The Overstress

May 22, 2013

It feels like we live our lives bouncing between these two poles: stress and rest, one necessitating the other until the pendulum swinging bores you into oblivion. Many of us live our lives just at the edge of plunging headlong into fatigue and overexhaustion, until we are forced to rest, whether by nervous breakdown or overdone emotional release.

I believe there may be a better way to live. Those who have endured trauma have a lot to teach us about how to handle stress. When trauma presents itself, ...  Keep reading

Believing

March 25, 2013

It is important that we believe in people. I mean, we should not put our trust solely in people, but people benefit from our faith in them. We also benefit when we trust others. It is far too easy to get cynical. When people wrong you, or just appear different than you, it is easy to write them off. But our differences are what stretch us and make us grow. If you write people off, you are missing your opportunity to grow.

Everything around you in the world will convince you not to have faith. Your ...  Keep reading

Ol’ Brennan on Contemplative Prayer

January 24, 2013

“And do not evaluate, measure, or judge your periods of contemplative prayer. In our achievement-oriented society, we’ll probably begin to pray with a superficial concern for results in a futile attempt to discern if our investment of time and energy was worth it. Did it produce any luminous insight or any extraordinary experience? That kind of spiritual materialism will disappear, the ego will be purified, and self-consciousness will fade through the practice of daily prayer.

“Just ...  Keep reading

Thoughtfulness vs. Thoughtlessness

January 20, 2013

There is this continuum between thoughtfulness and impulsivity (or not thinking) on which people naturally land. And, as with most continuums, being able to strike a balance is good. I believe it is good to have a little of both thoughtfulness and thoughtlessness in your life. You should be able to step back and have some constructive thought about where your life is going and “what it all means,” for instance, but too much of that becomes narcissism and/or neuroticism. This ...  Keep reading

My Weakness Defines Me

December 13, 2012

It is my weakness that defines me, not my strength. I have spent a lot of my time here on earth believing the hype: that if I just will do the right things, then I will “feel right.” But the cold, hard truth hits me every morning – that I will always struggle and be a lovely little mess. Paul called it his “thorn.” He had a struggle that would not go away, even though he pleaded for it to go and he was ready for it to go.

It seems apparent from this ...  Keep reading

Legacy

November 25, 2012

I’ve been thinking a little about “legacy” lately, since I am in my 30s and all. And my mom just turned 60 and we are having another little child who is a girl. She is a wonderful gift, but one of the things about having all girls is that your “name” doesn’t get carried on through your own family. I mean there are other little Ybarras which grow up to be big Ybarras and the name will live on, but not from my immediate family.

That is okay. The whole idea of legacy ...  Keep reading

Something Needs to Die

November 24, 2012

My friend and mentor has told me this many times: somebody told him once that when you are depressed, you want to die. And you obviously don’t need to die, but something in you needs to die.

That is brilliant. I think I go through this almost weekly depression and many times, I have no idea what is going on, but sometimes I feel like God is trying to kill something in me. More often than not, it has been when I have grown hardhearted, or I am trying to hold onto something that has needed ...  Keep reading

So Much Sin to Forgive

November 21, 2012
When spending time with broken people (we all are), it is important to remember that it is a blessed art – to witness their lives is to witness God moving in a real way. It is these people who God says are broken so that he may display his work in them. When you are with them, you are a fortunate watcher of God’s grace being poured into a life, and you may even be the vessel. These people have a certain humility and secret knowledge of the secret of the universe – that the ones who are actually blessed are the ones who are poor in spirit and mourning. It must also be true that God holds a special place for those who have sinned much. There is a strange little song by David Thomas Broughton which goes like this: “God loves a murderer, because there’s so much sin to forgive.” I believe that. God’s grace and love are necessary and his redemptive power is displayed when we are so broken. When those things are received by one who is so far away, it is the most beautiful thing. It is the walking away from grace that creates the great need and great potential for such lovely restoration.