Did you pass, or did you fail? We don’t want to say that things are always black or white. We don’t like the binary way things work out occasionally. We prefer the element of ambiguity, the shades of grey, the aspect in which it isn’t one thing or the other but a mix—a hodgepodge. I […]
Read More JJ 24 #30: Pass or FailThere is an interesting approach to life that says it’s good to believe the best and expect the worst. This is applied particularly to whatever requires interaction with others. When we believe in the best, it expresses the part in us that believes we can work together coherently and produce the goods. We believe it, […]
Read More JJ 24 #29: Trust Us to be Typically HumanI am very glad that Jesus warned me about suffering. I don’t like pain, you see, so when I read episodes in scripture like the ones in Acts where the apostles rejoice after getting flogged, I know that this only happens because of Jesus. I know they can only rejoice because they recall what following […]
Read More JJ 24 #28: Constituent PartsI get irritable sometimes, so it’s a work of grace to drag me out of that when I get there and need to consider those things. Even the mechanics of things can make me appreciate the admirable. Take blogging, for example. It’s something that I’ve been doing for nearly two decades. I appreciate that in […]
Read More JJ 24 #27: When I Get IrritableWe have a role to perform in life. The challenge is not to make it an act. Knowing Jesus as the way, the truth and the life challenged me to discover which part of me was just an act. I had a problem with that for a while. Putting on the act appeared to have […]
Read More JJ 24 #26: The Real DealWe got to know each other when we studied together long ago. She lost a loved one and thought about contacting me to share the news. Although we were not as close as we had been during the studies, we kept in touch. To get the call and spend time with her, just hearing her […]
Read More JJ 24 #25: Who Your Real Friend IsThere was a time when the mobile device was viewed with suspicion and scepticism. I know—hard to believe, right? But it’s a true story. Some suggested that it could lead to the breakdown of society. Those doom merchants had similar things to say about many technological advances over the last few decades. It’s interesting to […]
Read More JJ 24 #24: PromptlyI cannot remember a time when I didn’t love words. Every memory I have is heavily informed by words, and as someone deeply invested in them, it’s no surprise that I’m heavily biased about them. There was a phase when I was into using the words to make notes of ideas for films and television […]
Read More JJ 24 #23: The Words Are For …Have I told you about my pet peeve about Matthew 25? I know it’s not you, but it’s probably someone else you know. My peeve with it comes when people think that Matthew has Jesus outline three parables. So they refer to the parable of the virgins, the parable of the talents and the parable […]
Read More JJ 24 #22: That’s StrangeOne of the great privileges of my life has been the opportunity to work on projects with teams. Being a part of those projects helped me to appreciate that things are not done by the power of the individual – it is achieved with the help of those who see a need and fill it. […]
Read More JJ 24 #21: For Any Help I Can Get
Life With CD 