty as a way to God when everyone around us wants to become rich? Poverty has many forms. We have to ask ourselves: “What is my poverty?” Is it lack of money, lack of emotional stability, lack of a loving partner, lack of security, lack of safety, lack of self-confidence? Each human being has a place of poverty. That’s the place where God wants to dwell! “How blessed are the poor,” Jesus says (Matthew 5:3). This means that our blessing is hidden in our poverty.

We are so inclined to cover up our poverty and ignore it that we often miss the opportunity to discover God, who dwells in it. Let’s dare to see our poverty as the land where our treasure is hidden. [Henry Nouwen]