[...]women much like this prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift?

Christians are not perfect, by any means, but they can be people made fully alive.

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

It's easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you've heard everything before and that you have nothing left to learn.

prayer, and only prayer, restores my vision to one that more resembles God's. i awake from blindness to see that wealth lurks as a terrible danger, not a goal worth striving for; that value depends not on race or status but on the image of God every person bears; that no amount of effort to improve physical beauty has much relevance for the world beyond.

Rather, God has commissioned us as agents of intervention in the midst of a hostile and broken world.

Jesus' response to suffering people and to "nobodies" provides a glimpse into the heart of God. God is not the unmoved Absolute, but rather the Loving One who draws near.