In today’s Gospel reading, Luke 9.51-62, Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem. Along the way, he encounters different groups of people, who respond to him in different ways. In light of the series on vocation that’s been occupying my midweek posts — and therefore my thoughts — of late, I couldn’t help but think that … Continue reading The World Reacts to Jesus: A Reflection on Luke 9.51-62
In the last post in this series about vocation, we looked at what the creation story in Genesis tells us about humanity’s general vocation: to be God’s representatives in the world and to reflect God’s character in our interactions with one another and in how we exercise stewardship over creation. But, as the story goes, … Continue reading Called to Be Christlike
In last Friday’s post introducing this series on vocation, we saw that God’s calling works on both general — what God calls us all to be — and particular — what God calls us to be as individual persons — levels. Today I’d like to look at the idea of general calling through the lens … Continue reading Called to Be Human
Some of the most basic questions of human life are ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Why am I here?’ Until we answer these questions, even partially, our lives tend to be dominated by a deep sense of dissatisfaction. In response to this restlessness or ennui, we have three choices: 1. We can languish in it, feeling … Continue reading Called according to God’s Purpose
A few years ago I went through a period of reading a lot Buddhist literature. I stopped, not because I didn’t find it valuable — indeed, if you ever need help surviving the experience of having a human mind, Buddhism is a great place to turn! — but because it got repetitive. No matter what … Continue reading The Jesus Manifesto: A Reflection on Luke 4.14-21 and 1 Corinthians 12.12-31
Matthew Root 