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When Worry Asks What Faith Cannot Yet See – Ze Selassie
“If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?” — Luke 12:28 Will I have enough? Will it come in time? Will I be protected? Will I be heard? Will the people…
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When One Person Hurts, the Whole Family Speaks: Understanding Family Systems, Grief, and Healing – Ze Selassie
There are moments in family life when one person’s struggle becomes so visible that everyone begins to organize around it. Maybe a teenager is acting out, a child has become unusually anxious, a spouse has withdrawn emotionally, or one member of the family is wrestling with depression, addiction, anger, or some other behavior that can…
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When the Family That Formed Us Also Wounded Us: Finding Healing Beyond Our Beginnings – Ze Selassie
We do not choose the family into which we are born, yet long before we possess the words to describe ourselves, family begins teaching us what the world is like. It teaches us whether people can be trusted. Whether love is dependable. Whether our emotions are safe to express. Whether mistakes can be forgiven. Whether…
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More Than Bread: When Christ Becomes the Source of Our Life – Ze Selassie
In John 6, Jesus speaks to people who had eaten bread from His hands but had not yet understood the deeper hunger of their souls. They followed Him because He had fed them, yet Christ gently redirected their attention: “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting…
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September 11, Twenty-Five Years Later: When Grief Remembers and Hope Remains – Ze Selassie
“Jesus wept.” — John 11:35 Twenty-five years have passed since September 11, 2001, yet some dates refuse to become merely history. They remain places in our collective memory; places where we remember not only what happened, but where we were when we learned that the world could change in a morning. We remember the images.…
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When Caring for One Means Caring for Many: The Sacred Ethics of Family and Group Counseling – Ze Selassie
Counseling becomes more complicated the moment more than one person’s story enters the room. In individual counseling, the relationship between counselor and client provides a relatively clear center of responsibility. But place a family in that same room and suddenly there are several experiences of the same event, several needs competing for attention, old wounds…
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RELATIONSHIP, NOT RELIGION (CONTINUED): LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES – Ze Selassie
“And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” — Mark 12:31 Love for God must eventually become visible in the way we love people. Jesus joins these commandments because they cannot be faithfully separated. We may speak passionately about our relationship…
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When Failure Tries to Become Your Identity: Finding Grace Beyond Self-Condemnation – Ze Selassie
There is something particularly painful about failing when you knew better. Some failures surprise us, others do not. We saw the warning signs, we heard that quiet voice telling us to stop, reconsider, turn around, or ask for help; yet somehow, we continued. Then comes the moment when there is no longer anything to explain…
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When Faith and Psychology Meet: Caring for the Whole Person – Ze Selassie
There are moments in ministry when a Bible verse is exactly what a hurting person needs. There are other moments when that same person needs someone willing to sit beside them long enough to understand why they cannot sleep, why their body remains on alert even though the danger has passed, why relationships frighten them,…
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Relationship, Not Religion: Loving God With All That We Are – Ze Selassie
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” — Mark 12:30 God desires more than religious activity; He desires us. It is possible to become so occupied with the practices of faith that we quietly lose…