In Gennesaret

Jesus’ first miracle recorded in the New Testament was when he turned water into wine. I never really got a satisfactory explanation about that from the teetotaler Baptist adults in the church I grew up in. The best one I heard was that water was not clean at the time, so drinking wine was safer – and their wine wasn’t as strong as wine today and less likely to cause drunkenness. Hmm. Maybe. Nevertheless, I think it is noteworthy that the Lord’s first supernatural act performed in his human body was so different from those that came later. When we think about Jesus’ miracles, we generally think of the scads of people he healed – physically and spiritually. We see him casting out demons, feeding multitudes, meeting basic needs for survival. But his first miracle was about increasing joy. It was a wedding, a party. They were celebrating the nuptials of a young couple beginning a life together. And huge part of such a celebration in biblical times was wine. And oh, people . . . it ...

A couple weeks ago, our Sunday School lesson was over 1 King 19 – the story of Elijah running away to Horeb after his big victory over the prophets of Baal (in chapter 18). I love this story. God used it mightily in my life at one point to teach me some important lessons about my depression. Because Elijah is depressed here, yes? “ He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die.” That’s depression, people. A textbook case. And one of the first things to note about this is that it came after a mountaintop moment . . . which is not uncommon. We should prepare ourselves for a possible crash after a spiritual high , especially if we know we are naturally susceptible to such crashes. But what’s the first thing God did for him? He let him sleep.  Like, a lot. He slept, then he woke up to eat, then he slept again. I’ve learned that for me, a lot of my depression is connected to sleep deprivation. I’m TIRED. I need rest. Just getting a good nap usually helps m...

I don’t watch any of those TV shows about police teams – you know, NCIS and its spin-offs, Law and Order and its spin-offs . . . none of them. Don’t have anything against them; just never got started and therefore never hooked. But every once in a while, I feel like I’m missing some cultural knowledge (and maybe vocabulary) because of my lack of exposure. For instance, apparently police officers these days (at least on these shows) wear these earbuds for two-way radios so they can communicate with headquarters? So, like, they have constant access to somebody “downtown” – that person may pop in at any moment and say something in their ear, and they can at any time hold down a button on some device (on their hip, I’m guessing?) and say something to their downtown person. Instant communication. Something like that? I can imagine it . . . I’ve probably seen it on some show sometime . . . but I don’t know the nitty-gritty of it all. The only reason I bring it up is because my friend u...

The more you heal, the more comfortable you are being the villain in the story of people who don’t want to do the work to heal themselves. I saw this statement in a meme on Facebook a few weeks ago and reposted it because it hit home with me. I’m not sure if my FB friends read it the same way I did. A couple people seemed concerned that it implied allowing yourself to be wrongly abused or mistreated by someone. Which would not be okay, of course. Exce-e-ept there’s that “turn the other cheek” bit that Jesus gave us in the Sermon on the Mount. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer them the other one. If someone sues you to take your shirt, give him your coat, too.  Clearly, there is wisdom needing to be applied here. Eugene Peterson in The Message put it thusly: “If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” I don’t believe Jesus is telling us to allow ourselves to be abused and d...

If you haven’t seen the Barbie movie, intend to, and don’t want spoilers, you should stop reading and come back to this later. On the other hand, if you’ve already seen it or don’t intend to see it at all, please read on. (Especially if you’re avoiding the movie because you think it’s offensive.) I had no interest in seeing this flick. None. When I heard about it, my first thought was “Oh, thank God my girls are grown and gone so I don’t have to watch another Barbie movie.” But I had friends who heard it was good and wanted to make a girls’ night of it . . . and you know how I’ve been harping here about doing the community thing. So, I went with them. It wasn’t until the next morning that I read reviews and saw people slamming the film as “woke” and misandrist (there’s a new word I learned: “man-hating”). Wow. I’m wondering if they saw the same movie I did.  In the movie I saw, when Barbie returns to Barbieland and sees that Ken has transformed it into Kenworld, a patriarch...

I sent a text message to some teachers on my team asking their opinion on something, and in my text, I happened to use the word “begrudge”. And suddenly, I wasn’t sure I had used it correctly – and I told them so. Here’s the conversation that ensued: JoAnne : “To give reluctantly or resentfully.” I looked it up. Me : LOL! I did, too. Still unsure . . . it sounds right in the sentence, but not sure the definition fits my use of it. JoAnne : You don’t resent her for asking. Courtney : Webster’s also says “to regard with envy or discontent” and “to regard disapprovingly,” so I think you nailed it. Also, this is the only text thread on my phone that causes me to consult my dictionary at 7:56am, and I love it! Maureen: And “begrudge” is the right answer!!! (Why do I feel like I should be giving away a trip to Hawaii?) Y’all. I LOVE MY PEOPLE. I don’t know how I could do life without my people . Since I turned 21 and officially became an adult, I have lived in seven differen...

Just in case you haven’t been paying attention lately, Texas has been going through a hellish heatwave. Here in San Antonio, our daily highs were over 100 degrees most of the month of June, I believe, and are on target to be so for the rest of the month of July. And y’all . . . August is still coming . Pray for your suffering brothers and sisters here in the South. In light of this climatic insanity, I emailed my landlord the other day to thank him for replacing my A/C unit back in May. I had been holding my breath waiting for it to die since the day I moved in three years ago. I doubt it would have survived this craziness, and I don’t even want to THINK about sitting in this house in these temperatures with no air conditioning. My sister said the other day, “God was looking out for you,” and I think he was. However, I have two friends whose A/C did go out last week in the middle of the wicked heat (and on the same day, oddly enough). At least one of these units was only a few yea...