Unveiled Graces

Over the last several days, I have enjoyed nothing more than enjoying watching my children simply be children.  As they grow older, I know these days of childhood are fleeting.  They still enjoy playing in the hose, exploring outdoors, and using their imagination. The live life unhindered by the worries of the day. Not long ago, my parents found an old box of childhood memories.  In there, were drawings, doodles, and even writings I had crafted in my youth.  As I sifted through the pages, part of me longed for the simplicity of days past.  I used to hike down to a brook in the woods and sit for hours, watching the tadpoles swim and listening to the birds sing. I rode my bike in the neighborhood until suppertime, without a care in the world. Jesus calls us to live freely and to live without anxiety as many of us did when we were children. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." In a time whe...

Today, as I glanced through the hashtags of Twitter, I noticed the anger within the posts. Hearts are crying out for change and revolution. Many Christians implore action based on Christ's response to the moneychangers in the Court of the Gentiles at the temple. I read their pleas and heard their pain. I watched the marches on television yet wondered, "how does solidarity promote change?" As I reflected, read, and prayed, I remembered what most motivates change. Looking back on the passage of Jesus at the temple, I am reminded of several things. First Jesus was angry. The vendors had made the Court of the Gentiles an unfair market place. This outer courtyard was the only place where non-Jews could go to worship and commune with the One True God. Yet, Jewish merchants profited by turning it to a place where they converted secular coins into the Jewish currency necessary to pay the Temple tax, making them no better than tax collectors. Also required was...