Do you know people who are devastated by every setback? They may appear to be more caring and concerned than others who can weather the storm, but being devastated is not beneficial to others and is nothing to brag about. I told a story about a man who built his house upon a rock and another who built his house upon sand. They were both satisfactory in fair weather, but one was able to withstand the storm and the other was not. Storms will come. Build your life on me and when they do you will have enough internal structure and strength to withstand these external forces.

Which do you think is more important, rules or people? Is it easy to say people? Yet people need rules and structure. If everyone is an exception and a special case the structure falls apart. So there is an inevitable tension between these concepts, and you know people who seem to value one more highly than the other. Rule people have been known as legalists. I encountered these on my own time on earth. I was accused on breaking the law by healing people on the Sabbath. I pointed out that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man. Honor the rules and follow them, but you are free to examine them and if  they don’t serve the grater needs of humanity set them aside.

Do you recognize that some persons can be a bad influence on you; such as leading you back into bad habits? This is a real phenomenon and you are wise not to associate with people who will cause you to stumble in areas of known weakness. Do you know that the reverse is also true? That there are those who inspire you to better conduct than you would on your own? You may think of these as agents of righteousness. Do you think that only pastors or others holding spiritual offices can act this way? What have you found to be true in your own life? Haven’t you seen children or the elderly have this influence on yourself or others, even doing it unawares? So you don’t need an office or title to be an agent of righteousness. Who does this for you? Do you do it for anyone else?

Do you make a distinction between religion and spirituality? Some faith traditions refer to themselves as religions and for others this is a dirty word. These are still useful terms and I make reference to the same concepts as wine and wineskins. Religion gives organization and structure to your faith. You need a community and regular practices to support your spirituality. If the wineskin bursts the wine is spilled and there is a spiritual reality that corresponds to this imagery. The wineskins only exist because of the value of  the wine so you should not be confused about which is more important. Don’t accept a religion that doesn’t serve your spirituality, but don’t resent the religion that does serve to support it.