Living Wittily

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  • TFTD Mar 10-16: Yes, Jesus Meant Every Word He Said.

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    Monday

    Matthew 5.1-2 “Now when he saw the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:”

    Right, let’s ask the hard question first! Did Jesus mean what he said? Is the Sermon on the Mount (SM) meant to be a template for how we live our lives? Is it practical, sensible, even possible, to live up to the commands and promises of the Sermon on the Mount? If so, why do we find it so hard? Why have there been so many wrestling matches with the text to make it easier to live up to the demanding words of Jesus?  SM test 1: Do I forgive others as I have been forgiven?

    Tuesday

    Matthew 5.1-2 “Now when he saw the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:”

    “The Law was given by Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1.17) The Law was given on a mountain; grace and truth are now spoken in a new covenant, the law written on the heart. Jesus as a teacher with authority, sits, and teaches, and speaks the grace and truth that is the manifesto of the Kingdom of God. The Sermon on the Mount (SM) gathers together the values and principles, the guidance and commands, of the One who comes to teach and to live the life of loving obedience to God. SM test 2: Do I follow (understand and do) what Jesus says?

    Wednesday

    Matthew 5.13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again.”

    Saltiness is the unique quality of our personal devotion to Jesus. Saltiness is our determination to seek first above all else the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. Saltiness is also wise determination to build our life on the rock-solid foundation of hearing and doing the words of Jesus. Jesus teaches his followers to live differently, to act and think and behave in ways that enact before the world the ways of Jesus as signs of the Kingdom of God. We have only followed what Jesus says when his teaching is followed up by who we are. Salt serves it purpose by making a difference by its presence. SM test 3: Am I maintaining my saltiness?  

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    Thursday

    Matthew 5. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

    Jesus is the Light of the World, and his disciples, those of us who confess him as Lord and follow his teaching, are the reflected radiance of that light. The Sermon on the Mount is the handbook that describes the spiritual power source of “the light that gives light to everyone in the house.” You, (plural) – the Christian community, are like a city visible in the darkness for miles around, because the accumulated light makes it stand out. Those who believe Jesus meant what he said, by relying on God’s grace, and who seek to live out, and live into the teaching of Jesus, will stand out in the surrounding gloom. SM Test 4: So, as followers of Jesus and practitioners of his teaching, do we stand out in the surrounding gloom? See Philippians 2.14-16.

    Friday

    Matthew 5.16 “Let your light shine before everyone, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

    What good deeds? Those actions of kindness and compassion that go the second mile. Those words that rather than obscure the truth, are words where yes is yes, and no is no. That way of being in which Christian anger management uses the levers of forgiveness, applying the brakes that restrain and retrain the way we speak to and about others. Those attitudes to others that seek reconciliation, and work towards neighbourliness, so that we can come to offer worship without embarrassment.     SM Test 5: Am I light that by my good deeds gives light to everyone in the house?

    Saturday

    Matthew 5.19 “Whoever practises and teaches these commands, will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

    By practising what Jesus teaches, we teach others the ways of the Kingdom of God. Forgiveness is a practice; truthful speech is a practice; compassion to those who suffer, considerate neighbourliness, generosity with our stuff – these are practices in which we work out the teaching of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is a Highway Code for those seeking to follow faithfully after Jesus. Of course some of Jesus’ saying are hard to put into practice, but in the everyday life that is ours there are countless times when we are called to be salt and light, to take up our cross and follow. SM Test 6: Is my life a persuasive lesson in what it means to follow Jesus?

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    Sunday

    Matthew 5.48 “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

    No pressure there then! No, in this life on this earth we will never be perfect, but that is the goal and the end of Christian life. The word does not mean flawless, it means complete and whole. God loves his enemies, we should too. God blesses people like the rain, generous and un-choosy; likewise our love for others can’t be just for those that we think ‘deserve it.’ God is most revealed in Jesus. He is our paradigm, the single criterion by which we examine ourselves. SM Prayer: “To be like Jesus, all I ask, to be like him.” Amen   

  • What Jesus says about empathy: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

    482323562_1672890959982664_633439833353976928_nIn a week when Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, dubbed empathy a weakness and a threat to Western civilisation, and at a time when a new film on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is currently in cinemas, these words of Bonhoeffer remain an astringent and authentic interpretations of the words of Jesus against such a dark view of human compassion and the way the world works:
     
    "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." These people without possessions, these strangers, these powerless, these sinners, these followers of Jesus live with him now in the renunciation of their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own need and lack were not enough, they share in other people's need. They have an irresistible love for the lowly, the sick, for those who are in misery, for those who are demeaned and abused, for those who suffer injustice and are rejected, for everyone in pain and anxiety.
     
    They seek out all those who have fallen into sin and guilt. No need is too great, no sin is too dreadful for mercy to reach….They know only one dignity, and honour, the mercy of their Lord which is their only source of life….This is the mercy of Jesus, from which those who follow him wish to live, the mercy of the crucified one.
     
    Blessed are the merciful for they shall have the merciful one as their Lord."
    (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Works, Volume 4, pages 106-7.)

  • An Exegetical Master Class on the Letter of James.

    481969824_1205465661102354_2369253145750033270_nA week or two ago this book was only available in Hardback at £168. The paperback is now available at £27.99. It has just arrived. This is the premier critical commentary on James, and widely regarded as magisterial, and an exegetical masterpiece.
     
    I spent most of yesterday evening reading and browsing all over the place in the 800 pages, and as with all Allison's writing it was like sitting at the feet of Gamaliel.
     
    Each small section is preceded by a section History of Interpretation and Reception, tracing the way the verses have been understood, preached and practised in the 2,000 years since it was written. These are superbly done.
     
    The main exegetical sections are jam-packed with details of grammar, syntax, semantic analysis, social context, theological reflection. Last night I read the whole treatment of James 1.19-21 as a sample – 22 pages on three verses, and I'm not sure any of it could be edited out without real loss of insight. Over the years I've preached on this passage "Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger". Allison's' treatment is thorough, discerning, and emerges from deep textual reading that is intertextual and intra-textual. It's interpretive gold.
     
    The wide ranging Bibliography includes the latest academic and technical studies, a rich harvest of periodic literature much of it distilled into Allison's exegesis and interpretive moves. He is a master of the history of exegesis of James, ranging from Augustine to Calvin, Luther to liberation theologians, John of the Cross to Thomas Manton the Puritan, sermons from social gospel exponents to evangelical preachers and the Scottish Congregationalist Ralph Wardlaw.
     
    T&T Clark are to be commended for producing such a valuable scholarly volume at a more than fair paperback price. It's a brilliant commentary – it won't displace other important volumes such as Scott McKnight, Dan McCartney, or Luke T Johnson, but to use a word often overused, it is indispensable for serious study of the Letter of James.
     
    I have one major complaint – the book has no indices which significantly limits the user friendly quality of an 800 page book bursting with technical detail. This isn't a one off either. The most recent volume in the series, on Galatians is also missing indices. I confess myself perplexed that such a prestigious publication has no detailed roadmap to where the treasure lies. I'm going to email the publisher to suggest a rethink if this is the approach going forward.

  • The Premier New Testament Scholar and Professor, and Durham Prison.

    6a00d8341c6bd853ef02c8d3b881c0200bChasing something else, I read again N T Wright's remembrance of C. E. B Cranfield. Of course, he wrote in fulsome praise of Cranfield's "patient faithfulness, the gentle wisdom, the ferociously precise scholarship, and the pastoral heart of Charles Cranfield."
     
    But in that long tribute of one scholar to another, there was this comment on another side of this 'ferociously precise scholar'.
     
    "Though I did not see his pastoral or churchly side but the word among people in Durham was that he hated ecclesial pomp and ceremony, including the wearing of academic hoods in church; that he went regularly and voluntarily to Durham Prison early in the morning to meet men being discharged and to take them for a cup of tea and see if he could be of any practical help…"
     
    And there in those early morning encounters is the pastoral heart underlying the scholarly precision, and living into the words of Jesus.
     
    The two green and well used volumes of Cranfield's ICC are permanent fixtures on my Romans shelf. I bought volume 1 in the Christian Aid book sale in Woodlands Road, Glasgow, in 1976, in mint condition and probably a discarded review volume – priced at 50 pence! (At the time the retail price was £6) I've always interpreted that memorable find as a singular providence

  • TFTD March 3-9 – “Immortal, invisible, God only wise…”

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    Monday

    Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
    In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
    Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
    Almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.

    Worship is a balance between intimacy and awe. Praise is the recognition of God’s glory, the acknowledgement of our limited understanding, and a celebration of God’s grace, wisdom, mercy and love. This verse is a confession of the heart that God is beyond our grasp, his purposes are from everlasting to everlasting. In a world of flux and uncertainty, when our hearts are anxious and life seems uncertain, take time to look beyond the horizons of our sight to the only wise God, the Ancient of Days.

    Tuesday

    Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
    Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
    Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
    Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

    Behind, above and within the swirling currents of history, and the daily situations and circumstances of our lives, God is active, purposeful, all-seeing, and ever present as Creator, Redeemer and Judge. As Psalm 121 says, “God neither slumbers nor sleeps.” Justice, goodness and love are only three of the attributes of the God made known to the prophets, and revealed in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. But they are important to remember in these our own times – God’s justice is like a granite mountain range, durable, immovable, solid in its moral reality, and like mountains, there, always! 

    Wednesday

    To all life thou givest—to both great and small;
    In all life thou livest, the true life of all;
    We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
    And wither and perish—but nought changeth thee.

    Life is gift, every single day of our lives. In God we live and move and have our being. Every time we say “Our Father” we are reminded that God is the source of our lives. But life isn’t forever, everything changes, including ourselves as we grow and mature and grow older. But our lives are hidden with Christ in God, and God is unchanging in his faithfulness, love and purpose for each of us. In a world that is changing, in ways that are alarming and unfamiliar, nothing changes the nature of God. What’s more, nothing will change God’s redeeming, reconciling and renewing purposes in Christ; and nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

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    Thursday

    Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
    Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
    All laud we would render: O help us to see
    ’Tis only the splendour of light hideth thee.

    The writer has James 1.17 in mind: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” So when it seems God is absent, and the world around us is scary, remember darkness cannot exclude God. In Christ, by His Spirit, God is actively present throughout creation, in the history of our world, in our own lives and stories – the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not extinguished it. The splendour of God’s light radiates from an empty tomb, and a heavenly throne.

    Friday

    Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
    Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
    But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
    Take the veil from our faces, the veil from our heart    .

    These are the original words, and lines 3 and 4 are too good to be edited out in the modern version! The greatest grace is to have our eyes opened to the glory and grace of God. And the greatest blessing is for us to know God’s merciful grace is both operative and active in all the times and moments, ways and places of our lives. 

    Saturday

    I Timothy 1.17 “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever, Amen.”

    Strange that the two verses echoing loudly in this hymn, come from 1 Timothy and James, and are both 1.17! They are both worth memorising!  When the world is too much with us, the news comes at us in an endless stream of anxiety, people’s misery, and aggressive, divisive political shouting, these two verses, and the words of the hymn, provide a balancing perspective. When the clouds gather in threatening grey, consider those other clouds of God, which “are fountains of goodness and love.”

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    Sunday

    Faithful one, so unchanging, Ageless one, you're my rock of peace;     Lord of all I depend on you; I call out to you again and again.

    You are my Rock in times of trouble, you lift me up when I fall down.                 All through the storm, your love is the anchor; my hope is in you alone.

  • The Sayings of Jesus 1: “Each tree is known by its own fruit…”

    69381141_1251730751662238_5745295765228486656_n"There is no such thing as a good tree producing bad fruit, nor yet a bad tree producing good fruit. Each tree is known by its own fruit: you do not gather figs from brambles, or pick grapes from thistles. Good people produce good from the store of good within themselves; and evil people produce evil from the evil within them. For the words that the mouth utters come from the overflowing of the heart." (Luke 6.43-45. REB)
     
    Well that's one test of character it's hard to deny. And a quick and straightforward test to apply to what we hear from political leaders, and influencers, pundits, social analysts, and from the cacophony of voices purveying the opinions that populate that part of the online environment where we prefer to live and move.
     
    Words betray the contents of the heart; words reveal our moral condition; words are judged by whether they produce evil or produce good. "What kind of person would say those things, in that way?" is a clarifying question. It's not only what the words spoken mean; it's what those spoken words say about the moral values of the one who speaks them. That is an important analytic criterion in deciding the moral quality of a person, and the consequent value of their words.
     
    "Each tree is known by its own fruit…" So says Jesus. Such alert discernment of character and words is required of all those who follow Jesus, and confess the Lordship of Christ. So if we self-identify as followers of Jesus where is the evidence – it's those acts, words and attitudes whose point of origin is the heart, the place where the evidence lies of who we truly are.

  • TFTD Feb 24-Mar 2: “By grace you are saved, through faith…”

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    Monday

    Ephesians 2.4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions –“

    Paul is never short of comparatives and superlatives when it comes to speaking of the love and mercy of God. God’s love is greater than any other we can conceive, and beyond compare in the whole universe of possibilities. This is love that makes alive, that forgives and cleanses, that sets free and restores. “God, who is rich in mercy”, draws us from death to life giving us a new heart, creating a new centre from which to live, replacing previous disobedience with grateful obedience, and loving service.

    Tuesday

    Ephesians 2.4-5  “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.“

    Grace. The word also gives us the word gift. For Paul Christ is the ultimate gift, for in Christ God gave himself in love, grace and mercy. Paul never tired of telling of Christ, the gift of God’s self in his Son. It is in and through the once for all gift of Christ that God’s great love is made known, and in whom God, who is rich in mercy, enacts his saving grace. In Christ we are saved, by grace, love and mercy. Saved from our sins and delivered to a life of freedom and obedience. Saved by grace! No wonder Paul ran out of superlatives! “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.”

    Wednesday

    Ephesians 2.6 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…”

    The old hymn had it right: “You ask me how I know he lives, he lives within my heart.” Yes, we serve a risen Saviour, but Paul says, there’s more. We are raised with Christ, and we live in Him and Christ lives in us. The resurrection of Jesus has reverberations that extend to the whole of creation, and to the whole of our life. We are made alive with Christ, raised with Christ, seated with Christ. Being saved is a rich incorporation into the life of the risen Lord Jesus. Our lives are now hidden with Christ in God. There is no safer place to be than “with Christ.”

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    Thursday

    Ephesians 2.7 “in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

    Paul’s back to his word search, looking for words that describe the riches of God’s grace: unsearchable, extraordinary, outstanding, incomparable, surpassing, immeasurable. All of these have been used to translate that dense and nuanced word Paul uses to distinguish God’s grace from any other kind of generosity. In the end it is reduced to a lovely generality – “his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” It was that word that inspired the lines, “Let us with a gladsome mind, praise the Lord for he is kind.” The word is an understatement of something that can never be overstated anyway. It is by such grace, kindness toward us, that we are saved.

    Friday

    Ephesians 2.8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God –not by works, so that no one can boast.”

    Just to be clear, so there is no misunderstanding, for the avoidance of doubt, Paul repeats the truth that is the cantus firmus, the supporting underlying theme of the Gospel: “by grace you have been saved.” We are not saved by faith, we are saved by the grace that enables us to believe, trust and surrender ourselves to the call of God in Christ. Such faith is itself a gift of God’s grace, mercy and love. None of this is our doing. No wonder Paul struggles for words to describe “the unsearchable riches of God’s grace toward us in Christ Jesus.”

    Saturday

    Ephesians 2.10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”    

    Each one of us is a unique piece of art, crafted with skill, love, and imaginative care, called to be a walking demonstration of the creative mercy of God. We are God’s workmanship. Each of us is unique and uniquely valued, someone in whom God has invested without limit of time, effort or trouble. There is cost in the work of the artist and skilled craftsman; creative excellence can be exhausting. Behind God's workmanship is one whose whole creative purpose is gift, grace and self-giving for the sake of the finished work. We are created in Christ Jesus, to be formed into the community and communion of Christ, God’s masterpiece.

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    Sunday

    Ephesians 2.10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”    

    To do good works" literally to walk in good ways, so that as God's workmanship, as an exhibit of God's work, we reflect the style and the character of the Artist. We are not saved by good works, but to fulfil all that God has purposed for us when he called us to faith and obedience. In the gift and grace of our salvation we become implicated in the work and mission of God. We are both called and sent, created in Christ Jesus as collaborators in the mission of God, and ambassadors of Christ.

  • TFTD Feb 17-23 – The Spirituality of Common Sense and Wisdom.

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    Monday

    Proverbs 22.1 “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”

    The Book of Proverbs often reads like the old Reader’s Digest space fillers, Life’s Like That. In one sentence they pack in the wisdom of long experience. A good name, a reputation for being honest, to be respected as one known to be trustworthy, you can’t buy that. So it may well be that effective Christian witness happens in our day and time when we shine a light of integrity into the shadows of a world where truth is at a premium, self-interest is becoming an approved social habit, and shame is thought to be a sign of weakness. Your good name is a Christian statement.

    Tuesday

    Proverbs 22.9 “A generous person will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.”

    Generosity is seldom a mistake. God loves a cheerful giver, that is, someone who gladly gives, without regrets, and as an act of gratitude to God and compassion to others. Foodbank donations, a homeless person with an old polystyrene takeaway cup, the direct debit to a charity which we refuse to cancel, the scones or pancakes handed to a neighbour known to be struggling – and not necessarily financially. Of all the spiritual disciplines that deepen our own spirit, sharing what we have to make other people’s lives better is right up there with the highest forms of prayer!

    Wednesday

    Proverbs 22.11 “He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.”

    A pure heart and gracious words. This is about more than sincerity and politeness. The pure heart, to state the obvious, goes to the heart of who we are! Our motives for what we do, the way we think about other people, our inner climate of thought and feeling within which are formed love and compassion, hope and trust, humility and self-knowledge – these grow through the life of the Holy Spirit nourishing and shaping us towards the image of Christ. In Proverbs, this saying was originally about laying the foundation for political success – but its roots go much deeper into those places where our relationship to God and to others finds its best expressions.

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    Thursday

    Proverbs 22. 13 “The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!” or “I will be murdered in the streets.”

    Excuses! We all make them. When we don’t want to do something, however commendable or virtuous, we look around for reasons to say no that won’t make us look bad. By contrast agape love is disinterested. Agape is love that doesn’t put our own convenience and our own interests first. Love for our neighbour can never be a matter of whim or convenience. Instead of looking for reasons to not get involved, Christians look for situations where help and support are needed. The Samaritan could have conjured up a dozen good excuses to pass by on the other side!

    Friday

    Proverbs 22.22 “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.”

    Decades ago the phrase God’s “bias to the poor” was a Christian buzz phrase. This verse is hard-headed and uncompromising. Power is not over others, but to be used to defend and support the weak and vulnerable, those who need a bit of help to get on in life. In a society where there is great inequality in resources to live in dignity and safety, these are words that judge the policies and rules of our society. For Christians, care for the poor is not mere political preference; it is a moral imperative.

    Saturday

    Proverbs 22.24-5 “Do not make friends with a hot tempered man, do not associate with someone easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.”  

    Anger can be infectious. Outrage can be cathartic. Social media seems to thrive on anger, criticism, and self-righteous outbursts. Jesus warned against those destructive exaggerations of anger. He made the link between anger and murder; the simmering resentment and blazing anger both of which wish harm on others. Not all anger is wrong, but to put up with someone easily and regularly angry is to risk weakening the social safeguards of understanding, respect, conciliation, and care for others.

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    Sunday

    Proverbs 22.28 “Do not move the ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors.” 

    This is about community respect for boundaries. In a society where land was marked out by stones, it was easy to move them and steal some of the neighbour’s crop field. Respect for the neighbour and their property is best preserved through meticulous honesty out of which communal trust and social health can grow. Pilfering from the workplace, shoplifting, vandalism of social amenities, are examples in our own day of abusing other people’s property for our own ends. Proverbs brings wisdom and devotion to God down to the practicalities of being a responsible and responsive neighbour. Often enough spirituality is about doing the ordinary things faithfully.    

  • “Make fast with bonds of peace the unity which the Spirit gives..”

    Trinity tapestryPreaching this text this morning: "There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope held out in God's call to you; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all and in all." (Eph. 4.4-6)
     
    Before we ever get to all those 'ones', Paul lays the ground rules that help us as Christian communities to live up to and out of all that oneness: "I implore you then — I, a prisoner for the Lord's sake, live up to your calling. Be humble always and gentle, and patient too, putting up with one another's failings in the spirit of love. Spare no effort to make fast with bonds of peace the unity which the Spirit gives.." (Eph. 4.1-3)
     
    The theme of our interconnectivity with God and with all our sisters and brothers in Christ, locally and ecumenically, is not something we have to make happen – it's a reality into which we live, and towards which we strive in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, to "live up to our calling" as God has called us to do.
     
    The tapestry tries to envisage all that interconnectedness grace, love and communion, that draws us into the life and union of the Triune God of grace.

  • Enacting a Pedagogy of Kindness

    Good-samaritan-1000x556I recently came across a reference to a book called Enacting a Pedagogy of Kindness. It takes a bit of unpacking but what a brilliant title! The week I first noticed the book was quite a difficult one, and several folk arrived at our door with flowers, cards, and gifts. Such gestures of kindness are neither required nor obligated. It's the way people have learned to be, a habit of the heart, enacting gestures of kindness.

    Another example. I regularly go for tea and a pastry to one of our favourite places. As always, I greeted the person serving us with "Hello, how are you doing today?" I went to pay and he said, "That's OK. This one's on me." I asked why. "Because you're the first person who asked how I was doing today. Thank you." But I didn't think, and don’t think I did anything out of the ordinary.

    It occurs to me that kindness is really learned behaviour, intentional goodness. Like good efficient driving, or a practised golf swing, enacting kindness becomes second nature, a way of being. Other words help expand its meaning – thoughtfulness, friendliness, compassion, humanity, attentiveness, generosity, respect for persons.

    So yes. It would make some difference in our neighbourhood, our culture and our society if we committed ourselves to Enacting a Pedagogy of Kindness! Can we train ourselves in adopting a disposition of kindness, forming habits of respect and thoughtfulness? And all the while making sure kindness is a practice, a daily enacting of who we are.

    Enacting a Pedagogy of Kindness. Great title! Not original though. Jesus said as much in more familiar vocabulary, "Love your neighbour as yourself."