D-V's Desk

  Jesus never says that following Him is easy.   In fact, time after time, Jesus says that following Him is hard, demanding, and not for the faint of heart.   “If any want to follow me,” Jesus says, “they must take up their cross and follow me.”   This morning, in our Gospel lesson, Jesus calls His first followers and gives them this advice: 9-10  “Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start.   You don’t need a lot of equipment.   You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day.   Travel light. 11  “When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn.   Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave. 12-15  “When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting.   If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation.   If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw.   Don’t make a scene.   ...

St. Augustine once wrote that God is best understood as a community of love.   God exists as a relationship of love between God’s Self, God the Son (Jesus), and God’s Holy Spirit.   There is so much love within the Triune God, that the love overflows beyond the Trinity into creation.   You see, love always seeks an object. And so, in lavish love, God calls forth creation: “sun, moon, and stars; earth, winds, and waters; and every living thing” (EP 2, EOW; cf. Genesis 1) .   Finally, God calls forth human beings as bearers of God’s image.   Man and woman created equally.   Male and female both made with God’s capacity to love and to be loved. In that same love, you and I are sent into the world.   To share that abundant love with those we encounter day in and day out (Matthew 28:18-20) .   So that they, too, can come to know God’s love.   I have said this before, but it bears repeating.   You and I might be the only Bible someone rea...