I have found that living with faith in an unseen world requires constant effort.

Pain narrows vision. The most private of sensations, it forces us to think of ourselves and little else.

Homeless people bear God's image too.

The bible never belittles disappointment, but it does add one key word: temporary - What we feel now, we will not always feel. Our disappointment is itself a sign, and aching, a hunger for something better. And faith is, in the end, a kind of homesickness - for a home we have never visited but have never once stopped longing for.

Jesus gave us a model for the work of the church at the Last Supper. While his disciples kept proposing more organization - Hey, let's elect officers, establish hierarchy, set standards of professionalism - Jesus quietly picked up a towel and basin of water and began to wash their feet.

Christians are simply pilgrims who acknowledge their lostness and their desire for help in finding the way.

Our best efforts at changing society will fall short unless the church can teach the world how to love.