Uri paused. Then with a note of longing that was also heavy with regret, he continued, “Maybe my generation is the lost generation. Perhaps we cannot make peace because we are too close to the conflict. Maybe we will have to wait for the next generation to see peace.
What could be more inspiring than to stand on the hillside overlooking Galilee and contemplate the words of Matthew 5-7? I was sure I would know exactly what to write about the moment I saw the place. But as beautiful as the location was, not a single bolt, not even a tiny trickle of inspiration appeared.
What do I learn about myself this season? I learn I have chores at home, responsibilities to my extended family, commitments at church, books to enjoy. And these are only the good things.
I am reminded of my recent foray in downsizing. What a task! Trying to decide what to keep and what to get rid of and knowing that I must get rid of most of it was at best an exercise in futility.
Just like the absence of a balcony in Romeo and Juliet, the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught in Matthew 6 does not contain the doxology at the end: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Jesus would never have disputed the importance of these three activities, but what troubled him was that they were so often done from the wrong motives.