John 20 - Faith comes before understanding...

"Almost nothing that makes any real difference can be proved.  I can prove the law of gravity by dropping a shoe out the window.  I can prove that the world is round if I’m clever at that sort of thing – that the radio works, that light travels faster than sound.  I cannot prove the greatness of the great or the beauty of the beautiful.  I cannot even prove my own free will; maybe my most heroic act, my truest love, my deepest thought, are all just subtler versions of what happens when the doctor taps my knee with his little rubber hammer and my foot jumps.”

Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking

Link for Art Study - Two Disciples at the Tomb by Henry Ossawa Tanner

“And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume...”

Mary took the most precious thing she possessed and spent it all on Jesus. Love is not love if it nicely calculates the cost.  It gives its all, and its only regret is that it has not still more to give.

Guest Speaker: Rachel Yokers

It’s the most demanding of all the Beatitudes, because there is no hiding.

“Rules for Self-Discovery:

1. What we want most;

2. What we think about most;

3. How we use our money;

4. What we do with our leisure time;

5. The company we enjoy;

6. Who and what we admire;

7. What we laugh at.

A. W. Tozer

Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

"No one is just one thing, even the worst of us.  That doesn’t excuse anyone’s behavior, but it does complicate a narrative we might otherwise want to make very simple.”

                                                                        MikeCosper, Land of my Sojourn

Jesus' words, "Blessed are the meek," are a counter voice to the growing number of angry alpha pseudo-religious. They are an invitation... They are a challenge... They are healing...

“We may say as a general rule for life that it is never right to be angry for any insult or injury done to ourselves – that is something that no Christian must ever resent – but that it is often right to be angry at injuries done to other people.  Selfish anger is always a sin; selfless anger can be one of the great moral dynamics of the world.” William Barclay

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4

"Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break,"  Shakespeare, Macbeth

As a follower of Christ, what is our place in this moment? The way of the Kingdom of God is a different path.

“Blessed are the poor. Blessed are you who are conscious of your lack of merit and readily open yourselves to the divine mercy.”
 Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish

Before Jesus ever began his sermon, the disciples first came to him. Are we willing to come to Jesus... even when that means God is going to disrupt our lives?