Today's scriptures are an interesting mix.  In Colossians, Paul seeks to encourage all believers.  His letter speaks through the ages to "all who have not met me personally."  Paul strives to encourage us so that we may be united in love and all may know Christ fully.  The Psalmist praises God.  "He alone is my rock and my salvation."  "He is my mighty rock, my refuge."  And Luke tells the tale of the Pharisee's trying to trap Jesus.

I've always been pretty critical of the Pharisees.  It's hard not to be.  The Son of God walks among the religious leaders of the day and they don't even recognize him.  Not only do they not recognize him, they want to trap him, to discredit him and finally to kill him.  In Luke, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Jesus heals a man.  What do the Pharisees focus on?  They are furious.  They plot against him.  I don't get it.  A teacher and a healer presents himself to them and they want to destroy him.  What is wrong with this picture?  What the heck is wrong with these guys?

My oldest son is a true challenge.  My wife and I have been trying to figure out how to motivate this kid for years.  Our hope against hope is that Andrew will find a teacher who in turn finds the switch to turn him around.  My personal feeling is that if we can get this kid through high school it is going to be nothing short of a minor miracle.  Recently my oldest son got into trouble with his science teacher in high school.  He served a detention.  I discussed what had happened with Andrew, but the review of the incident was pretty one-sided and I could tell there was the potential for further fireworks.  A few days after the incident was parent-teacher conferences.  I mentioned to the first teacher I met with that Andrew had a run in with his science teacher.  There was some eye-rolling and discussion of the science teacher's methodology.  I got a similar response from another teacher.  When I met with the science teacher to discuss Andrew, I took an immediate dislike to him.  I did not like his voice.  I did not like his mannerisms.  I didn't like his body language.  Half way through the meeting, I realized I had not heard a word he had said.  This could be "the teacher" and I had dismissed him before I had even met him.  My focus should have been on my son's future and instead it was on my dislike for this man.  I was a Pharisee.  How did this happen?  How can I prevent it from happening again?  My prayer would be that I would be less judgmental and more open to God's will and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in my life.