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That time for purification, according to the law of Moses, was forty days after the birth (see Leviticus 12). Tomorrow, February 2, marks the Feast of the Presentation, also known as Candlemas, when the church recalls Jesus' first journey to Jerusalem.

Sometimes I'm a little slow. It's true. I don't always read the Bible as if it were for me. Lately I most often read scripture in search of a sermon for the congregation. Now, I realize that most of these sermons are also for me, but, yeah. I forget just to read for God's leading for my own life, for a deeper understanding of my own place with the People of God. It's a slippery slope.

It didn't take our new governor long to stumble with his comment that if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, "You're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother." It took the governor a long time to apologize, saying he didn't mean to offend. I've heard from lots of United Methodists who are not so much offended by the governor's remarks as concerned that he - perhaps unintentionally - misrepresented the Christian faith.

I chime in tonight to comment on President Obama's moving, scripture-laced speech at the memorial for the victims of the Tucson shootings. The president devoted much of the talk's opening movement to poignant eulogies for each of the six slain; he then issued a call for national unity and serious conversation in the wake of the tragedy.