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June 10, 2016

Our Story: Chapter 1: Beginnings

Let me tell you a story. It’s a long story, though. It’s going to be told in more than one part because you probably won’t be able to hear all of it today. It’s a beautiful story, but it’s also a sad story. The good thing, though, is that the story is not actually over, and a happy ending is very possible. Actually, the happy ending is preferred, and you will find out that you – …

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June 10, 2016

Let Me Tell You a Story: Preface

The following is an excerpt from Yann Martel’s, Life of Pi, when the protagonist has finished telling his extraordinary tale of survival: “If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn’t love hard to believe?” “Mr. Patel–” “Don’t you bully me with your politeness! Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard – …

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February 15, 2016

In the presence of holiness.

Abbâ Muthues used to say that there were three brethren who were in the habit of coming to Abbâ Antony, and that two of them used to ask him questions about the thoughts, and about life, and redemption, and the discretion (or intelligence) of the soul, whilst the third one held his peace continually. And after a long time Abbâ Antony said unto him, “Brother, thou comest here each year, and askest nothing!” And he – …

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November 14, 2015

I don’t want to be ‘that guy’.

“He who walks with wise men becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 13:20) So, it used to be that people had a group of friends from Church because they had things in common: their faith, their values, their heritage. You could count on your church crew to keep you in check when you felt like you were doing something, or at least, tempted to do, something wrong. In fact, often when – …

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September 5, 2015

‘NSync, Losses, and Memory Eternal…

Kareem Elgawly: February 1, 1992 – September 5, 2014 Bye Bye Bye, baby, bye bye bye! blasted on the sound system as I entered Vons a few hours ago. Yeah, it was ‘NSync, a boy band that I never really got into, but they had a couple of big hits that stuck with me throughout the years. That one and “This I promise you”. A strange melancholy gripped me right away, but not the bad gloom, it was – …

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