In the parable of the sower told earlier in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus spoke of the “the seed that fell among thorns,” which are like “the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit.”

Does time mean anything? Think about the difference between Monday and Friday: Apart from the significance we assign them as the traditional beginning and end of the work-week, is there an inherent “Monday-ness” or “Friday-ness” which are unique to those days?

The Valley of Hinnom swings along the western and southern sides of Jerusalem and meets the Valley of Kidron to the east. In ancient times Hinnom got a reputation as a nasty place of garbage-burning and sacrifices to pagan gods and thus was the inspiration for Gehenna—Hell (Ge-Hinnom).

As we begin our preparation for the birth of the Lord, we ask God to forgive us for the times we have turned away from God.

"The days are coming”: a fulfillment of God’s promise for a new covenant, a new David, a Son of Man whom God has given all authority, glory, and power to judge and whose reign will provide God’s people with justice and security. How to live until then? “Blameless in holiness, with love for one another and for all.”

If apocalyptic literature in the Bible has not sparked trepidation over what may happen to our fragile planet and our fragile selves, then certainly science fiction films and hokey TV dramatizations of the “predictions” of Nostradamus will do it.

See, days are coming . . . when I will raise up a righteous branch for David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. —Jeremiah 23:5