African Proverb, Ghana
"If you want to speak to God, tell it to the wind." 

Howard Thurman, 20th century
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." 

Friedrich Nietzsche, 19th century
"A sedentary life is the real sin against the Holy Spirit. Only those thoughts that come by walking have any value."

Oliver Wendell Holmes, 19th century
"It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living."

Acts 7:55-60; Ps. 31:1-5. 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14

To wonder what is reliable and trustworthy is not to ask a new question. It is a question as old as faith. Jesus' answer is John is a part of our readings for this Sunday: "I am the way and the truth and the life."

​Of course, this could use a little unpacking. What does this actually mean for us? Is it a story of inclusion or exclusion, or is it about something else? In these "interesting times" we might find ourselves wondering whether the values that Jesus' way modeled for his church of self-giving and love, of "laying down one's life" have any merit to them. We might find ourselves squinting and straining to see any link between the truth that Jesus proclaims and what passes for truth in our day-to-day lives. We might wonder whether what really makes for anything like a "good" life that seems increasingly available to only a privileged few. Anything seems to work better that what this downward way of Jesus suggests. If anyone is stumbling over this cornerstone, it is us.​