Grains of Sand

Pixabay "Be reasonable." Most of us have heard that phrase more than a few times. "Reasonable" is, according to my dictionary: "sensible, rational, logical, fair, fair-minded, just, equitable; intelligent, wise, levelheaded, practical, realistic; sound, reasoned, well reasoned, valid, commonsensical; tenable, plausible, credible, believable." Funny how hard it is to actually BE reasonable. We get something in our heads and it is impossible to pound it out no matter how foolish it might be. Isaiah writes: " 'Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.' " (1:18) At the time the prophet was writing, Israel was in a sorry state spiritually. Though many view the God of the Old Testament as an angry, vengeful One, there are plenty of statements and actions that say something else. This is one. G...

PIxabay Perhaps it was because yesterday was such an extremely windy day here in southern Ontario, that these lines from As You Like It repeated themselves over and over in my head all day: Blow, blow, thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude... I confess I don't remember even studying Shakespeare's play in which these words appear, but the lines are engraved in my brain nonetheless. I wonder if Jesus ever felt what William tried hard to express? He lived among an ungrateful people. Their ingratitude was, at least in part, why He had come to dwell among men in the first place. As the sinless Lamb of God, sin repelled Him. But it also drew Him toward sinners so that He could deal with that sin and restore fellowship between His Father and all of us who had rejected His loving favour to follow other gods. But those to whom Jesus came rejected Him as well. Despite that He tells His disciples in Luke 6: "... Love your enemies, do good t...