A key insight for Palm Sunday is offered in the book: The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. They speak of two processions that entered Jerusalem. From the east, Jesus rode down from the Mount of Olives, proclaiming a new kingdom of peace.
Ever since the scientific revolution of a few hundred years ago, humankind has become increasingly enamoured with the SEEN world, and dismissive of the UNSEEN world. What is REAL, is thought to be found only in that which can be rationally explained or scientifically proven. The UNSEEN world is written off as myth or fairy-tale.
How many times have I slaved to get something done on a project that is not part of my job description, critical to the success of the project, my manager has no idea what I have even done, and at the end of it all.... nothing
What is your picture of God? Does God like you – enough to want to be in relationship with you? Do you need to earn God’s affection? Is God’s affection and favour only available as reward for good behaviour?
Some Christians think it unfaithful to express disappointment with God. But, the Psalms are full of complaints, grievances, disappointments, and doubts, which shows that naming our disappointments is integral to the life of faith.
Work has been incredibly fast-paced this year. I have been actively trying to upskill and seek new responsibilities.
In Kirsenbosch Gardens, found in the Dell, is Colonel Bird’s bath. Built around 1811 by the Colonel, in the shape of a bird, it collects spring water and allows it to stand and clear. Originally it was piped to his house, but now it feeds the surrounding pools.
In my quiet times in the mornings, I have been enamored with the book of Romans, rereading it over and over. One of the verses that sticks in my mind each time I read it: “The righteous will live by faith.” And these questions along with it: What does it mean to be righteous? What does it mean to live in faith?
Horatio Spafford was a successful attorney and real estate investor who lost a fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Around the same time, his beloved four-year-old son died of scarlet fever.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder…” (of somebody else???) In one of his books, Heri Nouwen emphasizes that when someone is apart from a person they care about, the absence does not cause them to dwell upon the little irritations that are sure to be part of the relationship, but rather causes them to think of all the qualities they cherish about the other. In this way, the time of absence has the potential to enrich the time of presence. When they are together again, they see each other with greater appreciation.