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When my father's mother, who was a Portuguese speaker, was near the end of her life, she gave me her prized possession, her childhood ceramic-and-leather, hand-painted doll. I use it as a vehicle to talk about giving.
The New Testament does not tell us how Paul died. It also does not answer one of the biggest mysteries of the Bible: Did Paul, as he had hoped, ever make it to Spain, to the edge of their known civilized world? I discuss the evidence surrounding this question, and I relate this question to the corrupt world in which we live. In particular, I talk about my life in the world of arrogant, pompous academics.
In a second story about my time picking citrus as a kid, I use the generosity of the migrant workers I picked with to talk about generosity as a core characteristic of a true Christian. Using a brief tale about my mother, I also discuss the need we all have for our fellow people to acknowledge our kindness.
Jesus taught us to protect those in need, those who are suffering, those who are in danger. God also sometimes will send someone into our lives to rescue us. I use a story about my time as a boy picking citrus with Mexican migrant workers to illustrate this lesson.
I use a story about my mother and her efforts to make sure that I treated all people the same as a way of illustrating that back in ancient times, in biblical times, people were fighting the same moral battles we fight today. In fact, the Bible is certainly no less relevant today than it was thousands of years ago.
I recently met with a man who had a severe form of cerebral palsy. He was ignored and unloved and uncared-for as a child, but he met a woman who deeply loved him. Then, she died. He was confronted with the task of dealing with her death. One of his biggest concerns was that he would not be able to visit her grave, given his disability. I helped him find a solution that would honor her.
There is a story in the Bible where Jesus cures a disabled man. He does it so that the man will never become a victim again. I relate this story to a very elderly man who, very long ago, advised me to remember that I should allow myself to become a victim.
I talked to a man who was dying of cancer. He had had a horrible childhood, filled with deprivation, insecurity and fear. But he had learned to truly trust God. He turned out to be the deepest and truest believer I have ever met.
I recently visited a retired pastor who had a heart problem that was likely terminal. He told me about the thorns in his side, and we talked together about how, like the great evangelist Paul, his thorns, made him weak - but when he is weak, he is strong.
I use an experience I had with a police officer when I was a boy to focus on a fundamental aspect of being a true Christian: being someone who always forgives. We also look at the Lord's Prayer from the Sermon on the Mountain, where Jesus taught us this prayer - which does indeed focus on forgiveness.
