“Even after you saw it, you did not change your minds.” God wants us to change our minds. And that’s a problem. Because we don’t like to
Last Sunday we talked about two ways of being human, the way of transaction on the one hand, and the way of mercy - grace, compassion, generosity - on the other. These two ways are mixed up in each one of us, and today, in the parable Jesus tells, we get a glimpse of what can happen when these two ways collide. Have you ever been in the schoolyard, or gone to the park to play a game like soccer or football, and the way it worked is that there were two captains who picked teams. I’ll take her, you take him, one person after another, back and forth until there is only one person left. Have you ever been the one person who was left? What’s it like to be picked last? I remember when I was in Gr
You’ve probably heard the jokes about there being two kinds of people in this world? You know, like, there are two kinds of people in this world? Those who think there are two kinds of people in this world, and those who don’t. Or my personal favourite, there are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary numbers and those who don’t. Well, there are also two ways of being human in this world. There is the way of transaction. And there is the way of mercy. Now that’s not the same as two kinds of people. Because these two ways are all mixed up in each one of us. All of us are to some extent transactional. And all of us are to some extent merciful. For us, it becomes a
"There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush ... Then Moses said, 'I must turn aside and look" Some of our best moments happen sideways. Moments that catch us by surprise, wiggling in from the side, bypassing our expectations and defenses. Have you ever noticed that some conversations just seem to work better side-by-side than they do head on? Perhaps when you’re driving beside someone in a car. Or when you’re walking together shoulder to shoulder rather than standing face-to-face? Maybe you’re a parent, and maybe you’ve noticed that sometimes with your children, or even with your partner, it’s better to come at a situation sideways rather than confront it