Neither strict nor lenient laws will end homelessness. But a systematic and community-wide focus on homelessness prevention measures just might. ... They save lives, dignity, and dollars, and more communities should invest in them. In our experience, these programs succeed because they are personal and flexible: personally administered and rooted in Christian charity; and flexible in the assistance they offer—whether it’s repairing a car, paying a utility bill, or working directly with a landlord to keep eviction at bay. Precarious living situations don’t fit neatly into bureaucratic boxes ..read more

Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857), Storm We've had so many rainstorms lately. This leads to our usual spring hail or tornadoes, though luckily not anywhere we've been lately. I really feel for the poor Oklahomans though. They've had a lot of tornadoes in the last couple of weeks ..read more

Ephraim Moses Lilien (1874–1925) A scribe, wearing a traditional Middle Eastern costume of robe and turban, sews together pieces of parchment of a Torah scroll. MARK 1:21, 22 Having seen how the Torah was viewed, we can now see why the scribes were so important. Someone had to tell everybody what was right and wrong for everyday living. After reading about how the scribes' systems worked it is clear why Jesus' teachings were so startling. To give this study [of the Torah] ... a class of scholars arose. These were the Scribes, the experts in the law. The title of the greatest of them ..read more

God calls all the souls he has created to love him with their whole being, here and thereafter, which means that he calls all of them to holiness, to perfection, to a close following of him and obedience to his will. But he does not ask all souls to show their love by the same works, to climb to heaven by the same ladder, to achieve goodness in the same way. What sort of work must I then do? Which is my road to heaven? In what kind of life am I to sanctify myself? Apart from the universal calling of all of us to perfect love, to holiness, to the following of Jesus, and obedience to his will in ..read more

Marie Spartali Stillman, Self-Portrait, 1871 ..read more

When you say, "The Lord is my shepherd, no proper grounds are left for you to trust in yourself. St. Augustine, Sermon Thinking of Jesus as the good shepherd or the Lord in the psalm that we all know so well, we tend to forget to think of the logical consequence of this reality. That means we must trust him. And obey ..read more

A Shepherdess with Her Flock, Verboeckhoven   ..read more

 My husband and I are taking a road trip through central Texas, to explore little towns and see what we can see. I love road trips together where we have so much time that our thoughts and conversation range much further afield than is ever possible during everyday life. I'll be back online Monday ..read more

 Jon Batiste says he doesn't need either a kazoo or a tambourine in the movie, thank you very much.  We discuss the Pixar movie Soul in episode 330 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. After all, it's darned hard to find a kid's movie featuring old fashioned astral transmigration displacement. That's gotta be talked about ..read more

Daisy Trio by Belinda Del Pesco ..read more