2025

We are made from dust and to dust we will return. 

As we go through life we carry our wounding. Sometimes this produces behaviors that rub others the wrong way and get in the way of connecting with them. Jesus often demonstrated how he pushed in connect with others despite their wounding that ostracized them like leprosy. 

In the face of a growing library of memories, things we encounter might stir up reactions in us that are out of proportion. In these moments we can become curious about our inner world and what God might be up to. We can do as the Lord says in Psalm 46, “Be still and know that I am God.” 

“Repent,” Jesus says, “For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In repenting we learn that reflection plays an important part in life.

One time, when Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” he reframed the question with the story of the Good Samaritan. He changed the question to, “To whom will you be a neighbor?” and encouraged the man listening to go and show mercy. 

God’s mercies are new every morning and that means the infectious joy that comes from Jesus may not have a source you can see. 

Jesus says about the children, “To such belong the kingdom of God.” And “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall never enter it.” (Mark 10:13-16) Among other things, this means entering life with the confidence our Father in heaven will take care of us. And like a kid asking their parent, we are invited to ask repeatedly for what we want. 

God cares for us, young and old, in ways that we could never anticipate. He cares for our basic needs and more. 

God is not after the ideal life, but the true life. When we hold up the ideal as God we miss the God that Jesus makes known to us. The one who meets us right where we are.

We are, in a sense, children of God playing in our Father’s backyard waiting for him to call us home to dinner. We don’t all go home at the same time, but we do know that when we sit down together at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb we’ll be at tables surrounded by His friends.