It’s no accident that when Jesus was born he was placed in a food trough. He was sent to feed a hungry world.

Have you ever had to hire someone to work for you? It’s an awful business! Here come the halt and the hopeful, resumes crumpled, palms sweaty, serving time on the death-row-of-the-unemployed. Most of these people will surely not be chosen for rescue, at least not here and not today.

I am a city boy, born and raised. I profess very little knowledge about animals of any kind—wild, domesticated, or farm. I do like dogs and cats. Beyond that my experience has been pretty limited.

Baseball legend Yogi Berra, who died at the age of 90 after a long and storied career, was revered for his wisdom-filled malapropisms as much as his baseball prowess. Among his more memorable observations: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.”

The Lord rescues us, gives us rest, and heals us.

It is by the works of mercy that we shall be judged.