Week 8 (Year 3, NL)

We gave our readers a one-word writing prompt: “Wind.”

This election season, we've seen a lot of hatred and inhospitality directed toward Muslims and toward migrants. There is talk of building walls instead of bridges, a focus on fueling the politics of fear instead of concern for human need.

In 1 Kings 8 we see an alternative.

In Galatians, Paul is confrontational. While we should be more cautious about calling other people "foolish," we can learn from him that tolerance shouldn't depend on denying one's faith, and being grounded in one's faith shouldn't lead to intolerance or coercion.

After Solomon built the Temple, or rather, after his laborers built it, he stood and offered a prayer for its dedication.  In his prayer, he admitted that the Temple, for all its human splendor, could not contain or limit God.