T. David Beck: The Simple Way of Jesus

I am gearing up to lead a discussion this Sunday at Sanctuary about possessions and happiness. Jesus warns people not to make too much of money. For the typical American -- even the typical American Christian -- this message falls on deaf ears. I will argue that Jesus wasn't out to require his followers to live in poverty. Rather, he wanted them to be acutely aware how a desire for money and all it can buy us can worm its way into our hearts and become the key by which we make decisions. Be free, and you can live free -- and this can happen for both the poor and the rich. Personal finance write J. D. Roth holds a fascinating discussion of the relationship between possessions and happiness in the first chapter of his book, Your Money: The Missing Manual . He makes the argument that whereas money can help bring you limited happiness, money's impact on happiness is actually much smaller than we usually think. After you have gained the basic necessities of food, safety, clot...

A couple days ago I posted a collection of quotes from Don Richard Riso on "real love." One of those quotes -- a proverb, really -- led me to think more deeply.  "Real love seeks nothing for itself but is not self-forgetting." There is so much wisdom in this proverb that it is worth its own post. I have spent my adult life seeking to grow in real love. Much of what I have done has focused on the first half of the proverb: "seeks nothing for itself." This has meant finding ways to lay down my life for the good of others. As a spiritual leader, I am always looking to influence people to love in this way.  Lately I have been learning that the second half -- "not self-forgetting" -- is just as important as the first half. Believe it or not, this has come as a bit of a revelation to me. I come from a family that leans toward seeking the good of others, even sometimes at the expense of self (and family). For some folks, it can be difficul...

Today is Valentine's Day, which means love is the subject of the day. But "love" can mean a lot of things. Here is an invitation to what Don Richard Riso calls "real love": Real love is liberating for oneself and breaks old boundaries and restrictions Real love seeks nothing for itself but is not self-forgetting Real love is transparent and does not come from premeditation Real love does not recapture the past nor does it guarantee the future Real love is not clung to even though it heals all old wounds Real love is not afraid of taking risks nor is it about feeling safe Real love is endlessly generative and cannot run out Real love can suffer hurt and rejection and not strike out Real love is something we already have although we often do not know it --Don Richard Riso December, 2011  Thanks to  enneagraminstitute.com  for sending out this great content!