A Time Of Renewal

There is a hint of sweetness in the air. The trees on the SIUC Campus are budding and some blooming. Aaron and Jonathon and I get our second vaccine this week. We are feeling somewhat excited about the return of a new normal to our lives. I enjoyed watching the squirrels this morning on campus as they played and frisked and chased each other across the lawns and up the trees.

Easter is coming. This was a holiday that did not have so much significance to me when I was a youth. Now it is one of my favorites. The loveliness of the story of Christ…. captivated my heart when I was 12 years old. Please do not be fooled by the virulent violent rhetoric that has seem’s to surround the christian experience. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but should have eternal life.’ John 3:16. KJVCaptivated

God loves those that society shuns. He loves people like me…that no one targeted for success… ‘Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the Scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him Master, this woman was taken in adultery, but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And when they heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. John 8: 1-11. KJV

Easter is a time of renewal for our human family. The horrors of our 2020/2021 Pandemic are lifting…and we see with tear filled eyes the value of each other and out mutual need for our neighbors help and assistance. The followers of Christ are not concerned about their fellow human family members political affiliation. They are concerned about helping the poorest among them…and those who the elite have shunned and marginalized and forgotten…

Have you ever asked yourself…What was Jesus writing in the sand…