When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. And then, all of a sudden, it’s over: Matthew’s account of the birth of our Lord. Joseph wakes up,...
Empathy…Illustrated!
posted by DJL
Anyone who has read this blog for long knows that I’m a huge fan of Brené Brown. I love her work on the centrality of vulnerability to authentic living. So I was delighted to see on her blog that the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA for short) recently hosted Brené for a presentation and then illustrated a portion of her talk. RSA Animated Shorts are a delightful way to bring a concept or idea to life and invite us to see it differently. The portion illustrated below is about empathy. One of her key findings is that empathy – the willingness to go where someone else is living...
Matthew 1:22-23
posted by DJL
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” At various points throughout Matthew’s gospel, he will quote portions of what we...
On Another’s Sorrow
posted by DJL
One year ago today, most of us listened with shock and disbelief as we heard the news of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. And then came the grief. I remember vividly that once the news sank in I was nearly overwhelmed with this profound sense of sadness. Having just earlier dropped my kids at school and on my way home after running some errands, I had to pull over until I could calm down enough to drive again. Over and over again, I kept thinking that is was so many children. How could this possibly happen? In the days and weeks to come, similar outpourings of grief and sympathy flooded Newtown from...
Matthew 1:20-21
posted by DJL
But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save...