More reflections and encouragement as we continue with Isaiah chapters 40-55. These are where the suffering servant passages are found. These are part of a larger story in Isaiah. Read these chapters and let them wash over you. It’s a great time before Advent to read the poetry of Isaiah and reflect on who God is, how he acts, and what He’s doing in the world today. We highlight key themes that you can listen for as you let this scripture unfold and speak to you. Join us! 

Isaiah chapters 40-55 are powerful testaments to God’s plans for His people. It’s a great time before Advent to read the poetry of Isaiah and reflect on who God is, how he acts, and what He’s doing in the world today. This poem opens, at chapter 40, with “Comfort, comfort my people…Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed… Here is a beautiful poem full of promises, remembrances, and expectations for a good future, written in the darkest of times for Israel, in the midst of its exile to Babylon, an oppression that...

Pope Leo’s Dilexi Te calls for a renewed orientation to serve and assist the poor and address poverty in all its many faces and circumstances. The early Christians addressed the needs of the poor in dramatic ways as they transformed the Roman empire and the culture of the world. That could inspire us to think in new ways about shifting our own culture. 

Humans (like you for instance) have some habits of thinking that are traps. We all fall into them, repeatedly. You have to laugh! These traps can shut down our thinking before we realize it, leaving us stuck or making poor choices because the traps often work at an unconscious level. Asking great questions is the key to uncovering thought traps. We discuss and share examples of some of them, like Mind Reading, Fortune-Telling, Catastrophizing, Labeling, Discounting Positives, Negative Filtering, Overgeneralizing, All-or-Nothing Thinking, and the infamous Shoulds. Listen and decide which one is your favorite, so you can work on it...