Daily observations about following Jesus
We usually talk about fasting during Lent. So it seems wrong to talk about fasting when we are supposed to celebrate Advent by looking at the meals around Jesus. But I want to suggest we can understand fasting as sharing rather than as giving up. Usually, fasting is giving something up. When I think of giving […]
Read More…I’ve had mixed feelings about Advent and Christmas for years. Everyone’s happy and I get more melancholy. There are expectations of great love and great presents and great programs, and I feel inadequate. But several years ago, I began to understand that spending time in preparation can help us handle seasons of expectation with wisdom […]
Read More…For the past month, throughout advent, we’ve been looking at the people who were expecting Jesus. In the town of Nain there was a person who wasn’t expecting him at all. But her lack of expectation didn’t stop Jesus from helping. Jesus and his disciples and a crowd were walking toward town. A funeral procession […]
Read More…Levi had a pretty good job, at least financially. He collected taxes. When you have the Roman army backing you up, you can make a comfortable living collecting taxes. You don’t have many friends, other than tax collectors and other people who have money but are socially unacceptable. But there is, I’m guessing, a sense […]
Read More…“What do we do? How can we help?” When we have friends who are in the middle of pain and suffering, when we have friends who have no way to get to Jesus for healing because of the crowds, what do we do? I mean, we can’t heal anyone ourselves. We can’t take away the […]
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300 words a day 