CAREFULLY CARELESS

Stranger: "Basta premere il pulsante e uscirà l’etichetta con il prezzo del pane da usare alla cassa, ma bisogna pesarlo prima della stampa." Me: "Uh. Sí." On more than one occasion since living overseas, I have been rightfully humbled, feeling what many marginalized persons have felt before--I must be dumb, or at the very least, missing something key to comprehension. The foreigner, the elderly, the disabled, and the minority have all felt this same feeling, not because of a

I've never stopped to ponder what the wife of the infamous Ark-builder was actually like. Strangely though, she has recently become a comfortable companion for me-- a friend, whom I can warmly sit and relate to her story. As a boy mom, we both know the pangs of being punched, bruised, and yelled at in the names of love and hate. She welcomed three daughters in-law, into the family. (I'm sure she could shed a lot of wisdom I have yet to obtain.) I on the other hand welcomed a

"Abandonment means refusing yourself the luxury of asking questions, The moment you truly abandon yourself to God, you no longer worry about what He's going to do." (Oswald Chambers, Utmost for His Highest, Apr. 28) Abandon: To forsake, relinquish, yield without restraint, give up control, leave completely, physically depart, release inhibitions, renounce utterly, freedom from artificial constraints, ease to surrender, leave behind, release, hand over, or give up completely

It appears one way from the outside, but when you open it up it's actually something different altogether. Many cultures comfortably call upon "God" even if they are not speaking of the same One. They can easily latch onto a "Father" or Higher Power for protection. Other cultures (western contexts) are more comfortable with the "Son of Mary." The Jesus who was a historical person, whose motto was love, justice, and grace, even if they ignore His teachings that contradict thei