2 Timothy 1: 1-14 (links validated 8/18/22)

In his compelling book, Telling the Truth: the Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale, Frederick Beuchner writes, “The gospel is bad news before it is good news. It is the news that man is a sinner, to use the old word, that he is evil in the imagination of his heart, that when he looks in the mirror all in a lather what he sees is at least eight parts chicken, phony, slob. That is the tragedy.” “But,” he goes on to note, “Then there is comedy – we are loved anyway. But then there is a fairy tale – that extraordinary things happen … It is impossible for anybody to leave behind the darkness of the world he carries on his back like a snail, but for God all things are possible. That is the fairy tale. All together they are the truth.”

("Scottish theologian Donald Baillie tells the parable in The Theology of the Sacraments. 'Let us imagine,' Baillie begins, '. . . the case of a small child, a little boy, entrusted to the care of a nursery governess'....")

("Just recently, there has been published a book revealing the inner life of Mother Teresa. While the world looks upon Mother Teresa as a saint, Mother Teresa saw herself as a struggler....")

When Bruce and I first moved to Minnesota, we became acquainted with an invasive plant called buckthorn. European Buckthorn was introduced to Minnesota by landscapers who liked its appealing look. It often came under other names, such as black dogwood, alder dogwood, arrow wood, or Persian berries.Though it is sometimes called a dogwood tree, it is not related to North American dogwood species. Buckthorn has become an invasive nuisance in North America, partly because it blocks the sun from native plants, but also because it spreads quickly. Buckthorn bark and berries have a medicinal use: they are very effective laxatives, and the berries provide the harshest laxative effect. That’s the problem with buckthorn: birds like the berries, but they can’t digest the seeds. Buckthorn propagates through bird droppings. As I considered today’s scripture passage, I was reminded of buckthorn. Like buckthorn, mustard weed also propagates through bird droppings, because birds cannot digest the seeds...

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