Jesus preaches for everyone: a message of blessing, inclusion, and resilience. The place he chooses to preach from says as much–maybe more–than the words he offers. Luke 6:17-26
Perhaps Jesus knows there’s no better way to teach than by example. When he shows us how we can grow and transcend our human biases, his example turns out to be quite surprising.
During that vacation, in two final conversations with my grandmother before her death, when words were hard and fraught, I found comfort in the words of Jesus. In the gospels, Jesus teaches us by his own example to pray. But he doesn’t leave us there. He also teaches us how to pray. And then, as if knowing that sometimes prayer is just too much: he gives us words to pray. Words that can carry us.