When we learn from our experiences - including our mistakes - we become wise.

“Peace” does not mean all will go easily for the disciples — or us — in the wake of Jesus’s death. “Peace” is not a false promise of security or a guaranteed end to all conflict. “Peace” is instead the deep essence of Jesus and his life, his love, and his joy.

The well-being of humanity has always been caught up with that of creation, because in the end, they are not two separate entities.

It is a way to make meaning; to understand our small place in a very big world as the tiny beloved people of a very grand God.

We also live in a culture where ethnicity and nationality and religion are often merged into one identity, which serves as a barrier meant to keep out others who are not only different, but deemed “less than.”

Finding a place to call home gives us a place to orient from. Yet in the case of Moses and the Israelites, home is a place to orient to.

Despite the discomfort it can bring up within us, maybe darkness isn’t always something to be avoided. After all, what can light possibly mean without dark?

Yellowstone was created in part to keep one of the world’s most awe-inspiring places pristine; to demonstrate our faithfulness in protecting God’s creation. It is, after all, what we were created to do.