You have to admire the vulnerability of this writer. The expressions of helplessness, inadequacy, and insignificance are offered to God, knowing that his substance in its entirety—body, mind and soul—are products of God’s limitless grace, wisdom, and presence.

Sometimes we forget how divisive a figure Jesus was—far more than in our current environment. His ministry was dangerously unpopular among the trio of authorities He lived under during that time; Caesar, Herod, and the Pharisees actively punished anyone willing to support the message that condemned religious corruption while also denying the permanence of an earthly empire.

A semi-regular conversation in our home involves the parents ruefully observing how different their childhoods were compared to their kids’ experience. It’s remarkable how much has changed in a couple of decades.

The story leading to Jesus is filled with example after example of losers: lastborn sons, widows, criminals, and an unwed mother. It’s the same reason King Herod wanted Jesus killed, religious authorities eventually succeeded, and thirty years later, Emperor Nero persecuted followers of Christ.

In one of Aesop’s Fables, a farmer finds an injured snake and nurses it back to health. The snake, revived, turns and bites the farmer because the snake won’t stray from its natural inclination. The farmer was foolish to believe the serpent could be anything other than what it was.