You Be the Judge

There is only one rule of any real value, and it is this: That one must first demonstrate mastery of a rule before one may earn the right to break it.

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No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of helli with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’ For everyone will be tested with fire. Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.

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My late wife, in her final years, was fond of pointing out that the parabolic shepherd is the one who does the seeking; the sheep merely wander and get lost. In Jenn’s case, it was certainly true that Divine Perseverance won out; only when Jenn gave up her own merciless search for Jesus and peace was she able to finally see that He had already invaded and conquered the dark and empty places into which her soul had descended. She was still trying to find God outside herself and leave the truth of who she was behind; and all the while, the shepherd was already there in the brambles and mire, ready to hold and love her… if she’d just quit kicking at the goads, as it were.

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On one morning each year, the arc of the rising sun passes in just the right place through the bare January tress so that its first rays fall upon the chair in which I sit to read. It so happened this year that this morning, a Sunday morning, was that particular morning.

It also so happened that the morning was cloudless.

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