I need zucchini
Unfortunately I grab
Cucumber instead
A forgiving dish
Your minestrone can be
Whatever you want
No set recipe
Add ingredients you have
It’ll come together
All different things
Not one pot like another
All delicious soup
Sometimes we think like
Our lives are set, but only
God knows who we’ll be
There is a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring that has always been appealing to me: “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens”. My appreciation is in the truth of the sentiment – those who are unwilling to walk the road with their friends when the way becomes painful and hard, are no companions at all.
Luke 22 presents us with foreshadowing of this very scenario: all of Jesus’ companions will flee from him, and his own friends will deny ever knowing him. The one and eternal King, the one above whom none ever deserved more loyalty and honor, will be abandoned by all. Yet, after telling Peter of his future betrayal, Jesus says the most amazing thing: “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not”. God incarnate is praying for Peter KNOWING that he will deny him. As the story unfolds, we see that although everyone does indeed abandon Christ, he does not abandon His own. Though every disciple fled, though Peter denied and cursed, yet none of the eleven was abandoned to the fate they deserved. The subsequent pages show repentance, and a love and forgiveness given to sinful men that drove them to the ends of the earth proclaiming good news.
So the question is, where are we looking for good news? Is it to ourselves – our own wisdom, strength, finances, or relationships to lift the burden of brokenness and guilt? Is it others, government, the world? All these things are transient, slowly but surely passing away. May we be like the blind men at Jericho who, when they heard Jesus was coming, would not cease to cry out his name until he answered them (Matt. 20:29-34). For the unbeliever, cry out for faith; for the Christian, cry out “help my unbelief”. He is compassionate to those who call upon His name. He knows our failings from before the forming of the world, but his blood is sufficient to cover all our transgressions (Hebrews 10), and even now He intercedes for his own (Romans 8:34) just as he interceded for Peter.
The following is a spring snapshot of Boston from a trip I took earlier this year. This type of post was a first for me, being entirely written on my phone while riding a whale-watching boat.
The sea is calm, skies cloudy, and there’s a cheerful chatter of Spanish and English aboard the Asteria as we return to Boston harbor. We spotted fin, humpback, and minke whales, as well as grey seals and numerous seagulls—and other adventure-seeking whale watching boats that mirrored ours with their crowded three tiers of deck and double-prowed catamaran profiles.
Boston streets are abloom with rhododendron, allium, and roses, which bely the chilly temperatures that have not topped the mid-50s until today, despite being in the 80s not that long ago. The birds sing almost incessantly from dawn to dusk, and the Canadian geese stand stiff and vigilant next to gangly goslings along the banks of the Charles.
Thousand Mile Walk 