Love’s Tenacity

Good Friday
Love’s Tenacity
Reflection By Gary Manning

[Love] bears all things, … endures all things.
- 1 Corinthians 13:7

My maternal grandparents were married for well over fifty years. Because they were people of a time and place—poor, hardscrabble share-cropping farmers in rural Louisiana at the beginning of the twentieth century—their expressions of love towards each other probably wouldn’t be recognized by anyone whose vision of love comes from the Hallmark Channel. Sometimes they raised their voices at each other. Sometimes they seemed more aggravated than enamored with each other. Sometimes they just seemed worn out. But when my grandmother died, my grandfather never quite recovered. They had been partners who had traversed the difficulties and hardships of their life by counting on each other. In short, their resilient love had endured.

Good Friday means many things to folks, but at the center of what Christians commemorate on this day is the embodiment of God’s love. Jesus chooses to so fully enter into the injustice and suffering of this world that we can forever know God’s love is with us, even in those moments when we feel most isolated and alone. God’s love bears cruelty and pain. And God’s love endures. This is a tenacious love which will not succumb to any of our culture’s notions that love is somehow simple or easy.

Every year, Good Friday reminds us of the unyielding depth of God’s love—a love that will not relent; a love that will not surrender; a love that holds the entire world securely, and forever, within its loving embrace.

Making it Personal: Some of us who are reading this are experiencing suffering of some sort in our lives right now. How does the love manifested in Jesus’ death on the cross help you, or how has it helped you, to “bear all things,” and “endure all things”?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Love Has a Look

Maundy Thursday
Love Has a Look
Reflection By Gary Manning

I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. … If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
- John 13:15, 17

I have a friend who has consistently reminded me that, “Love has a look to it.” In other words, we know we are loved, not by the things people say to us, but in the ways they behave toward us day in and day out. My friend is constantly telling anyone who will listen that expressing love to those around us involves time, effort, and sometimes, inconvenience.

On this special day, Christians remember the way Jesus showed love and concern for his closest friends. At what would be his last meal with them, Jesus took a towel, wrapped it around his waist, got a basin and some water, and washed his disciples’ feet. This action wasn’t simply a matter of practicality, it was also an act of loving service.

I can't imagine Jesus sped through the process. I have to think he took his time. He gave each person around the table the gift of his full attention. Can you imagine what the experience must have been like for Jesus’ friends?

Embodying love in our own lives can be as straightforward as offering simple acts of kindness, or taking the time to give another person the gift of our full attention. This is what living the life of faith is all about. We can afford to risk loving others because we have been loved by the God who refused to stay far away, but who got up close and personal with humanity. This is the God who created the universe, and who still took the time to wash feet.

Making it Personal: Who are the people in your life who have demonstrated love to you? How did they do it? What does it mean to you to serve others?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

The Power of Love

Wednesday in Holy Week
The Power of Love

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious
or boastful or arrogant or rude.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4–5

Holy Week began with the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem for the final week of his earthly life. Because many of us know the story of his entering the city while riding on a donkey so well, we may fail to realize the shocking nature of such an entrance. 

If Caesar, Herod, or a similar Roman official had been entering Jerusalem during the time of Jesus, their entrance would have been markedly different. They would have arrived in an ornate chariot pulled by a large team of mighty horses, surrounded by a grand military presence on foot and on horseback, completely outfitted with the best weapons of their day.

The two different kinds of entrances point to two very different sources of power. Jesus’ entrance is grounded in the power of love, vulnerability, and humility. The Roman officials’ entrance is grounded in the power of force, fear, protection, and control. 

As Holy Week unfolds, Jesus consistently demonstrates this alternative form of power. When faced with betrayal in the garden, he meets violence with peace. When questioned about his authority, he speaks of a kingdom built on love rather than force. Even on the cross, he offers words of forgiveness rather than condemnation.

Jesus refuses to let his followers defend him with weapons or violence. This isn’t weakness, but a revelation of love’s true power—the ability to remain faithful even in the face of death. As you reflect on his choices, consider and reflect on your own life right now. 

Making it Personal: When are you choosing to act like Jesus did, acting from a place of love, vulnerability, and humility? When are you choosing to act from a place of fear, protection, and control?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

In His Steps

Tuesday in Holy Week
In His Steps

Charity is rather a participation in God’s unconditional love. ... The continual tender and loving awareness of the presence of God is its reward.
- Thomas Keating

Yesterday, we wrote that love is not primarily a feeling, but a decision. This means that love is an act of the will and is something we decide to practice, which is a much more expansive understanding of love than merely thinking of it as a feeling.

The love Jesus demonstrates during Holy Week shows us what this deeper love looks like. Each choice he makes flows from his complete surrender to and participation in God’s unconditional love. His actions reveal a love that transcends emotion—love that gives without counting the cost, forgives without condition, and remains faithful even in the face of betrayal. 

Every step Jesus takes this week teaches us about the nature of divine love. From his entrance into Jerusalem through the events that will unfold in the coming days, we see a love that reaches both giver and receiver. When he could have retreated to safety, he chooses to remain present. When his disciples fall asleep in the garden, he continues to pray. When Peter denies him, he response with compassion rather than condemnation.

These moments are not just historical events, but holy invitations to participate more fully in God’s love. As we journey with Jesus this week, we are called to practice this deeper love in our own lives—choosing presence over absence, mercy over judgement, service over self-interest.

Making it Personal: Where in your life are you being called to move beyond emotional love to love as decision and action? What helps you stay grounded in God’s love when facing difficult choices. How might this Holy Week deepen your understanding of Christ’s self-giving love?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Walking the Way of Love

Monday in Holy Week
Walking the Way of Love

By walking the way of life and love, his place of true belonging, Jesus walked as his authentic self, love incarnate, toward suffering and death.
- Jenifer Gamber

In her Palm Sunday reflection, Jenifer Gamber provided a perfect way to orient our journey through Holy Week. Love is the fruit of the Spirit that we will focus on this week, and it is the culmination of all the other fruits of the Spirit that we have explored together throughout Lent.

The Christian understanding of love is twofold. First, we humble and empty ourselves to fully receive God’s love and to fill ourselves with this gift. As Thomas Keating reminds us, this is not simply emotional love, but what he calls agape—“self-giving love as opposed to self-seeking love.” Then, we focus on how we are called to share God’s love in the world. 

Our culture often focuses on love as a feeling. As people of faith, love is more than a feeling; it is a decision. Jesus models love as a decision in all of the choices he makes this week. Through his example, Thomas Keating goes on to describe how “the growth of charity leads to self-surrender to God and to the compassionate love of others.”

As we begin our journey through Holy Week, we invite you to reflect on both aspects of Christian love, the receiving and sharing of it. We  also invite you to make a decision to walk with Jesus in the “way of life and love.”  

Making it Personal: Where are you being called to practice humility, to empty yourself of ego and pride to make room to receive God’s love and to let it fill you? And in what way are you being called not simply to receive God’s love, but to give it away?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Love Casts out Fear

Palm Sunday
Love Casts out Fear
Reflection By Jenifer Gamber

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.
- 1 John 4:18

Palm Sunday. A day of jarring reversals. We gather in worship, taking our place with the people who 2,000 years ago welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem, the holy city and dwelling place of God. We wave palm branches crying, “Hosanna, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” The mood of welcome and celebration at Jesus’ triumphal entry quickly gives way to terror. Our cries of “Hosanna” turn into “crucify him” as we acknowledge our failure to follow Jesus in our own lives. We are confronted by the horror of Jesus’ death upon the cross and our own part in his death. 

Jesus walked courageously to face his death in defense of the truth—the truth of the brokenness of the world, the truth of worldly power that oppresses others, and most of all the truth of God’s deep healing love for all creation. God’s love through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection transformed a place of fear and death into a place of hope. Do we have the courage to live the vulnerable and authentic life of love that marks the call for all Christians? 

To live courageously is to live from knowing we belong to God and are loved by God. Jesus knew to whom he belonged. He lived fully as God’s beloved son and it showed. Jesus was life itself and brought that life to those he met. Jesus raised the dead, cured the sick, gave sight to the blind, and fed the hungry. His actions proclaimed the nearness of God. His life threatened the way of death. We, too, belong to God. We, too, belong to a kingdom yet to be known in this world. 

Author Brené Brown writes about true belonging in this way: “True belonging is … belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness” (The Quest for True Belonging, p 40). 

By walking the way of life and love, his place of true belonging, Jesus walked as his authentic self, love incarnate, toward suffering and death. Living any other way than as our true selves is also a journey toward a more profound death. Each of us has experienced those moments—perhaps days, months or even years—of living false lives, of not belonging to ourselves but imprisoned by forces of the world. Unable to love. I know I have. 

It took courage to be honest with myself, with my family, and most of all with God, that I was not living as God’s beloved. It took the strength of community to do the hard work of helping me to remember to whom I belonged, and to make amends. It is easy, as did the crowd at Jesus’ trial, to divert attention away from my own brokenness and instead blame, deride, and mock others. But that is not the way of love; it is the way of cowardice. Living as our true selves, belonging to God, we are free to love.

In today’s reading, Jesus stood with all humanity, yet alone in the wilderness, silent before Pilate, silent before the crowd. Yet, not silent before the powers of death. Love overcame death. In Jesus’ courage and vulnerability, can we find courage to belong to the way of love, the way of life?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Abiding as Patience

Cultivating Patience
Abiding as Patience

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
- John 15:4–5

When I (Gary) was in Spain a few years ago, I became fascinated with “old growth vineyards.” I learned that some of the grapevine trunks I saw there were well over 70 years old. I honestly didn’t know grapevines could live that long!

After I got back home, I happened to find an interview with a vineyard owner from one of the wine regions I had walked through. When asked about his own growing philosophy he said, “If you want a productive vine in 80 years, you need to plant it now. You also have to have a plan to take care of it beyond your lifetime. Every day you tend the newly planted vine, you are making wine for a generation you will never know, because you are tending the vine’s potential. Those future generations will reap the fruit of your labor, just as you’ve enjoyed the wine from the vines you did not plant, did not tend, and did not harvest. Make no mistake, the future always arrives suddenly, one day at a time.”

Now, I’m not sure the vineyard owner would use the word “abide” to describe his work, but I believe he is embodying something of what it means to do just that. He is also embodying patience.

Perhaps the Good News we need to hear is that abiding in Jesus is where patience really begins. So, abide with abandon. Practice patient persistence. Plant a few seeds for eternity. And remember: “the future always arrives suddenly, one day at a time.”

Making it Personal: What are some practices you could implement in your daily life to help you learn to abide? How would your cultivation of patience benefit from a bit more patience with yourself?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Waiting with Love

Cultivating Patience
Waiting with Love

But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
- Luke 15:20

The father in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son teaches us something profound about patience. He doesn’t just wait passively for his son’s return—he watches with hope, stays ready with compassion, holds space with love. His patience flows from deep within, from a heart that refuses to give up on relationship.

This kind of patience asks something different of us than merely gritting our teeth and enduring. As we’ve explored this week, it invites us to remain present to what is while holding space for what might be. The father in the story didn’t know when or if his son would return, yet he remained faithful to the possibility of reunion. We might recognize this type of waiting in our own lives: parents watching for signs of maturity in their teenagers, teachers nurturing potential in struggling students, holding space for someone working through grief.

Sometimes our impatience comes from trying to control outcomes rather than trusting the slow work of love. We’ve seen how patient attention can transform our experience of traffic, weather, and daily irritations. But what about the deeper waitings of our lives: waiting for healing in a relationship, waiting for clarity about a decision, waiting for peace in our hearts?

The father in the parable shows us that true patience is inseparable from love. When we wait with love—for ourselves, for others, for God’s presence to be revealed—we participate in the kind of patience that can transform both us and those for whom we wait.

Making it Personal: Where in your life are you being invited to wait with love rather than anxiety? What helps you stay present to possibility while accepting what is? When have you experienced the fruit of patient waiting? How might viewing patience as an expression of love change your experience of waiting?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Gentleness, Peace, and Patience

Cultivating Patience
Gentleness, Peace, and Patience

Let your gentleness be known to everyone. … And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 4:5, 7

When we think of strength, we typically think of power, assertiveness, and toughness. While these attributes describe particular aspects of strength, there are other qualities of strength. The New Testament reading from this past Sunday talks about one type of strength that directly applies to practicing patience: “Let your gentleness be known to everyone.”

One sure way to let our gentleness be known to everyone is by being patient with others. Patience and gentleness tend to go together. When we are impatient or irritable with others, we come across as the opposite of gentle, often acting in ways that are rude and abrasive. True emotional and spiritual strength is expressed through patience and gentleness.

The same passage from Philippians also talks about the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. This is another reminder that God’s peace transcends our usual patterns of thought and practice, and is much more than simply the absence of conflict. This understanding of peace can be helpful as we practice patience with others. Being patient with others is much more than simply not being impatient with them. It means being gentle, loving, and kind, and in doing so, modeling the more profound understanding of the peace and patience to which God calls us.

Making It Personal: Think of a time when you responded with impatience and rudeness toward someone. Now think of a time when you responded with patience and gentleness. What was the difference for you between the two exchanges? For the other person? What helps your ability to be gentle and patient more often?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

A Practice of Patience

Cultivating Patience
A Practice of Patience

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him.
- Psalm 37:7

The Welcoming Prayer teaches us the gentle art of patience—meeting and embracing each moment exactly as it is rather than rushing toward what might be. Like the stillness the psalm invites us to enter, this contemplative prayer practice helps us wait with quiet attention.

Begin by settling into a comfortable position and bringing to mind a situation where you feel impatient or unsettled. Rather than trying to fix or change the situation, simply welcome it. You might say silently, “Welcome, frustration” or “Welcome, uncertainty”—whatever you are experiencing in this moment.

At first, many find this welcoming counterintuitive. Our natural impulse is to resist what makes us uncomfortable. Yet, paradoxically, welcoming our impatience often help it loosen its grip. Like a tightly clenched fist that relaxes when we stop trying to hold on, our resistance often softens when we stop fighting it.

As you sit with what arises, notice where you feel this in your body. Welcome these physical sensations too. Perhaps tension in your shoulders, a clenched jaw, butterflies in your stomach, or heat in your face. Then, ever so gently, begin to let go of your need for the situation to be different. This isn’t resignation, but rather a deep trust that God is present in our yielding.

This practice reminds us that patience grows not by forcing it, but by practicing presence to what is. End by resting quietly, trusting that each time you welcome what is, you strengthen your capacity for patience.

Making it Personal: When might you pause for this welcoming practice? What situation in your life needs this gentle acceptance? What happens when you welcome rather than resist your impatience? How might regular practice help you cultivate more patience in daily life?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Impatience and Stress

Cultivating Patience
Impatience and Stress

Is everything as urgent as your stress would imply?
- Carrie Latet

There is a reciprocal relationship between stress and impatience. When we are stressed, it can lead to our being more impatient—with ourselves and others. Likewise, being impatient can make us feel even more stressed, which can, in turn, drain our energy. It can be a vicious cycle.

Molly Bosscher wrote on Sunday that “patience offers us a space outside the urgent.” The space she refers to is both a gift and a fruit of the Spirit. It is a space where we can allow ourselves to slow down and take a few deep breaths, remembering to take comfort in any number of biblical passages, including Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”

There is an old joke about a person who prayed to God for more patience, and in reply what they received were more opportunities to practice. This simple joke reminds us that there are no shortage of opportunities in life to practice patience with ourselves, with others, and even with God and God’s timing. Having patience takes practice, and being patient with ourselves as we practice is essential.

Making It Personal: In your life, do you see a connection between stress and impatience? Does your faith help you create a space to be still and perhaps more patient? How is that?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Cultivating Patience

Theme for Week Five
Cultivating Patience

Patience asks us to be fully present in this very moment. Patience asks us to lay aside our troubles, to remember that “who of us by worrying can add one hour to our lives?” Patience asks us to take our time, to be slow, and to be present.
- Molly Bosscher

Throughout this devotional, we have encouraged approaching the fruits of the Spirit with patience, knowing that growth and change often take more time than we expect. This week, our focus turns to patience itself, exploring how it connects with all the fruits of the Spirit.

Most of us have struggled with being patient at one time or another in our lives. Gratefully, Molly Bosscher has given us some constructive and concrete ideas of how we can cultivate patience.

In Molly’s words above, we see that patience asks us to be fully present in the very moment and to lay aside our worries, trusting that in time things will work out one way or another. Patience invites us to pay full attention to the present moment, to inhabit it fully, rather than fretting and anxiously looking ahead to what is next. It really is as simple—and as hard—as this.

As we focus on being more fully present and laying aside our worries, let us begin by practicing patience with ourselves. 

Making It Personal: Read the quote above from Molly Bosscher and notice what speaks to you most. Is it being more fully present in the moment? Laying aside worries? Slowing down? Trusting?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Patience’s Sweet Invitation

The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Patience’s Sweet Invitation
Reflection By Molly Bosscher

Time is God’s way of keeping everything from happening all at once.
- Anonymous

If Patience were a person, she would always be inviting us to do things. She’d invite us for brownies, for dinner, for a hike, for a weekend in the city, for drinks, a manicure, to play darts, to go hunting, camping, shopping—anything, she's always asking. And best of all, she never demands; she just asks sweetly. 

Of course, I say no to most of her invitations. I’m stuck in traffic? I get anxious and then angry. I take my phone out, even though phones are banned while driving, so that I can calm my impatience and “choose” not to gun it when the car next to me tries to pull in front of me.

Or winter in the upper Midwest? It’s another invitation from sweet Patience. But me? I complain again and again, mostly to myself (as people from the Midwest are more hardy than me). I silently nurse my impatience and dream about summer, when I complain about the heat and wait impatiently for humidity to subside. 

Or continuing to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in my life? I want all of them all fully manifested now.

My impatience means I’m not paying attention. 

She asks for our attention. Patience asks us to be fully present in this very moment. She asks us to forgo the future, to refuse to indulge the nostalgia for the past. Patience asks us to lay aside our troubles, to remember that “who of us by worrying can add one hour to our lives?” Patience asks us to take our time, to be slow, and to be present.

Because when we pay attention, everything changes. Traffic? It becomes an opportunity to transition between work and home, to shed the busy day and leave it behind us. I’ve heard of someone from DC who drove their long commute in silence twice a day. I think we might call that “prayer.” 

The winter or even the unbearable heat of summer? It’s a chance to lie low, to read, to sleep, and to live an unhurried life, less bound by consumer capitalism. Patience offers us a space outside the urgent. 

Patience invites us to get lost in the wonder of traffic patterns, of the small changes of winter into spring. Patience invites us to pay attention to the small choices we make, paying closer attention to what needs watering and what needs weeding in our lives. She invites us to walk with and not to judge, to listen and not to fix our friends, family, and children. Patience invites us to cultivate slowness on purpose and to evade efficiency as often as we can.

She invites us to accept her invitations as often as we can, as she sweetly and kindly offers us opportunities. Patience, like the season of Lent, invites us to slow down and renew our spiritual lives before rushing ahead to the celebration of Easter. If you’re having a hard time, that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. Patience knows that some things just take a minute.

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

The Generosity of God

Cultivating Generosity
The Generosity of God

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [they are] a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17

One of the reasons many of us struggle with cultivating generosity is that we unknowingly believe we have to constantly earn God’s love. We behave as if God will somehow withhold that love if we aren’t constantly making ourselves worthy of receiving it. The fact is, if we believe God is stingy with God’s love, then how will we ever learn to loosen our grip enough to share out of our abundance with other people?

The verse from 2 Corinthians above was one of the first Bible verses I (Gary) committed to memory as a child. Through the years, when I have doubted my own worthiness, it has been a comfort to me, reminding me that God is always, always, always making all things new—including me. Talk about holy generosity!

One of my favorite hymns begins with the line, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea.” The hymn goes on to talk about how God is constantly giving of God’s own Self to renew and redeem all of creation. For me, the verse that summarizes everything I need to know about God’s generosity is this:

For the love of God is broader than the measure of the mind;
And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful, we should take him at his word;
And our life would be thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord.

One of the ways we “train ourselves to be generous” is by taking the time to remember that we are awash—every moment of every day—in the ocean of Divine Love that is making all things new … including us.

Making it Personal: What are the places in your life where you’ve experienced God generously making “all things new”?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Gifts Flowing Both Ways

Cultivating Generosity
Gifts Flowing Both Ways

Generosity is not in giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is in giving me that which you need more than I do.
- Kahlil Gibran

Throughout this week, we’ve explored generosity as transformation, as stewardship, as spiritual practice, and as holy gift. Today we discover another truth: authentic generosity often surprises us by flowing in unexpected directions.

Just as yesterday’s candle flame spreads light without diminishing its own brightness, true generosity creates a circle of giving and receiving that enriches everyone involved. The driver in Sunday’s reflection offered a simple ride in her truck, but in doing so, she received the joy of helping others and became part of a story that continues to inspire.

Sometimes we hesitate to receive others’ generosity, thinking we should be self-sufficient. Yet receiving graciously is itself a generous act—we give others the gift of giving. When we open ourselves to both giving and receiving, we participate in the sacred dance of God’s love flowing through all of life.

We see this divine reciprocity in many forms: a friend accepts a meal during illness with gratitude, allowing the preparer to express love and care through food. A mentor receives a heartfelt “thank you” from a former student, completing the circle of what was given years before. In many churches, those who serve in its many ministries often speak of receiving more joy than they give.

This flow of generosity points toward a deep truth: we are all connected in a web of giving and receiving. Each act of generosity, however small, strengthens these connections and makes visible God’s grace moving among us.

Making it Personal: When has receiving generously blessed both you and the giver? What might change if you viewed generosity as a flow rather than a transaction? How might you participate in this sacred dance of giving and receiving today?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

An Abundance Mindset

Cultivating Generosity
An Abundance Mindset

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
- John 10:10

There is a way of thinking referred to as a “scarcity mindset” that leads one to think and act as if there is not enough to go around, so each person has to be sure to get what is theirs and hold on to it tightly. As we explored in Tuesday’s reflection, if our thinking is more of a me-and-mine-first scarcity attitude, then it’s likely that we will be less generous with others. 

An “abundance mindset” is, by contrast, one where in God’s economy there is always enough for all. There is always enough love, forgiveness, joy, peace, and patience to go around when we have a faith-based mindset of abundance. This is the mindset Jesus refers to when he said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Scripture often refers to Jesus as the Light of the world. Using the metaphor of light, as in the light of a candle, no candle flame is ever diminished when sharing its light with another candle. We are each called, in the same way, to share the light of God’s generosity in a way that gives witness to the abundance mindset of God’s extravagant love and generosity.

Making it Personal: Do you ever recognize a scarcity mindset in yourself? If so, what might help you transform that into an abundance mindset? What is your response to the metaphor of a candle sharing its light with others? How might you practice generosity this week?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

A Practice of Openness

Cultivating Generosity
A Practice of Openness

It is in giving that we receive.
- St. Francis of Assisi

The practice of Centering Prayer invites us into a profound paradox: by giving our complete attention to God, we receive more than we could imagine. Like opening our hands to release what we hold too tightly, this practice can help us cultivate a generous spirit.

To begin, find a comfortable position, close your eyes, and take a few slow breaths. From this still place, choose a sacred word that represents your intention to be generous—perhaps “open,” “give,” “share,” or “release.” As you continue to breathe, silently introduce your sacred word as a symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.

When you notice your mind straying with thoughts, feelings, or sensations—whether pleasant or challenging—simply return to your sacred word. This gentle returning is itself an act of generosity; you are giving your full attention to God’s presence.

Many find this practice challenging at first. Our minds naturally want to plan, solve, or worry. Yet each time we notice our wandering and gently return to our breath and sacred word, we practice letting go of our need to control. We learn to trust that in releasing our grip on our thoughts and concerns, we open ourselves to receive what God wants to offer us in this moment.

End by slowing opening your eyes and then see if you can carry this spirit of openness into your day. You might find that this practice naturally flows into greater generosity with others.

Making it Personal: When might you set aside time for this practice of openness? What sacred word draws you? How might regular centering prayer help you cultivate a more generous approach to life? What challenges to being present have you noticed in your own practice?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Ground Generosity in God’s Generosity

Cultivating Generosity
Ground Generosity in God’s Generosity

For all things come from you,
and of your own have we given you.
- 1 Chronicles 29:14

This verse is familiar to many Christians because it is often repeated when the offering is collected during Sunday worship. The words remind us that what is being offered is already God’s and that we are simply stewards of the gifts that God has already given us.

This understanding of generosity helps us recognize that when we share with others, we are participating in God’s own generous nature. All that exists—our resources, abilities, and very lives—flows from God’s generous love.

This faith-based perspective stands in contrast to the attitude that claims, “All of this is mine and I don’t have to share it if I don’t want to.” The myth of the self-made individual is strong in our culture and while we certainly want to celebrate and honor hard work, as people of faith, we must always remember that all of life is a gift from God.

If all is a gift from God, and everyone we meet is created in the image of God, then we can’t help but want to practice generosity. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because God first loved us.” And so, we too practice generosity because God first practiced generosity with us.

When we embrace this understanding, it transforms not only how we give but how we receive. Every gift becomes an opportunity to participate in the endless flow of God’s generosity. Every act of sharing becomes a way of saying “thank you” for all we have been given.

Making it Personal: Do you fully believe what is expressed in the verse above from 1 Chronicles? How does your belief impact your being generous? When has receiving a gift helped you understand God’s generosity more deeply?

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

Cultivating Generosity

Theme for Week Four
Cultivating Generosity

At its core, generosity is an expression of love and compassion, enriching both the giver and the receiver in immeasurable ways.
- Shannon Duckworth

Cultivating generosity is our focus for this week, and we are grateful for Shannon Duckworth's reflection yesterday to start our thinking on this vital fruit of the Spirit.

The root word for generosity is gene, meaning “give birth.” Like birth itself, generosity creates new possibilities. A financial gift can spark fresh beginnings. A word of encouragement can uplift a person’s spirit. A simple deed can be the catalyst for reviving hope or creating unexpected connections. Shannon’s story about a stranger giving a ride up a steep hill illustrates how even small acts of kindness can open into moments of grace.

The beauty of cultivating generosity lies in how it blesses both the one who gives and the one who receives. As we share what we have—whether material goods, time, or presence—our own spiritual life deepens and grows. This mutual enrichment reveals something of how God’s love moves among us, flowing through every act of giving.

Making it Personal: What is your response to the quote from Shannon Duckworth? When have you benefitted from someone else’s act of generosity? Can you think of a time that you were enriched when you practiced generosity? 

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness

An Unexpected Gift

The Fourth Sunday in Lent
An Unexpected Gift
Reflection By Shannon Duckworth

Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.
- Luke 6:38

I could not pedal another inch. Or, at least that’s what I told myself as I stood on the side of the road next to my bike, looking at the impossibly steep hill that stood between me and the finish of that day’s ride. Although only a mile long, it might as well have been the side of a mountain. As the minutes passed, I felt my already sagging spirit deflate.

I was standing on the side of the road next to Scott Stoner, Executive Director of Living Compass. We, along with 20 or so fellow cyclists, spent a week that summer in the mountains of Vermont. The days were long but filled with beauty, laughter, and prayer. But, that day, I believe we had the same thought: Not another inch.

When all hope seemed lost, a woman pulled up next to us in a small pickup truck. An idea came to mind! I jumped off my bike and knocked on her car window. “Do you mind if we hop in the back of your truck? We just need a ride to the top of that hill.” She looked a little bemused but quickly said, “Sure! Hop in.”

There has never been a ride so sweet. I can still remember the utter joy I felt in the light of her generosity.

Generosity embodies a virtue that transcends more than material giving. In the grand scheme of things, it was only a mile-long truck ride. But it meant everything. I believe that generosity calls us to a spirit of abundance, a mindset of selflessness, and a willingness to share one's resources, time, and talents with others. At its core, generosity is an expression of love and compassion, enriching both the giver and the receiver in immeasurable ways.

As we strive to live generous lives, we may always look to find ways to offer something as simple as listening attentively or giving words of encouragement. Or we might be called to just show up. For we know that when two or three are gathered, God will be there. Sometimes we are the givers and sometimes we are the ones on the receiving end of these gifts, but in whatever role, we are called to open our hearts with grace and humility.

I often wonder if that kind woman ever thinks about the two exhausted cyclists she ferried to the top of that hill. I wonder if she knows how much her generosity meant to us. I pray that she does. And I can only hope that when faced with an equally unexpected opportunity to extend generosity, I too will say, “Sure! Hop in!”

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Listen To Our Lent Podcast Episodes

We also invite you to listen to the Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast hosted by Scott Stoner. This is a year-round, weekly podcast; however, during Lent, there will be two new episodes each week to enrich your experience of our Lenten readings on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit.

You can listen to the podcast on our website by clicking HERE. You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast listening app (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)—just search for Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness