It’s Thanksgiving Sunday, at least in Canada, so it seemed like a good idea to reflect on being thankful . . . as long as the Lectionary provided an appropriate text. As is so often the case there was an appropriate text but not the obvious one. The Gospel lesson is the story of Jesus…
Shame. Embarrassment. These are not words we like applied to us. I have never met anyone who wants to feel ashamed. I have met many people who have gone to the most extraordinary lengths to avoid it. Paul in his second letter to Timothy¹ writes to say “Do not be ashamed” (2 Timothy 1:8a NRSV)….
Contentment is a tricky word. For some people, the connotations of contentment include a fatalistic “settling” for what is and giving up on anything else or anything better. I hasten to point out, this is not what is meant by contentment, especially not when Paul uses it in 2 Timothy. Contentment isn’t settling for what…