“When we are concerned only with our own dignity, we forget about the inherent dignity of others. They too have a place set at God’s bountiful table, where there is room and enough for all.” Br. James Koester takes us to tables grand and humble for a reminder of the challenge we answered in our Baptism: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

“We lift up our hearts and minds and all that we are in offering to God and here God becomes present to us in these gifts of bread and wine: the bread broken for us, the wine poured out for us. It is the re-membering of the ultimate sacrifice of love given by Jesus on the cross, forever joining the eternal to the temporal, and by grace the temporal to the eternal.” Br. Jim Woodrum ponders how we – temporal beings that we are – can be containers of eternal love.

“James and John don’t know it yet, but ‘We are able’ may well be the shortest, simplest, most direct, most honest prayer of their lives. It is a prayer that expresses the truest, noblest, and holiest intention of their lives, a prayer that will never be fully translatable on this side of heaven; a prayer that fulfills their vocation in God.” Br. Keith Nelson finds in James and John an example of how Jesus takes our willingness – which is not to say our readiness – and makes us worthy.

“Work serves an end. Even the holiest work of your life is not your purpose. It facilitates your purpose. If a person steeped in a Jewish culture that mandated sabbath and jubilee needed this reminder, people steeped in an American culture of bootstrap-pulling and 24/7 work emails need it all the more.” Br. Lucas Hall returns to the familiar story of Mary and Martha as he struggles – like so many of us – to balance the demands of work and prayer.

“Salvation is a gift. It does not come on our terms, as we dream up, plan for, or prepare.” Br. Luke Ditewig invites us to find God's salvation in motion, arising in the change, disruption, and confusion of our daily lives.

“If the church is to be a sign of Life – a magnet for the God-given longing in all people to reconcile with God and with one another – then the Church must speak its abundant life in the terms of the times. As Anglicans, we are at our best when we engage the signs of our times with the signs of eternal life.” Lisa Kimball, from the Department of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary, encourages all of us to take part in the Church's great mission to interpret the Signs of Life to all those trapped in the signs of our times.

“There is nowhere outside the scope of God’s mercy. There are no boundaries within God’s mercy. There is no one outside God’s mercy – no one outside God’s compassion and loving kindness. This truth has the power to convert us, to change our lives.” Br. Geoffrey Tristram unpacks the powerful story of the Good Samaritan and challenges us to break down boundaries as we show mercy to one another.

“It would have been one thing if Jesus had said, “you are of more value than gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” But no. He says, “You are of more value than sparrows.” Sparrows.” Br. Curtis Almquist finds a word of comfort in Jesus' metaphor of the sparrow.

“We may not think of ourselves as Jacob, but who has not struggled mightily with God, as we attempt to discover God’s will for us? Who has not struggled mightily with God, as we attempt to find our path, our way? Who has not struggled mightily with God, as we attempt to follow God’s call?” Br. James Koester looks to one of our spiritual forebears for a lesson in wrestling: God is a companion who wrestles with, and not against, and who strengthens and blesses, even in the sweat and struggle.

“Keith, by taking the vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience for life, you are doing something profoundly important, not for your sake, but for the sake of the world. What some see as a waste, as running away, as hiding, even as a death, is actually the way of Jesus. It is the way of self – spending, redemptive love. It is the way God has chosen you to change this old world.” On the joyous occasion of Br. Keith Nelson's profession in Life Vows, Br. James Koester considers how the monastic vows point us all toward the way of Jesus: a way of self-spending, redemptive love.