Each newsletter includes a short reflection for the week to come, articles published the previous week, a short curated list of content that was meaningful to me the previous week, and more. Subscribe today!
Seeking the Light · Deepening our Christianity #22
Deepening our Christianitythe Monday Newsletter of Paul PrinsEdition #22 · 8 January 2024 |
Blessings Reader, Seeking the Light There is this tension in how we speak of faith. On one side, the divine comes to us. Finding us lost in creation and bringing light to us in the dark. On the other side, we journey to find the light. Do we wait to be found or begin a journey into the unknown with hope? There is no key or answer. Within ourselves, we have to hold this balance and dance. With ourselves and God. Within the nativity of Jesus, we see both of these. For God sought out Mary & Joseph, while the shepherds & Magi sought out Jesus. We will experience both over the course of life and faith. It is a most wonderful experience to be sought after. To be sought by another person, an organization, or the God of all things! It affirms and honors the heart. There is something so deeply validating and wonderful about feeling wanted and desired in this way. Yet it feels like more often we are the ones who seek. To be looking through the mists of murkiness. Seeking something we don’t fully comprehend or know. Our eyes and hearts are following the hope we feel. That we hope we feel. Discovering ourselves in the seeking. We find our way deeper into the presence and love of God with time. Seeing ourselves and Jesus in new ways. Ways that ask me to forget what I expected. To forget what I was told. As we seek, we find someone who has been looking for us. Face-to-face with becoming. Ourselves and our God. As we were, are, and just might become. Until Next Week Some Life UpdatesA lot has happened since my last newsletter in November. The first update is that the software company and service that I have run for over 16 years is shutting down. Fresh Vine membership software is in its final days, and our US-based business closed at the end of December. This has been a huge part of my life and my identity. I underestimated how physically tiring this would be. A quick second update is that Jordan and I just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. I could not imagine my life without her in it. She is wonderful in ways I continue to discover. May the Lord grace us with many more years together. The third update is that Urban Monastics is now an official French association! I have begun the work of building our community of Patrons who will enable the future growth of Urban Monastics. It has been so wonderful to refresh the website and have the first of countless conversations about Urban Monasticism with people. Those I've already gotten to speak with have been so wonderful and encouraging. I would love to connect to have this conversation with you too! Just pick a time that works for you and we'll meet up soon! Unpublished Photo for this Edition
A Prayer for the Week to ComeLord, be with us in the mists of life. On hot nights and under frigid suns. Continue to speak softly and quietly to our hearts. Words of hope we cannot hear no matter how we quiet ourselves. Words that remind us there is a place for us. A home that awaits us all where love is abundant, and we will know rest. |
Deepening our Christianity
Each newsletter includes a short reflection for the week to come, articles published the previous week, a short curated list of content that was meaningful to me the previous week, and more. Subscribe today!
Deepening our Christianity the Monday Newsletter of Paul Prins Edition #33 · 17 June 2024 Blessings Reader, Faith is a Gift Our faith simply exists. It just, is. As a Christian, there are many things for me to do. I am to take up my cross and follow Jesus. I am to love, and to be gracious. Yet, the gift of faith has no expectations for me. Faith, for many of us, is the first invitation we accept from Jesus. We accept the gift that is given to us. This gift that is beyond description. We are...
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