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What may I give to the Lord for all the good things that he has done for me? I will take the cup of salvation, and give praise to the name of the Lord. I will make the offering of my oath to the Lord, even before all his people. -Psalm 116:12-14 (Basic English translation) As I watch my students eat lunch in the high school cafeteria, I sadly witness a great deal of waste. It would not be unusual for a boy to pull out an apple his mother packed for him, take a bite or two out of it, and throw the rest away. It brings to mind a story of an American missionary moving to a poor part of Central America. She brought an apple on the flight, but never got around to eating it. That afternoon, while unpacking in her new home, a neighborhood girl noticed the big beautiful apple in her bag. The missionary realized that the little girl was fascinated by the apple, so she gave it to her. The girl reverently held the apple in both of her hands and slowly walked out of the room, never taking her wonder-filled eyes off her gift. The missionary presumed that the girl went off somewhere to eat it, but she found out later that the girl took it back home, diced it, and walked around the impoverished neighborhood, giving everyone a taste of this rare and precious gift. ...

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. -Mark 6:30-32 I really love the scene from the Bible passage above. Earlier, Jesus had sent the apostles off on their first mission by themselves. And things went well, very well. The apostles have returned, exhausted but thrilled with all of the wonders God worked through them. They can’t contain their joy, and all of them are talking at the same time as they tell Jesus all about their adventures. Jesus is smiling a paternal smile. He’s very proud and happy. “Come by yourselves to an out-of-the-way place,” he says. I can imagine the intimacy shared between them in this scene and the bond that now exists because of the accomplishment of common mission. The story in Mark goes on to say that the people loved them so much that they ran ahead to the not-so-hidden hiding place and were waiting for the apostles when they arrived. But at the very least, Jesus and the apostles had that quiet boat ride in the sunset. I can easily picture them drifting along on the placid waters, in no hurry to get any place. Three of them have fallen asleep. Peter can’t resist putting a fishing line in the water. Matthew hates being on the water and sits in the middle of the boat, nervously telling the others not to rock it too much. James and John are teasing him about this and are rocking the boat even more, which makes Jesus laugh out loud. And all the while, despite their exhaustion, they can’t help telling each other stories about all the ways God worked through their hands and feet and words and actions. They are drunk on joy. ...

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. -Genesis 1:31 One of my all-time favorite poems is William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”: so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens My high school students in Houston had no idea why I would like such an odd little poem. This was my attempt at an explanation: ...

Frost and chill, bless the Lord. Daniel 3:69 (NAB) Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day and through whom you give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor…. Saint Francis of Assisi Everyone in the course of a lifetime experiences rare and wonderful epiphanies in nature when God momentarily lifts the veil of our unknowing and shows us his face. Here’s one of mine: ...