Jesse Steele

Much rhetoric on morals viewed so-called “sin” as something God condemns. Sure, as Judge over the living and the dead, God will need to condemn certain souls, but that’s where we think our own opinions are the same as an opinion of the Court. They’re not.

When Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin, Jesus was not on trial; humanity was. Jesus had already decided that our so-called “sins” needed to be forgiven, and his death was the only verdict he could pass. Jesus doesn’t see our actions as commendable or condemnable. His worldview asks whether a thing is commendable or forgivable.  · · · →

Trouble with the locals is always an opportunity. You may have a parking squabble in your new neighborhood. But once it’s resolved, everyone got to know you quite quickly. And, you discovered that neither you nor the neighbors were anyone’s enemy, but the enemy is the parking problem across your city. Identifying the community nuisance can bring even the fiercest enemies together.

You may drop a flower pot in your neighbor’s yard, just to have the neighbor bring you another missing plant. You see it’s time for bigger pots that won’t fall over and your garden grows all at once.  · · · →

It’s a near impossibility—admitting when you’re not enough. The older generation is responsible for the glass ceilings it places above the next generation. If you are in that older generation, you must blame yourself for everything that hadn’t gone as you’d hoped. If you are in the next generation, you must forgive the older generation for giving you this blend of limits and powers—making you want to love and blame at the same time.

Neither generation wants to swallow that big pill. But, we can only move forward as much as we let ourselves face our generational reality.  · · · →