As we consider the work of God in bringing creation to completion, we must recognize that what we do in this life has everlasting significance.

Along with the authority we recognize in Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, we must also recognize the authority residing in our own hearts.

We must take some time for organizing ourselves so that we are doing what we can to achieve a safe environment for our children, remembering the personal character of the gift of the Son of God to us.

Which shall we choose: the smugness of the scribes or the widow's entrance into the struggle for meaning?

Let us put law in perspective: as something which, if it is meaningful, becomes a natural part of us.

On blindness and other failures of perception.

I lost the Sep. 30 recording because the file actually continued recording for several hours. Oct. 7 and 14, I was away. It seems that this file, too, suffers from a technical difficulty, namely, that it got turned off before I had concluded. At least I am not having a Cuban missile crisis!

In our insecurity, we indulge in the game of comparing ourselves with others. If we accept the security of God's kingdom, we can cast aside the useless habit of tearing people down.

These powerful readings speak to us of the ways in which we misunderstand our relationship with God. Although good works are important, we must understand that they are the fruit of the faith which God has established in us.

"Be opened!" We must open ourselves to influences beyond ourselves; we must in particular be open to the fact that our human nature is as it is described today in the Letter of James.