Life on Planet Earth on Energy

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The Transfer of Energy

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In physics, power is defined as the transfer of energy. In a light bulb, for example, electricity is transferred into light and heat. A 100-watt light bulb is more powerful than a 60-watt light bulb b...

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Author

Philip Sheldrake

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There is an energy within all of us that haunts us and can either lead us to set out on a quest for something more or can frustrate us by making us nostalgic for what we do not have.

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Fearing Erotic Energy

Author

Ronald Rohlheiser

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Former cultures, whatever their faults, understood the imperialistic nature of energy, especially of spiritual, erotic energy. For the most part, they feared energy, particularly sexual and religious ...

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Rituals That Replenish Energy

Author

Harvard Business Review

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Scripture

Job 24:null

Is your job demanding more from you than ever before? Do you feel as if you’re working additional hours but rarely getting ahead? Is your mobile device leashing you to your job 24/7? Do you feel exhau...

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Author

Philip Sheldrake

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But the main point is that there is nothing passive or limp about desire, for it gives energy and direction to our psyche.

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Starting a Car with No Engine

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

John 15:5, Acts 1:8-9, Ezekiel 36:26-27, 2 Timothy 1:7, Romans 8:11, Judges 16:20, Zechariah 4:6, John 14:26, Romans 8:26, Galatians 5:22-23, Acts 2:38

A news article from the Associated Press in Glasgow, Kentucky, shared a rather frustrating story. Leslie Puckett, after struggling to start his car, lifted the hood only to discover that someone had s...

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How Much is in Your Tank?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been very good at paying attention to my car’s fuel tank. I remember in high school I drove an old Jeep Grand Cherokee that had a digital fuel gauge. In 1998 tha...

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Discerning Sense of Call By Paying Attention to Our Bodies

Author

Ruth Haley Barton

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Scripture

2 Timothy 1:9, Ecclesiastes 3:1, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Psalm 23:3, Philippians 2:13, Romans 12:1-2

As I have worked to clarify my calling, I have learned to pay attention to my energy levels in response to different activities. If I experience a particular activity as being inordinately draining, I...

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Triune and Loving God: on this

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Ephesians 3:16-19, Matthew 3:16-17, Acts 4:32-35, Galatians 5:22-23, John 14:26-27, Romans 15:13, Acts 2:1-4

Triune and Loving God: on this Pentecost Sunday, we ask for the gift of Your Holy Spirit to help us pray as we ought today and always. Come, Holy Spirit: Help Us. We ask for Your Spirit’s energy an...

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Hunting an Antelope or a Field Mouse?

Author

James Carville

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A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself. So a lion that spent its...

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God of hope and anticipation—who’s

Author

Richard Herman

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God of hope and anticipation—who’s constant in love and with us always and everywhere: We need you! ...For we do nothing of value on our own. We need you to heal—because we can’t do it. Please make...

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Heavenly Father, we confess that we see difficult

Author

Allen Thompson

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Scripture

Hebrews 12:1-2, Acts 16:16-34, 1 Kings 17:8-16, James 1:2-4, Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Philippians 4:12-13

Heavenly Father, we confess that we often see difficult circumstances and discouragement as barriers to doing the work you have called us to do. Rather than rejoicing in what you have provided, we lam...

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God–our Father, Lord and indwelling

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Psalm 133:1, 2 Corinthians 9:13-14, Matthew 28:19-20

God–our Father, Lord and indwelling Spirit of grace and power: Thank you for hearing us when we pray whether in songs of rejoicing or through tears of sorrow. Thank you for gifts–for the gifts of musi...

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That Blind Pressure to Grow

Author

Ronald Rohlheiser

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This excerpt from the Catholic priest Ronald Rolheiser is quite profound. It is reminiscent of that great line from Dr. Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park: “Life finds a way.” Speaking on the subject of desi...

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Author

Richard Plass and James Cofield

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Why do we feel so much energy in our sexuality? Because we are created by and for intimacy. Our sexual energy is proof of our relational essence. We can hardly stand a “divided” condition because we a...

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Caffeine: The Easy Attractor

Author

Michael Pollan

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Scientists recently discovered a handful of species that produce caffeine in their nectar, which is the last place you would expect a plant to serve up a poisonous beverage. These plants have discover...

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What Are You Going To Be When You Grow Up?

Author

J. R. Love

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A photographer was snapping pictures of first graders at an elementary school, making small talk to put his subjects at ease. “What are you going to be when you grow up?” he asked one little girl. “...

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The Blood Suckers

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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During a large part of my childhood my father was in school, so we never really went on a traditional “vacation” until late in my elementary school years. I distinctly remember one of our first trips,...

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Author

Corita Kent

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Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries.

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Author

Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

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Rest

Sadly, the need for recovery is often viewed as evidence of weakness rather than an integral aspect of sustained performance. The result is what we give almost no attention to renewing and expanding o...

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Author

Brennan Manning

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The engaged mind, illuminated by truth, awakens awareness; the engaged heart, affected by love, awakens passion. May I say once more - this essential energy of the soul is not an ecstatic trance, high...

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Eternal God, you are the power behind

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Eternal God, you are the power behind all things: behind the energy of the storm, behind the heat of a million suns. Eternal God, you are the power behind all minds: behind the ability to ...

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Author

Theodore Roosevelt

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It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.

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Presence in the Universe

Author

David G. Benner

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:4

Now, in our lifetime, scientists are finding ever newer evidence for what some religious people called presence in the very organizing energy of the universe—from fractals, to holograms, to electro-ma...

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Dostoevysky and the Origins of Burnout

Author

Arthur C. Brooks

Keywords

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov , Alyosha, the novel’s central protagonist, asks his father for permission to join a monastery, where he seeks to purify his soul and sanctify his wo...

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Addictions Attach Desire

Author

Gerald G. May

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 7:15-20, John 8:34, Exodus 20:3-5, Matthew 6:24, 1 John 2:15-16, Psalm 115:4-8

For generations, psychologists thought that virtually all self-defeating behavior was caused by repression. I have now come to believe that addiction is a separate and even more self-defeating force t...

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Abusing a Very Small Amount of Power

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 23:13, Matthew 23:3, Proverbs 16:18, Luke 14:11, Romans 12:3, Mark 10:42-45, 1 Peter 5:2-3, Ecclesiastes 10:1

My wife is a big fan of an advice column called “Ask a Manager.” The articles offer a variety of subjects, many of which are serious, but some are downright hilarious. They often capture the absurditi...

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Blessed are we who come to you

Author

Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie

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Blessed are we who come to you just as we are, asking to be gathered, hidden, and held, shielded for a time from things too hard for us, too heavy to hold for this long. God, give us...

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Author

Jake Meador

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 8:36, Matthew 16:26, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Mark 4:18-19, Mark 10:43-44, Matthew 19:23-24, Matthew 6:19-21, 24-34, Luke 12:13-21, Luke 12:32-34, Mark 10:24-25, Hebrews 10:25

The defining problem driving people out is …just how American life works in the 21st century. Contemporary American life simply isn’t set up to promote mutuality, care, or common life. Rather, it is d...

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5 Quotes on Summer

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Looking for inspiration for your summertime sermons? Here are five quotes that highlight different themes about summer. Quote 1 Comment: I love The Office , but in this short quotation...

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