Thoughts Along the Journey

Today we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul.  (see Acts 9 and Acts 22)  It is an incredible story of a man (Saul) set on exposing the truth while he was unknowingly fighting against the truth.  He was a devout Jewish leader, searching for those who would teach against the Laws he knew so well. The conclusion of his journey (and the beginning of a new path) came unexpectedly as he traveled to Damascus, seeking those of the Christian faith.  Light pierced the sky, a voice spoke from heaven, he was unseated from his horse, and an encounter with the risen Jesus took place.  He gained a new perspective and a new name (Saul became Paul).  He met a man (Ananias) who prayed for the scales to be removed from Paul's eyes (both figuratively and literally).  He baptized Paul, and introduced him to the Man behind the voice.  In that moment, Paul saw the fulfillment of all he had been taught.  His Messiah had come, and had a mission for Paul....

 Hello, blog readers!  I haven't posted in forever!  Our old laptop became more of a burden than a tool.  This year, my wonderful family gifted me a Chromebook for Christmas.  Hurray! I'm going to address the obvious "big story" of the week: the inauguration of Donald Trump as our president.  Unless you live under a rock, you probably know more about this than I do.  I watched the major event of the oaths.  I heard President Trump's acceptance speech.  I viewed the footage of the Bidens leaving in the helicopter in a peaceful transfer of power. To me, one of the bright spots was Carrie Underwood's impromptu Acapella version of "America the Beautiful".  (Sound systems seem to be the bane of everyone's existence!)  As the crowd joined in singing, I had such a feeling of patriotic pride.  Yes, please!  God bless America! Do I have opinions about our new president and vice president?  For sure.  But my approach to ea...