“Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” (v.34) “I tell you the truth today, you will be with me in paradise.” (v.43) Jesus on the cross, according to Luke, offered forgiveness to two groups of people, who did two different things. One was the person being executed for a capital offense. A criminal who deserved his sentence. The other: people who hurt Jesus personally. People who hurt people Jesus loved. People who killed – or were in the process of killing and/or having Jesus killed. “HE HAD MANY WOUNDS.” She spoke with the precision of a coroner. “In the upper abdomen were five wounds. These wounds indicated that different weapons were used to stab him, or a group of people stabbed him.” Mrs. Mhlawuli continued her harrowing testimony to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission [in South Africa]. She spoke about the disappearance and murder of her husband, Sicelo. “In the lower part, he also had wounds. In total, there were forty-three. They poured acid on hi...
Stuck on Hamster Holiness (1 Corinthians 9:24-26a, 10:1-33; Galatians 5:16, 22-25; Ephesians 4:31-5:2a; Philippians 2:3-4, 3:14)
Today is Fathers’ Day. I was blessed this week in that I was able to spend a lot of time with my daughters and my parents. On Monday, Susan, Heather and I went down to Victoria to spend time with family for Sarah-Grace’s 23 rd birthday. On Wednesday I needed to be in Victoria for a conference, so I visited with Sarah-Grace and Rebecca and my parents some more. Thursday , I came home to get Susan and Heather and we all came back to Victoria again, this time for Sarah-Grace’s convocation. She graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Honours English from UVIC. It was great to spend so much time with my kids and my folks. I am so proud of Sarah-Grace (like I am of all my kids) . The Grad ceremony was good too – some I have been to have been long and boring, but this was a very good one. The Chanceller of the University spoke about Hope. She mentioned hope as being the opposite of being stuck in fear and fatigue. Susan shared w...