Scripture Reading: Mark 12:1-12

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When I was a kid, we had a small group of trees on the corner of the lot behind the house. The trees weren’t huge, by any means. But they were well spaced to put up a treehouse. So off dad and I went to the lumberyard to pick up some boards.

I got to work, along with help from dad and my friend. We built, what I thought was a beginnings of a pretty nice treehouse. We had a good strong floor. We had some walls which gave us some privacy. We had a trap door in the floor so we could climb in and out. We were quite happy with our treehouse, that we had made with our own two hands.

Then the earwigs moved in. read more…

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:32-52

Eyes are a funny thing. With our eyes we can see so much. We can be in awe of the majesty of God’s creation. We can add colour to a black and white page in a colouring book and make it beautiful. We can read books and gain knowledge. We can even communicate through our eyes.

Yet they are also a very sensitive organ in our body. Get stuck by a finger and our eyes don’t function properly for a few minutes. It hurts! Get a speck of something in our eye and it itches and drives us nuts until we can get it out.

Walk out of a darkroom into bright sunlight and we are blinded until our eyes can adjust. Then walk from the brightness back into the dark room and we can’t see at all, again, until our eyes adjust.

Our eyes also give us a certain amount of information and community. How often do we want to share in an experience with someone by saying, “Let me see!”

Or how often do we say, “I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes!” read more…

Scripture reading: Mark 10:17-21

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When you pack to go on a trip, how much do you take? If you’re going for a weekend, you know you can probably pack pretty light. You check the weather forecast and see what you can get away with. Maybe you can even get away with a small bag.

But if you go away for a month, how much do you pack? It’s hard to predict the weather for a whole month. Can you get away with only one sweater? Maybe, but what if it’s a cold spell and you need a sweater every day? Will it rain? Do I need a raincoat and boots? What about hats? If it’s summer, how many pairs of shorts and pants will you need?

And if you pack anything like we pack for summer vacation, you come home with clothes you never wore once the whole time you were away.

It’s a challenge to pack. But if you don’t know how much to pack, it’s better to overpack than to take too little, even if it does take up extra space in the car.

Then as you travel you have everything you need right there with you. But is it always the best way to travel? Is it the most efficient way to go on your journey?

We will spend the next few weeks on a journey. We call this journey Lent. read more…