God’s ways are not our ways. God’s thoughts are not like ours. You can say that again—and Isaiah does, insisting that the divine perspective is as up, up, and away from ours as heaven is from Earth.
Consider forgiveness as the currency of eternity. It’s absolutely free, so spend as much as you'd like. It’s like having your own money printing press in the cellar. Go on: Forgive seventy-times-seven times and it won’t cost you a penny!
Culture-wide, we have lost the art of dialogue. There’s no such thing as a thoughtful sharing of perspectives for the purpose of advancing understanding.
The gospel, as we know, hit the ground as a story in process. Believers proclaimed it for three decades and more before anyone thought to write it down. Writing, of course, makes a story more fixed and inflexible, and a written work takes on an aura of instant infallibility by virtue of being in print.
Who do we say Jesus is? Identifying Jesus has never been as easy as it looks. Walk into any Catholic church and the most prominent image will be his: either as suffering Savior or triumphant Lord.
A lot of people are not going to approve of your homily this week. Just know this ahead of time and brace yourself. Matthew is not interested in making you popular in the pulpit apart from a few nice Christmas stories anyway.
What does it mean to be saved? This is an important question to ask, because it’s a question that modern Christians are expected to answer at a moment’s notice. Are you saved? Am I?
Today the world commemorates what remains the ultimate demonstration of worldly might and power: the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, by the United States in 1945.
Looking for buried treasure was a big pastime for kids in my neighborhood 40 years ago. Not that there was likely to be much treasure in the coalfields of central Pennsylvania. That didn’t keep us from looking and hoping, though.
Here’s my latest idea for our T-shirt-and-bumper-sticker culture: “Those who are just must be kind.” OK, it’s not my idea; the Wisdom writer came up with it first.