In Gennesaret

I just finished watching a series called Inventing Anna . Who’s heard of that one? Fascinating story – based on the real-life drama of a young woman who convinced people she was a German heiress and conned friends and banks and such out of thousands and thousands of dollars. This woman was staying in the most expensive hotels . . . eating at the best restaurants . . . wearing top quality designer clothes . . . attending the most exclusive of social events . . . traveling all around the world, flying first class. And somehow managed to do it all without paying for any of it. The lifestyle she was living was absolutely crazy. And even crazier, I realized as I watched that I didn’t find it appealing in the least. I mean, NOT AT ALL. I’ve thought the same thing watching some episodes of Rich Kids Go Skint , a British reality show where spoiled young adults raised in ridiculous wealth spend a weekend with a family “living on the breadline.” They start each episode giving you a taste...

Many, many years ago, I had an online conversation about abortion with an old high school friend. She had worked with George Tiller, a well-known abortion doctor in our hometown who was murdered by an anti-abortion extremist, so this was a subject of passion for her. To her credit, she initiated the exchange; she’d seen posts I’d made about my pro-life beliefs, believed I was honest and thoughtful about those beliefs (which I took as a great compliment), and wanted a genuine discussion with “the other side”. It was a fascinating conversation . . . mainly because of how much we found we agreed on. Yes, folks – when it came right down to it, we agreed on so much! We pondered together why each of our respective camps in this debate ended up so far in the extreme. She blamed it on that fear that giving an inch would sacrifice a mile. For example, even though she (and many of her colleagues) might personally have been okay with abortions only being allowed very early in a pregnancy, they...