Years ago, I started having trouble reading the Bible. I looked at the text and couldn’t concentrate. I started to wonder what was wrong, whether there was some spiritual thing going on.

And then one day at work as a pastor, I picked up a Bible. It had larger print. And I suddenly had no trouble reading.

What I thought was a complicated spiritual or psychological or some other kind of issue actually was an issue with my eyes. And not because I needed to exercise more or eat more carrots. I was (and still am) aging. And the answer was a new prescription and a larger print Bible.

I tell you that story because a month ago, I moved an email version of this daily essay to a new provider. It’s significantly less expensive and it provides what I need for our nearly daily interactions.

After I made the switch, I heard from a few of you that it was hard to read. I made adjustments to a couple things. I tried to troubleshoot. But it wasn’t working.

So last week, I tried something new, more manual than automated. It takes a little more time but it means that you and I don’t have to struggle with the reading. You because it’s too small, me because I realize that I could be more helpful.

We have all manner of challenges in our lives. Some of them are spiritual, but not all of them. Some of them are physical, but not all of them. Some of them are psychological, social, systemic, but not all of them.

Each of them, however, is an opportunity to stop and discern the best response.

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