A Faith That Makes Sense: Reflections for Peace, Purpose, and Joy

by CORMIER ROBERT J.

• ISBN13: 9780824518172
• ISBN10: 0824518179
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-12-01
• Publisher: Independent Pub Group

Summary

A collection of simple, one to two-page reflections that take the elements common to many faiths and offer them in a way that will indeed make sense to almost everyone. The simplicity of the reflections is a result of clarity that makes the texts easily accessible to a wide deversity of readers.

Author Biography

Robert J. Cormier is a minister, theologian, part-time missionary, and pilot. He lives in Newark, New Jersey where he serves the Spanish-speaking community of St. Rose of Lima and the Portuguese-speaking community of St. James. He is the chaplain of four local schools. He is also a chaplain at Northern State Prison, spiritual counselor at the CURA drug and alcohol rehab center, and the president of Project Live--a leading institution for the care of the mentally ill, all in Newark. In addition, he ministers to the English-speaking community of Sacred Heart Chapel in Kearny, NJ, and spends his summers ministering to indigenous people in Western Guatemala.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xiii
FAITH
What Is Faith?	3	(1)
The Gifts of Faith	4	(4)
The Gifts of Faith Are Immediate	8	(1)
Faith Doesn't Change Things, It Changes How We See Things	9	(1)
What Is the ``Good News''?	10	(3)
FIVE STEPS TO FAITH
Try	13	(2)
Decide	15	(2)
Trust	17	(1)
Jump	18	(2)
Now	20	(3)
MORE ABOUT BELIEVING
Creation Was Signed	23	(2)
From Nothing Nothing Comes	25	(1)
2 + 2 = 4	26	(2)
Faith Fulfills Our Human Nature	28	(2)
Faith Requires No Compromise	30	(1)
The View from on High	31	(2)
Faith Is Not a Fad	33	(4)
GOD
He Always Was	37	(1)
We Are Made of the Love of God	38	(1)
Stars and Sand	39	(1)
Why We Look Up	40	(1)
The Utter Unselfishness of God's Love	41	(1)
Divinity	42	(1)
We Can Please God	43	(4)
PRAYER
Prayer Is Natural	47	(2)
Don't Forget to Listen	49	(2)
``Ask and You Shall Receive''	51	(1)
One Prayer That Is Sure to Be Answered	52	(1)
We Want What We Pray For	53	(1)
Why We Ask for Prayers	54	(1)
The Best Reason to Pray	55	(1)
What Is a Personal Relationship with God?	56	(1)
Higher Spirituality	57	(1)
Really Higher Spirituality	58	(1)
Adoration	59	(4)
US AS GOD SEES US
We Judge Ourselves Backwards	63	(2)
We Judge God Backwards	65	(3)
He Loves Us for Who He Made Us	68	(1)
We Cannot Lose God's Love	69	(1)
He Couldn't Love You More	70	(2)
We Don't Know Why God Loves Us	72	(2)
A Way to Understand How Everyone Is Special	74	(2)
Why Do Some Grow So Much More Than Others?	76	(2)
Why Self-Acceptance Isn't Easy	78	(2)
How Love Grows	80	(5)
MORE ABOUT THE LOVE OF SELF
The Good You Can See	85	(2)
Keep Track	87	(1)
The Difference Between Love of Self and Conceit	88	(1)
``There but by the Grace of God...'' Works Both Ways	89	(1)
The Difference Between Conceit and Joy	90	(1)
Your Story Is History	91	(1)
To Have a Living Past	92	(1)
Care of Self Counts Too	93	(4)
JOY
Thy Kingdom Come	97	(1)
The Joy Is Just Knowing	98	(2)
What's to Fear?	100	(2)
A Guide for the Imagination	102	(3)
Rest in Peace?	105	(1)
On the Things We Don't Have	106	(1)
The Myth ``If Only''	107	(2)
The Secret of Happiness: Knowing What We Have When We Have It	109	(2)
The Bad Things That Didn't Happen	111	(1)
Accentuate the Positive	112	(1)
Look. See!	113	(1)
Life Is Better When We Look Forward	114	(2)
Losing Life Before You Die	116	(1)
Faith Allows Us to Face Life---and Not Despair	117	(4)
PEACE
Thy Will Be Done	121	(1)
What Having Faith Is All About	122	(2)
Why Hard Things Happen	124	(2)
The Greater the Burden, the Greater the Opportunity	126	(1)
The Opportunities in Disaster	127	(1)
Why Good Things Happen	128	(1)
Don't Let Life Seduce You	129	(1)
God Frees Us from Having to Do Everything So We Can Do Something	130	(2)
You Only Need to Do Your Best	132	(2)
When There Is Only One Thing to Do	134	(1)
When the Going Gets Tough	135	(1)
Not Accepting Doesn't Change a Thing	136	(1)
Give It Back to God	137	(1)
You Need a Sense of Humor	138	(1)
Things Never Happen the Way We Expect	139	(1)
A Tree Falls in the Forest...	140	(1)
God's Plan Is Like a Painting	141	(4)
THOUGHTS FOR THE STRUGGLE
Life Was Meant to Be a Struggle	145	(1)
Why Suffering?	146	(1)
Suffering Implies Faith	147	(1)
Two Truths	148	(1)
This Too Shall Pass	149	(1)
One Day at a Time	150	(1)
We Are Never Alone	151	(1)
Someone Has It Worse	152	(1)
People Are Actors	153	(1)
Face Your Farewells	154	(1)
When Someone We Love Dies...	155	(4)
THE LIFE OF FAITH
The Life of Faith Is Love	159	(1)
What Is Love?	160	(2)
Sin Is Selfishness	162	(2)
Two Conversions	164	(1)
The Difference between Childish and Childlike	165	(1)
Faith Doesn't Always Look Like Love	166	(1)
The Only Sure Sign of Love	167	(2)
There Are Many Ways to Give Up Your Life	169	(1)
So What if I'm the Only One?	170	(1)
You Don't Need to Justify Love	171	(1)
Love Surpasses Justice	172	(1)
God Does Not Keep Score	173	(2)
How We Will See Our Sins	175	(1)
Should We Ever Feel Guilty?	176	(1)
There Is No Such Thing as Bad Faith	177	(4)
FORGIVENESS
Forgiveness Is Understanding	181	(2)
Explanation Is No Excuse	183	(1)
Everything Is Forgivable	184	(1)
Forgiveness Is the Decision Not to Hate	185	(1)
To Love Is to Forgive	186	(1)
See the Sin Apart from the Hurt	187	(2)
Forgiveness Is a Vote of Confidence in Self	189	(1)
How to Love Your Enemy	190	(1)
Those Who Cause Trouble for Us Almost Always Cause More Trouble for Themselves	191	(1)
See the Good That Comes with the Bad	192	(1)
If It Has to Be Too Much or Too Little	193	(1)
Who Is Perfect?	194	(2)
We Are All Far from the Kingdom of God	196	(1)
You Never Know	197	(1)
The Wisdom of Giving the Benefit of the Doubt	198	(1)
Removing the Plank from Our Own Eyes First	199	(1)
What Would You Have Done?	200	(1)
How ``Judge Not, or You Will Be Judged'' Really Works	201	(4)
MORE ABOUT THE LIFE OF FAITH
Faith Is Its Own Reward	205	(2)
Love Is Its Own Reward	207	(1)
We Have Control	208	(2)
The Exercise of Faith Strengthens It	210	(2)
No Good Work Is Ever Wasted	212	(1)
Excuses Hide Us from Our Lack of Faith	213	(1)
Hypocrisy	214	(1)
The Evil of Envy	215	(2)
Warning!	217	(1)
What Is Self-Righteousness?	218	(1)
Don't Hide Your Light Under a Basket	219	(1)
Faith Is Its Own Evangelist	220	(2)
How We Know Our Faith Is Real	222	(1)
A Simple Guide to Spiritual Life	223	(1)
The More...	224