I simply love photos of beautiful landscapes. A beautiful landscape picture draws me. I want to be there. And a stunning photograph is the next best thing to being there. But make no mistake; a photograph of Lake Louise is a poor substitute for actually being present to behold the Rocky Mountain grandeur of Lake Louise.

I just had my morning shower. Nothing special about that – daily showers are the social norm. But they haven’t always been the norm. Step back a century and the weekly bath was the norm. Step back a thousand years and a bath was a semi-annual event. With this lack of personal hygiene is it any wonder that epidemics ran rampant …

“We all have our faults. I’m not perfect – far from it.”

We all have heard statements like that. I’ve said just that on more than one occasion.  I can even quote scripture to back me up. “All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23).

Today’s reading marks a turning point in this letter to the Hebrews. Up to this point the author has been advancing a whole series of reasons or arguments, which explain why the coming of Christ marks the beginning of a superior way of life – a superior faith – when compared to traditional temple-based Judaism. 

With today’s reading we begin an examination of the Bible’s great chapter on faith. The author of Hebrews begins with a definition of faith. This is followed by the first installment of a gallery of heroic Old Testament believers who by their example showed us how to put our faith into action – how to live by faith. 

Every day, people are deeply wounded by the words of another. There are those who are devastated by the words of someone they thought loved them, and there are others who are left distraught by people who will tell them one thing and do something else behind their back.

I wish the peril was down the street or around the corner from our homes. Those days are long gone. Now, it is as close as the computer you are sitting at or the phone in your son’s or daughter’s pocket.

It is deeply disturbing to see the growing trend in our society.