Beloved, Weird, Called Outsiders

Matthew 9:35 – 38  Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he […]

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Matthew 5:38-48 Are you a perfectionist? A dictionary definition: a perfectionist is a person who refuses to accept any standard short of perfection. In psychology, perfectionism is a personality trait of a person who strives for flawlessness and sets excessively high performance standards, often accompanied by overly critical self-evaluations and deep concerns about how others […]

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Losing and Finding Sheep: Empathy

Luke 15:1-10 Empathy. Do you practice it? Do you experience it with others? What is empathy to you? For me, a simple definition of empathy is when I can imagine what another person is thinking or feeling—not like reading their mind, but just imagining what they think and/or feel, even if I have never experienced […]

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How Do We Get Distracted?

Luke 10:38-42 What makes you feel distracted? What distracts you from being your true self? Facundo Cabral, Argentine singer, songwriter, and philosopher (1937-2011), once wrote about distraction and depression. Here is an excerpt: You are not depressed; you are distracted. You believe that you have lost something, which is impossible, because everything that you have was […]

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Who Are Our Neighbors?

Luke 10:25-37 Whelp, this is a well-known story. I’ll try to highlight some of the details that may sometimes go unnoticed before I share some thoughts. First off, the person asking the question, “Who is my neighbor?” is a lawyer. Why that is significant is because of what lawyers do. Lawyers qualify and define elements […]

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What Do Our Tears Mean?

Luke 7:36 – 8:3 Frederick Buechner[1] wrote: You never know what may cause tears. The sight of the Atlantic Ocean can do it, or a piece of music, or a face you’ve never seen before. You can never be sure. But of this you can be sure. Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially […]

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Feeling a Little Dead?

Luke 7:11-17 Have you ever felt dead? Do you think that people can be resurrected during this life on earth? Do you think that people can live again after being dead? Like me, maybe you don’t. Maybe you reserve that type of event for shows like the Walking Dead or Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Whatever the […]

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Self-Giving, Love-Bearing

Mark 10:17-31 When I was a kid [well, I still am a kid, but just an older one], like most kids, I understood reward and punishment pretty well. Do well in school–get rewarded with good grades and a pat on the back from teachers and parents. Goof off and cause trouble—end up in detention and […]

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All in it Together

Mark 9:38-50 POPE-A-LOOZA Last Friday and Saturday, I had the opportunity to spend time with friends in Philadelphia while Pope Francis visited for the World Meeting of Families. I am fortunate to have a few friends in Center City who live in an apartment building right near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Art Museum […]

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Bread of Love

John 6:24-35 Previously, in this chapter of John’s story, something like 5000 people were fed when there seemed to be a scarcity of food. A handful of loaves and fishes proved to be enough to feed everyone. After the event, Jesus and his disciples took a boat over to Capernaum, on the other side of […]

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