Over the next few weeks, folks who attend churches following the Revised Common Lectionary (a pattern of readings following the church year) will be treated to a number of parables in Luke’s Gospel that have to do with money. Luke, more than any of the other Evangelists, seems quite interested in helping Christians think through the relationship between their faith and their finances. And so he shares a number of the stories Jesus tells about people and how they handle their money. Of these parables, one of the most confusing is the one about the “Dishonest Manager” which is the reading appointed for this Sunday. It revolves around the...

So the Easter season is come and gone, and with it my attempt to practice gratitude by posting one thing for which I’m grateful each day. Now a few days into the season of Pentecost, I thought I’d share a couple of observations about that exercise. 1) Being intentional matters. I think that, by and large, I’m a fairly grateful person. That is, on the whole, I tend to focus far more on the blessings of my life than the setbacks. Nevertheless, “practicing” gratitude – that is, making an intentional effort to name it daily – made a difference. It broadened by “gratitude horizen” and invited to notice even more of the blessings...