Homeward Bound

How would you respond if Jesus visited your town or your neighborhood? I think almost everyone, non-Christians included, would be thrilled by the possibility. Most everyone likes Jesus. His morality cannot be improved upon , select portions of his teachings have been applauded for time gone by, and we sure would love to see something supernatural. In Jesus' day there was just something special about him and the miracles, the preaching, the tenderness mingled with strength, the verbal take downs of the religious--all drew massive crowds, with good reason! In our own time I doubt it would be any different.   But I have often been bewildered at the Gerasenes (Mark 5:1-20) who pleaded with Jesus to leave their town. Put yourself in their shoes. Here is Jesus, this fantastical figure, and He has come to your time. Of all possible moments in human history He is walking the earth the same moment you are walking the earth! Humanity has been waiting for this for generation after generatio...

I love starting new books: the new beginnings, the crisp pages, the fresh ideas that I cannot wait to dive into. There is something about the weight of a large tome which tempts me to tackle a big reading project. But as much as I love starting books like this, I do have a problem finishing them. Often I will hit a wall around sixty percent through, and find a few other books that catch my eye--only to do the same thing to those books later! And the cycle continues. Maybe I get bored with the same idea called out over and over, or sometimes I feel that I have gotten the point already, so my interest is lost. But more often than not I see a shiny new (or old) book other people are reading and I long to give it a try. So I do! I know I am not the only one to struggle with literary attention deficiency. Our world has trained us to not stay interested in any one thing for very long. We desire novelty and variety, it is built into the market and the online locations we venture. Long grade c...