Reading, Reflection and Prayer

Ruth reflects on her thinking about the Kingdom, and what it means to live within God's realm. Jesus talks to the Pharisees about the kingdom of God being within you. His discussion about what will happen in the day of the Son of Man is troubling.

Jesus heals ten lepers but only one returns to give thanks to God. We think about healing in Jesus' day and ours.

We wrestle with the question of forgiveness. Jesus tells his disciples to keep forgiving and they respond 'increase our faith'! But if we don't forgive, who does that hurt? Usually ourselves.

We seem to both be suffering pandemic brain. Ruth can't remember anything and Richard can't read straight. The gospel passage - of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a challenge to Ruth. Is it parable or a straightforward description of the afterlife? We think about the basis of judgement and the fact that even a resurrection from the dead would not be enough to persuade the rich man's family in this story.

We talk a little about hybrid school and looking forward to Great Valley getting back to four days a week in person. In the parable of the shrewd manager, Jesus talks about how we use our wealth.

We talk about the contrast between the generosity and grace of the Father and the attitude of the two sons. One (the prodigal) doesn't believe that his father will welcome him back. The other (the older) just feels it's unfair and has never understood the heart of his father.

We read the first two of three stories in Luke chapter 15 where Jesus emphasizes God's desire to find those who are in need of repentance. We have the story of the lost sheep and the lost coin today (the third will be the lost son). We rejoice that God has found us, and continue to prayer for those that God is still seeking.

We come across a hard saying of Jesus today. Whoever want to follow him must 'hate' father, mother, children, sister, brother - even their own life. While the language is strong, we think about what it means to 'give up everything' if you want to be Jesus' disciple.

We have a short discussion about our families' struggles to find a good method of making yogurt. Jesus tells the parable of a wedding banquet which the guests refused to attend because of other obligations. We think how easy it is to make excuses, and about the priority that our spiritual lives, and being a part of the people of God might play in our lives if only we understood their importance.

We talk about the human desire to choose the best seat. Jesus' advice to take a lower place doesn't come naturally to us; nor does his advice to invite as guests to our parties the outsiders and needy rather than our friends.