Being cooped up in the house as a child was more challenging to my mother than to my brother, sister and me. We kept chanting, “What should we do?” and my mother had to stop her work and be an activities director! Sometimes, my dad would pull a tube out of our TV and we [...]
My sister and I began a journal of the sayings of our parents- “Wash your hands”, “Eat your vegetables”, “Make your bed!” “Stop picking on your little sister!” These are common orders we heard growing up. From where do these rules come and to what are they directed? We decided they were rules to protect [...]
Last Sunday, the Israelites were grumbling about food; this Sunday the crowd is grumbling about who Jesus says he is. At least today, the grumbling is about what is really important – the identity of Jesus and how we gain eternal life! The surprise this Sunday is how persistent God is in bringing us to [...]
We too readily read that simplistically, romantically. But this command from Jesus contains the most important challenge of a Christian’s life – to love those who hate us; to love those whom we don’t like. What about the people whom we avoid and those who avoid us? What about those towards whom we feel resentment [...]
