Buried Treasure
A friend of mine calls the work to uncover the roots of emotional blind spots “hunting for buried treasure.” This delightful framing encourages me to tenderly sift amongst my doubts and fears with more ease. What hidden jewels of self are these intrusive tendencies protecting? In the Parable of the Weeds,* we see the impulse […]
A Way Through
If life is one big classroom, the subject for today is “resourcefulness.” It’s a story of mismanagement, misbehavior, and misdirection. A story of making a way out of no way. A story of grace.* Scrambling, scrounging, and soon-to-be-broke, the crooked manager comes up with the perfect plan. In a bold act of slight-of-hand, he gets caught. The […]
Just Joy
The stories come, as Jesus’ stories often do, because people are grumbling at him.* He is hanging out with “sinners” again, and the religious folk don’t like it. So Jesus tells two parallel parables, the lost sheep and the lost coin, both of which he likens to repentant sinners. I’m not the first to notice […]
Known By What Is Absent
Suffering is not a sign of being punished by God. At the other end of the spectrum, keeping oneself free of all suffering is not a sign of pleasing God. The Galileans who suffered under the cruelty of Pilate, Jesus says, are no worse sinners than the rest of us. Suffering happens. Rain falls on […]