No one likes the suggestion that suffering can be useful. If “no pain, no gain” is the rule, some of us would prefer the no gain, thanks!

Parents can’t help being proud of their children and the futures they imagine for them. “My daughter is in pre-med.” “My son will take over the family business one day.” Bumper stickers announce each child making the honor roll.

Family life is a sign of God’s blessing, the psalmist tells us. Then he paints a quaint illustration of what that means. The wife is a fruitful vine in the protective quarters of the home.

God is not complicated. At least that's what we're told in "The Simple Song" included in Leonard Bernstein's Mass. Love is simple to understand, and God is the simplest of all, the lyrics and music conspire to persuade us.

Jesus’ disciples wanted to succeed. Well, don’t we all? I don’t like to lose at solitaire, much less at the great game of life.

Who wants to suffer? If anyone raises a hand, back away and call an attending physician. Suffering is not a desirable condition, and those who possess mental health not only don’t seek it, but actively avoid it.

Don’t discriminate in your hearts, the great New Testament essayist James warns us. Yet by the time we hear these words most of us have been doing just that for a lifetime.

Here’s a dichotomy of readings that invites us to think: Moses presents to the people a law that ostensibly contains the mind of God. Not a thing must be added or subtracted from it. Jesus disparages the legal experts for clinging to the law, down to the last details.

Most of us start making conscious decisions around the age of 2, the year we learn to say “no.” If we can say no, one presumes we’re giving tacit assent to those events we don’t resist. In this way many of us form a lifelong pattern of compliance until we can’t bear the momentum around us, at which time we put our foot down.

A lot of voices compete for our attention these days. Voices of doom tell us that all is lost—inflation has made it difficult for many to make ends meet. And there are voices of blame saying we must point a finger at one sort of politics or another for the present state of society.